Single Witch's Survival Guide (18 page)

“Is that any way to treat your loyal, devoted familiar? The man who watched over you, hour after hour, while you slept away the one decent weekend we’ve had all summer long? I refused to leave your door, even when David wouldn’t let me in. I didn’t go, even when your grandmother ordered me to take a shower and a nap!”

I narrowed my eyes. Neko was being his usual histrionic self. But beneath his declarations of fidelity, I could sense a true ripple of concern. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing!”

I resumed the process of getting out of bed. “Fine, then. Thanks for your help. Goodbye.”

He looked up at me through his eyelashes. “Well, there might be one little thing…”

“Such as?”

He actually dug his toe into the rug beside my bed. If he’d been physically capable of it, he might have shrunk a foot or two. “It was all my fault.” He whispered the words to his knotted knuckles, not daring to meet my eyes.

“What was?”

“The Lughnasadh working.” He sighed, and his entire body quivered in misery. “I never should have let you start the ritual when I was so unfocused. I was thinking about Tony, worried he was going to move back into the barn. I didn’t pay enough attention to you, and I twisted the energy you raised, and instead of feeding it back properly, I ruined everything. Jane, I’m so, so sorry. I understand if you want to banish me. Offer me up to the Washington Coven. Strip me back to a statue. Go ahead. I deserve it.”

Three and a half years, and I’d never seen Neko grovel before. Sure, he’d made some apologies. Even begged my forgiveness. But he’d never truly believed that he was at fault.

This was different. This was a confession that went to the very root of his being my familiar.

“Neko, I…” I trailed off. There were so many things I wanted to say. Needed to say. The words all jumbled in my mind, and I wondered if I might have been more coherent if someone hadn’t just poked me awake.

Neko’s shoulders collapsed, and he caught a breath that might have been a sob. He turned toward the door. With his hand on the knob, he whispered, “David can find you another familiar. And this time, make sure not to wake it on a full moon.”

“I’m not awakening anyone!”

Neko whirled back, faster than I’d ever seen him move.

“Lughnasadh wasn’t your fault,” I said. “Yes, you were distracted. But so was Emma. And Raven didn’t help matters, going skyclad and pulling all that power.” I took a deep breath. “And I wasn’t focused, either. I kept thinking about…”

David. Of course Neko knew I’d been thinking about David. Even if he hadn’t been attuned to my every witchy sensation during the ritual, he knew I’d been sleeping alone for a month.

“He’s down in his office right now,” Neko said helpfully.

My belly tightened as I remembered the feel of David’s arms around me on the beach. I flashed on his steady command as he ordered me to look into his eyes, as he guided me back to myself. I was halfway to the door before I realized I’d moved.

“Not so fast, girlfriend!”

I ground to a halt.

“You may have forgotten, but you’ve spent three days in that T-shirt, and it’s more than a little ripe.”

I tried to steal a surreptitious sniff at my own armpit, but Neko only sighed like I was breaking his heart. “Trust me. Take a shower. And for once, don’t go straight for the shorts and T-shirts when you get dressed. And seriously? A little lipstick really never killed anyone. “

I stuck my tongue out as I headed toward the shower. I was already closing the bathroom door when he called out, “Jane?”

I glared at him. “What now?”

“Thank you.” He finally met my eyes. “I won’t let it happen again.”

“No,” I said. “I don’t think any of us will make the same mistakes.”

* * *

My heart pounded as I stood at the bottom of the basement stairs, wiping my palms against my skirt. After trying on three outfits, I’d settled on my sea-green sundress, the one with the halter straps. I’d worn it the first time David and I had ever slept together.

Come to think of it, that encounter hadn’t gone very well. We’d had a number of misunderstandings, crossed wires that took months to straighten out. It was too late to go upstairs and change, though. He had to know I was hovering on the edge of darkness.

I watched as he scribbled a note in the corner of a document, underlining his words twice. He picked up the page and held it up to the light, as if seeking some secret message. Obviously not finding anything of interest, he shook his head and added the paper to a pile on the far corner of his desk. I could make out the array of ribbons and flash of grommets that marked the documents as belonging to the Court.

