Risky Magic: A Trash Witch Novel

by Tori Centanni

  Val struggled to get the gate unlocked with her shaking hands but finally it clicked and opened.

  We scurried out of the parking garage and around a corner in time for an ambulance and fire engine to blow past. We probably looked like crap but we kept moving, getting several blocks away before I called a ride share car on my phone to whisk us away.

  Chapter 9

  When we got home, things went from bad to worse.

  Because Valerie was paranoid about humans knowing where we lived (as if they automatically thought “Hark! It be witches!”), I had the driver drop us off on the main street, Harrison, so we could walk back to our house several blocks away.

  As we approached, my heart thumped heavily in my chest. The garage door was open. I hurried closer and then stopped and stared. The garage door was small and kept locked with a padlock, because we didn’t use it for cars (usually) and had no reason to open and close it from the outside on a regular basis. Instead, we entered through the door inside. The broken padlock now lay on the pavement.

  Ice filled my veins. Felix’s car was gone. There was just a big empty space where it should have been.

  The fridge where we kept extra potions was open wide but we’d emptied it out before our trip, leaving nothing to steal. Not that our wares were in good shape, having literally been bombed. The door that led inside the house was closed and presumably still locked.

  Valerie stood dumbstruck next to me. She stared at the open garage like she was witnessing the impossible and she didn’t even know how to react. I could relate. I suspected we were both still a little bit in shock.

  I picked up the padlock but it was hot to the touch. Pain flared in my already-burned palm and the padlock tumbled to the ground. Either the thief had used a blowtorch or a magic spell to break it open. Probably magic: the lingering power would keep it hot for longer.

  We hadn’t been gone long. Whomever had broken it had to have been watching our place, and no doubt struck as soon as we were out of sight. That thought left me even colder.

  “How did this happen?” Valerie asked in a too-loud voice, although sounds were still a little distant to my ears.

  “Someone knew I had the car,” I said, still not wanting to believe it despite the fact that it was obviously true. Why else would someone stake out the house and steal the car as soon as we left?

  Valerie shook her head. Her ponytail holder snapped and her hair fell down around her face. “No, I mean, it should have been warded.”

  I swallowed uneasily. “When did you last do the wards?” I asked.

  Wards lasted about thirty days. Sunrise weakened magical spells and after about a month of them, wards were effectively useless and needed to be recast.

  “Me? It was your turn!” Valerie said, pointing a literal finger at me.

  “You told me not to do the wards unless I was going to do them right.” I hooked my fingers to make air quotes around the last word. “So I said you could do it.”

  Valerie growled and stomped inside the garage. She examined the empty fridge and then closed the doors. Then she poked around in boxes, examining storage containers. To me, it didn’t look like anything else had been stolen. And then another thought hit me: Seth.

  My cat hadn’t come along, a blessing when the explosion happened, but now I was terrified he might be hurt. I rushed to the inner door and fumbled for my keys to unlock it. That it was still locked was encouraging but I needed to lay eyes on my cat to be sure he was all right.

  I hurried inside and found him still sleeping on the bed. I let out a sigh of relief.

  When he heard me come in, he jumped off the bed and trotted over to me. I lifted him up and gave him a quick squeeze before he fought me off and headed for the kitchen, assuming that because I was now home, it was time for his dinner, regardless of the fact that it was hours earlier than normal.

  “Seth’s okay!” I called to Valerie, who was still going through things in the garage.

  “Great,” she said, not nearly as excited to hear it as I was.

  I leaned in the doorway to the garage, watching Valerie check each and every box. “The house looks fine, too. Seems like they only wanted the car.”

  She snapped the lid of a storage container shut. It was labeled Holiday Spell Supplies. There’s a greater demand for spells relating to family, fertility, and household chores around the holidays.

  “Only,” she spat. Valerie shook, her hands vibrating. Her eyes were hard. Her hair floated loose around her face, as messy as mine normally was.