I stepped over the threshold into his office. “Having trouble?”

He put down his fountain pen with the precision of a surgeon returning a scalpel to a tray. “The connections are there. I’m just not seeing them.”

“Maybe you should let this go. There are more important things than stopping one petty bureaucrat.”

“He’s not petty, and the bureaucracy gives him far too much power over hundreds of innocent witches. I’m a warder. I
have
to stop him.”

“You sound obsessed.” The words were out my mouth before I could stop them. I watched him shut down, pull away from me without ever moving an inch.

But this wasn’t why I’d come downstairs. I didn’t want to fight about the Court. Or anything else. “Hey,” I said, purposely pitching my voice low to counter his tension. “Thank you.”

He sucked air through his teeth as if I’d splashed acid on him. “I’m sorry.”

I hadn’t been fishing for an apology. “What are you talking about? I needed you, and you were there.”

“You needed me because I screwed up.”

“I’m the one who lost control of the storm!”

“And I didn’t protect you!” He slammed his fist down on his desk. My first instinct was to recoil from the violence that trembled through his forearm. But I knew his fury wasn’t directed at me. It would
never
be directed at me. I settled my palm on his shoulder.

“You found me,” I insisted, even when he flinched. “You called me back. You held me when I needed that, and you chased away the nightmares.” I leaned forward to kiss him. I felt the moment he started to give in, started to settle his hands on my waist to pull me closer. But then his fingers slid up to my biceps, and he eased me back to the desk.

“We can’t do this, Jane. I’m your warder. I was only acting as your warder.”

“Stop punishing me!” I lashed out before I’d even thought my way through the words. “I said I was sorry!”

“I’m not punishing you!” He whipped out his denial before I’d finished speaking. Then he leaned back in his chair, putting greater distance between us. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Okay. I
was
punishing you. But I’m not anymore. I’m trying to be practical. Your entire magicarium is on the line. We both know it. Your Major Working is more important than me, than
us
. At least for now.”

My cheeks prickled with embarrassment; I felt like a schoolgirl rejected by her first crush. David hadn’t rebuffed me since the first weeks we’d worked together, the very first time we’d kissed. “If our work is so important, then why did you leave me? Why did you go to Arizona before I even got out of bed?”

“I had to. Your mother called me.”

“For what? What did Clara need that was so important?”

His face tightened. “Ask your mother, Jane.”

“I’m asking you.”

He shook his head. “Call her.”

“Fine,” I said. “I will.” I turned on my heel, frustration and lingering chagrin speeding my retreat. I stopped, though, when I got to the doorway. “I don’t know if it matters for your
warder
responsibilities, but the greenhouse and the garage will both be vacant by the end of this week.”

“Why?”

“I’m moving the familiars into the house.”

“I don’t think—”

“But I do. I think it’s best for the magicarium. And I’m the witch in charge.”

My skirt caught on a nail as I flounced up the stairs. I yanked it free, not even caring when the fabric ripped. It was a stupid sundress anyway. Time to cut it into rags.

But first things first.

I stomped across the kitchen and grabbed the telephone. Clara was on speed dial, number three after Gran and Melissa. I glanced at my watch. It was late in Arizona, but she should still be awake. In fact, she answered on the first ring.

“Jeanette!” That’s all I needed to know this conversation was not going to go well. “You caught me just as I was walking out the door.”

Great. I didn’t have to bother with formalities then. “What are you working on?”

“We’re going to the Bell Rock Vortex to harvest juniper berries at the stroke of midnight. The stronger the vortex energy, you know, the greater the axial twist in the branches. It’s early in the season for anything to be ripe, but we don’t want the birds taking all the berries from perfect spirals.”

I shook my head, feeling like I was spinning into a vortex of my own. “What are you working on with David?”

“David? He isn’t here. I thought he was back with you. Maybe if you check with your grandmother?”

“No,” I said. “What were you working on last night? Why did you make him go to Sedona?”