  “I’m not thrilled about this, either,” I said, curtly. “My bike was in the trunk! I have no bike now.”

  “It’s your fault, Avery. You’re the one who had to poke the bear. You had to find the stupid car and bring it here and tick off someone who tried to blow us up!” Her voice got very high and echoed loudly in the small garage. “We were almost killed!”

  “I wouldn’t go that far…”

  “Don’t,” she said, pushing past me to go into the house. “I don’t even want to look at you right now. I never thought this would be dangerous!”

  She stormed inside, slamming the door. I pulled the garage door closed, not bothering to lock it since I had no spare padlock, and went inside myself. Seth was on the counter, his tail flicking back and forth.

  “Ignore her,” I said quietly. “She’s had a rough night.”

  Of course, so had I. But I honestly didn’t think whoever had attacked us had meant to kill us. There were firebomb spells that could have done the job easily enough. It seemed like our attacker merely wanted to knock us down. But why? To scare us? To stop us from getting into the market? To distract us while their cohort stole Felix’s car?

  There was no way the car being stolen tonight was a coincidence.

  And whoever it was hadn’t wanted to scare us.

  They’d wanted to scare me.

  Jaden had a cell phone but like most witches, wasn’t keen on using it for more than its most basic functions. Valerie was a little more modern and did have a laptop, which she used to digitize her spellbooks and keep spreadsheets of our bills, and her sales and profits, and that kind of thing.

  I’d actually been sent to public school by my aunt, who had done so only because she was following my mother’s wishes. My mom had always believed it was important for me to interact with the normal, human world, and not become entrenched in the supernatural one.

  After all, witches are mostly human, even though most would bristle at that suggestion. We’re just humans with extra powers, inherited and passed down via blood. We were perfectly capable of having children with mundane folks. Half-witches could manage a lot of kitchen spells, though might struggle to create magic without an open circle and a lot of time. Anyone with some witch blood could do minor magic if taught, though many of those people were not aware of their witch heritage.

  Point was, witches often tried to separate themselves and stand apart from the population at large for reasons that alluded me. Maybe because it made them feel special.

  So when I texted Jaden, hoping he’d be willing to meet with me, I should have known better than to expect a simple text back. Instead, he called. And when I missed his call, he sent a crow with a scroll to my window. Seth nearly broke the glass trying to get at the bird flapping outside and I had to put him in his carrier while I accepted the message.

  The scroll was tiny and I unrolled it to find it wasn’t a message at all, just an address and a time.

  “A text works great!” I shouted at the retreating bird, though obviously it could not relay the message back. I let Seth out, fed him, and then cleaned up and put on fresh clothes. The ones I’d been wearing smelled like they’d been marinated in a barbecue pit. I shoved them in the hamper.

  With fresh jeans, a clean t-shirt, and my trusty red leather jacket—which I regularly treated with a protection spell that had repelled the ash and grime from our attack—I headed out. Valerie’s door was closed so I didn’t bother to tell
her where I was going. Besides, I didn’t think she’d be too happy that I was meeting with Jaden again, even though it wasn’t Jaden’s fault we’d been attacked and robbed.

  The address Jaden gave me was an all-night diner near Fremont, one of the hip, trendy neighborhoods where artists had flocked once rent on Capitol Hill had gotten too high. Not that it was much cheaper to live in Fremont these days.

  The diner looked tiny from the outside. It was in a blue painted brick building in a strip of multicolored businesses, including an orange barber shop and a green dry cleaner. Inside, though, the space opened up nicely and there was even a back room with extra seating. The walls displayed kitschy vintage magazine ads for things like coffee and Spam. The tables were wood and the chairs were painted a burnt orange. It was mildly busy for eleven o’clock at night. One table of bearded hipsters played a card game while they drank beer. Another table full of people took photos and laughed while eating a late night breakfast.

  Jaden sat in a booth in back. He wore a t-shirt and light jacket with dark denim jeans, and it was a relief to see him out of his official council uniform. He had a glass of wine in front of him, along with an open menu. I slid into the booth across from him.

  “Nice place,” I said. What I meant was, I’m surprised you know about a place like this. It didn’t seem like his sort of haunt. Jaden would have fit in better at an upscale nightclub or haughty wine bar, though he struck me as someone who avoided human spaces like the plague.

  “They have the best Eggs Benedict in the city,” he said.

  I lifted my eyebrow. “What, are you some kind of brunch connoisseur?”

  “I like good food,” he said simply.

  According to the menu, they served breakfast all day and dinner entrees from five until midnight. After the day I’d had, I was in need of some hearty comfort food so when the waitress arrived, I ordered the fried chicken with mashed potatoes and corn, and a lemonade. Jaden ordered a Caesar salad.

  “What happened to your eggs?”

  “That’s breakfast. This is lunch,” he said. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. There was the witchy rigidity I expected. “So you wanted to see me.”

  His green eyes met mine and for a second, I lost the ability to form words. When the ability returned, I asked, “Did you put a love spell on me?”

  Jaden practically reeled backward, he was so stunned. “Love spells are a heinous manipulation of another’s feelings. I’m firmly against them.”

  I let out a breath and some of the tension left my shoulders. My relief was short-lived, however, because at the same time both of us realized what my idiotic question meant.

  “Wait, do you—?” he started.

  “No,” I said quickly, feeling heat spread over my cheeks. I cursed my stupid pale skin that turned red at the drop of a hat. “I’ve just found you much more agreeable lately, that’s all.”

  Jaden grinned. “I see.”

  “Don’t ‘I see.’ You don’t see. I just mean, I’ve been willing to work with you, and I thought it might have been due to a diluted love spell of some sort. That’s all.” My face was so hot it might as well have been on fire.

  Jaden pushed the grin off his face and leaned in close. “Is that why you wanted to meet with me?” he asked softly. His expression was soft but unreadable and I knew he was just teasing me.

  I swallowed uneasily, suddenly parched, and chugged half my lemonade to cool off. “No. Not at all.” I took another swig. “And by the way, text messaging is a thing. You don’t need to send a crow.”

  Jaden frowned and sat back. “The crow was easier.”

  “It’s not easier to tie a message to the leg of a bird than to type a few words!” I was too loud, shaky and unsteady from the events of the evening and this ridiculous conversation. The waitress approached our table with a fresh glass of lemonade and quickly retreated.

  “I find crows far more reliable than digital letters flying through the air unseen. And far harder to intercept.”

  Okay, that last one was valid, even if I didn’t think his understanding of why actually hit the mark.

  “Does your father know what we’re doing?” I asked point blank. No sense in beating around this bush any longer.

  It took Jaden a moment to catch up. He shook his head solemnly. “He’s of the same opinion as the majority of the council. He would consider it an act of defiance. I’m risking my place on the council, you know.”

  “I know,” I said. “But I’m risking a lot more than that.”

  If we were caught, Jaden would get a slap on the wrist. He might be removed from the council, though it was more likely he’d only be suspended for a short time. I had no fancy witch pedigree to keep me out of jail and the council was fond of making examples out of those who went against them.

  “Someone knows what we’re doing,” I said.

  “Who?” Jaden asked.

  “I don’t know. But they knew I had Felix’s car and they stole it.”

  Jaden looked aghast. Either he was a great actor or he was genuinely stunned. I told him the entire story of how Val and I were attacked at the Market and came home to find the garage open and the car missing.

  “Why wasn’t your house warded?” he asked.

  I huffed out a breath. “Valerie thought it was my turn, I thought it was hers.”

  Jaden stared, uncomprehending. “You don’t have a warding ceremony every 30 days?”

  “No, we don’t,” I said. “One of us handles it when we have time. We’re busy.”