“
Just a second!
” my mother called, loud enough that I had to hold the phone away from my ear. “Jeanette, my ride is here. I have to run—we can’t chance letting the feminine side of the Vortex fall out of sync with the masculine.”

“Clara— I started, but she was talking to someone else. “Mother!”

“Bye, dear! I’ll send you some juniper berries!”

And she was gone.

Was Clara actively ducking my question about the ritual she’d performed? Or was she just being her usual batty self? I swore as I set the phone back into its cradle. Not only had I failed to get a straight answer to my question, but I hadn’t reminded Clara to send her belated tuition payments for Emma and Raven. I’d rather have cold, hard cash, than a fresh harvest of axial twisted juniper berries.

But I’d be a fool to actually make plans based on any promise from my mother. I sighed and headed upstairs. The morning was going to come all too soon—and I suspected the familiars wouldn’t be thrilled when I told them they had to move.

CHAPTER 11

“WOULDN’T BE THRILLED” was an understatement.

Actually, Hani was fine with his new living quarters. The cocky little familiar made it a practice not to complain about anything. Instead, he took first claim on the best corner of the basement, making sure he was the farthest from the creaky stairs.

It was hard to measure whether Kopek’s hangdog expression was generated by shifting out of the greenhouse, or if he was merely exercising his usual pessimism. He tucked his cot close to a collection of little-used books on the construction of labyrinths, and he shoved his footlocker next to the water heater. I decided not to comment when he placed a few personal items on the shelves above his head.

Neko, though, threw a fit.

“You can’t make me live down
there
!” From his scandalized tone of voice, I might have suggested that he start wearing Croc sandals and socks. Black socks. With sagging elastic.

“You make it sound like I’m sentencing you to a prison cell.” I was unimpressed with his dramatics. “You lived in the basement of my Peabridge cottage for three years. This is exactly the same.”

“Except for my roommates, you mean.”

He had a point. But… “It’s just for this semester. Until we finish the Major Working.”

“That’s practically
forever
!”

“My hands are tied. If I showed you any favoritism, Hani and Kopek would rightfully be upset.”

“They’ll be a lot more upset when they have to share our
dormitory
with Tony.”

“Don’t go there,” I warned.

“Where?”

“If your romantic relationships start having a negative impact on the magicarium, then I’ll have to draw some lines. No fraternization with students’ team members is a great place to start.”

“Spoken like a woman who isn’t getting any.”

“Neko!” I flushed, but I wasn’t sure if my response was triggered by anger or embarrassment.

“I’m just saying you shouldn’t take out your own frustration on innocent bystanders.”

“For your information, Mr. Brilliant Familiar, I have perfectly good reasons to make this change.”

“Such as?”

Well, I couldn’t tell him I was moving everyone around because Gran had suggested it. It wouldn’t be fair to throw my poor, elderly grandmother under a bus driven by my strong-willed, motivated familiar. I stood fast and set myself up to take a direct hit. “We’ve got a lot of work to do, and not a lot of time to do it in. The only way we can possibly make our Samhain ritual a success is if we all work together as a team. And that requires getting to know each other better. We have to
trust
each other.”

“Can’t we just do a ropes course instead? Maybe stand on a step stool and fall back into everyone’s arms?”

I laughed at the plaintive note in his voice. “Seriously, Neko. This is important.” I hadn’t thought it was, when I promised Gran I’d make the change. But now I realized it could be the fuse I’d been seeking, the missing spark to ignite our elusive magical success.

Neko wasn’t giving up yet. “Maybe Caleb can put up a few walls down there?”

I thought about the cost, quickly weighing lumber and drywall against my familiar’s continued sulking. “You can ask him—
once
. But if he says he doesn’t want to or it can’t be done, that’s it. End of discussion.”

Neko nodded, transforming his sulk to a beatific expression. “May I borrow your credit card?”

“Absolutely not!” My shout was a visceral reaction. “What do you want it for?” I asked reluctantly.

“I need to buy some baseball tickets. Fast.”

I shook my head. “Finance your own bribes. And no asking David for a handout, either!”

Neko was still grumbling as I walked away.

* * *