  Jaden was clearly baffled. But then, he didn’t have to pay rent. He lived in a massive mansion on top of a hill. His father’s job was to be on the council, as was Jaden’s. They were wealthy, the kind of rich where their money simply made more money for them. He’d never worked for money in his life, while Valerie and I were working our tails off and barely scraping by each month.

  “That’s not the point of this story. The point is, someone attacked me and stole the car. They knew I had it and they’re trying to scare me off.”

  Jaden considered. “Did they? Scare you off, I mean.”

  “No, they’ve made me mad,” I said. “Valerie and I were on our way to work and they threw some kind of exploding spell in our faces. The bruise on my butt is already making sitting unpleasant.” Jaden opened his mouth. I spoke over him, not allowing him to comment on the state of my backside. “They broke into our house and we feel violated. And for what, because we care what happened to one of our own? Finding Felix is the coven’s job, even if the council doesn’t give a rat’s behind.”

  The waitress brought our entrees and I dove in immediately. The chicken was crispy and spicy, and the potatoes were rich and creamy. It was delicious, unpretentious diner food and I knew I’d be dragging Valerie back here for breakfast sometime soon to try that eggs Benedict.

  Jaden picked at his salad. “The council has their reasons, you know.”

  I swallowed my bite of mashed potato and put down my fork. “Is this some kind of test?”

  “What?” Jaden put down his own fork. My plate looked like a tornado had gone over it but Jaden’s looked barely touched.

  “This whole investigation thing,” I said. “Is it some kind of loyalty test where you see if I’m a good, obedient witch by asking me to break rules and testing how far I’ll go?”

  He gave a slight shake of his head. “No.”

  “Okay. Then don’t defend the council. You’re the one who disagreed with their ruling and asked me for help. On some level, you know what they’re doing is wrong.” I stared him down. He looked away first.

  “I’m merely trying to explain their motives.” He cupped his wine glass as if to drink from it but didn’t lift it from the table. “They care about Felix, of course, but they don’t want to cause a panic. And since there’s no proof he’s hurt or was forced to leave, the obvious conclusion is that he did so on his own.”

  “And dumped his car along the way.” I rolled my eyes.

&nb
sp; “They didn’t have his car when they made that ruling. But dumping one’s vehicle is not unheard-of when on the run.” He picked up a napkin and gingerly wiped at his chin. He had a thin layer of dark stubble growing in.

  “Look, you asked for my help, I’m helping. Okay? I found the car. Next, I’ll find Felix. I just don’t want to be hurt or killed in the process. Obviously we’ve ticked someone off. I wanted you to be aware of the situation.”

  I stood and pulled out my wallet. Jaden waved it away. “Dinner’s on me,” he said. He got up and went to pay the check, which really ruined my storming out. Instead, I left at a leisurely pace and then for some reason, I waited outside.

  Jaden, ever the gentlemen, offered me a ride home and I figured that was the least he could do, especially since my bike had been stolen along with the car.

  His car was, of course, a silver, sporty Mercedes that cost more than a year’s rent at my house, complete with leather seats. The Blackmores were not computer people, but they loved nice cars.

  “It’s not my father,” he said, about halfway to my house. I glanced over at him. He was watching the road and not looking at me. “He wouldn’t attack Valerie. She’s his niece.”

  Record-freaking-scratch.

  “Hold up. You’re saying that Valerie Lopez, my roommate, is related to you?”

  A small crease appeared on his forehead. “She didn’t tell you? Her mother was my father’s sister. She was disinherited by grandpapa when she married a witch from San Francisco who made a living doing street magic.”

  “Oh my god,” I said. “I thought… I mean, I knew her mom was well liked when she was alive but I had no idea she was a Blackmore.”

  Jaden smiled wryly. “Only in blood. She was more carefree than most of my family. She was friends with your mom, if I recall correctly.”

  Alyssa, Val’s mom, had indeed been friends with my mom. I figured that was why Val had agreed to live with me, even though it was clearly not her first choice. Well, that, and witch roommates her age would be hard to come by.