Chapter One
“I’m going to need more wine,” Hope Anderson said after draining her glass. The early autumn breeze off the California coast blew her dark curls into her eyes, temporarily obscuring her view of her two coven mates, who were grinning at her on the other side of the campfire they’d summoned. It was their monthly gathering on the cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean where they drank wine, laughed, and cast intention spells meant to help them with whatever life had handed them at the moment.
Unfortunately, they’d already told her they wouldn’t help her spell her ex back to Boston, and for that, she was still a little bitter. “If you aren’t going to help me with Lucas, how about we do something about this?” She waved a hand, indicating her appearance. “I don’t think I could handle it if I found another wrinkle tomorrow morning.”
“Sure. Let’s do it.” Joy was the first to stand, holding out her hands to her two friends. “You lead it,” she told Hope.
Hope clasped hands with both of them and started to chant. “Goddess of the sea, hear my wish. Smooth my edges, cast me in gentler light, wash away ten years of time with the shimmer of the moon.”
A sparkle of magic cracked through the air, lighting up the night and disappearing just as quickly.
Silence filled the air, just as it always did after they summoned a spell. But after a moment, both of her friends started to giggle.
“Oh, no. What happened?” Hope asked, praying she hadn’t turned herself into some sort of Facetuned freak.
Grace Valentine snickered as she refilled Hope’s wine glass. “If you could see yourself right now, you’d be cackling your ass off, too. Wouldn’t she, Joy?”
Joy Lansing grinned and tied her long blond hair up into a makeshift bun. “She’d probably be in hysterics. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a spell backfire like that before.”
Hope glanced down at herself and frowned. Her jeans hadn’t ripped at the crotch, nor had her flowy blouse turned into a see-through mesh crop top. “What are you two talking about? The spell didn’t work at all. I asked to look ten years younger and yet, here I am in what I’m sure Lex would call ‘mom jeans’ and a blouse that, while pretty, was purchased to hide those extra pounds I’ve been carrying around for the last decade.”
“It’s not your clothes.” Grace pulled a small compact mirror from her purse and handed it over. Ever since she’d started dating a man a decade younger than her, she’d started wearing more makeup and more stylish clothes that showed off her curvy frame. Hope had always thought her friend was pretty, but lately, she was looking like a knockout.
Hope paused for a moment before holding the mirror up. But when she did, she let out a gasp as one hand flew up to her hair that had suddenly transformed to the exact same haircut she’d had roughly ten years ago. A haircut and color that had left her horrified and unwilling to leave the house for a whole week before she’d been able to get it fixed. Her previously long, dark curly locks were now cut in an uneven angled bob and were highlighted with blond streaks. “Holy witch balls!” Hope jumped up and started to pace. “This was not what I meant when I said I wanted to look ten years younger.”
“I still can’t believe you never actually got your money back for that tragic cut,” Joy said, shaking her head sadly. “You should’ve gotten a refund and trauma pay.”
Hope sat back down and covered her head with both hands. “As if it wasn’t bad enough that I’ve gotten myself roped into working with Lucas, now I have to do it looking like a tragic model from the cosmetology school.” Lucas King, Hope thought and nearly sighed. He’d walked back into her life a few weeks ago, and ever since, she’d been completely off her game. There was no doubt in her mind that the reason the spell had gone bad was because Lucas had returned to Premonition Pointe and completely effed up her mojo just by being there.
“We can fix it,” Grace said, moving to sit next to her friend. “We can cast a reverse spell. If that doesn’t work, we’ll get Lance over at Liminal Space to work his magic.”
Hope stared at her gorgeous friend’s wavy auburn hair and scowled. “Easy for you to say considering you look like you just stepped out of a shampoo commercial.”
Grace just shook her head and chuckled. “This isn’t the end of the world. It’s not like you gave yourself a bad case of acne or accidentally hexed someone with genital warts like I did when my magic was out of control. This is just a haircut. Come on, stand up. Let’s see what we can do.”
“Why not?” Hope said, getting to her feet. “It’s not like it can get worse, right?”
“You probably just jinxed yourself,” Joy said, pulling three pillar candles out of her bag of tricks.
“Nah. I trust you two.” Hope stood and held her hands out to the side as her two coven sisters did the same.
Maybe while we’re at it we should spell Paul with an erection so that I can finally get laid.
“What?” Hope stared at Joy. She could’ve sworn her tall, willowy friend had just said she wanted to spell her husband, except her lips hadn’t moved.
“Huh?” Joy asked, her eyebrows pinching together. “I didn’t say anything.”
“I thought you just said you wanted to spell Paul so that you… um, could get some action,” Hope blurted and then laughed as her friend’s eyes went wide under the moonlight.
“I… um, I didn’t say that,” Joy stammered, her expression bordering on horrified.
Grace let out a bark of laughter. “I can’t imagine Joy saying that, but it’s not a bad idea. I mean, at this point, it couldn’t hurt, right?”
“So you didn’t hear her say anything?” Hope asked Grace, wondering if she was losing her mind.
“Nope. But what do you say, Joy? Should we give it a try?” Grace asked with a sly grin.
“I don’t… uh, wouldn’t that be wrong?” Joy glanced away from her friends, but then quickly focused on both of them again. “But really, what’s the worst that could happen? He gets an erection? That’s not really a bad thing, is it?”
“I’d say it’s a really good thing,” Grace said. “Come on. Let’s fix Hope’s hair, then give you something to work with later.” She winked at Joy. Maybe Owen should take Paul to the adult toy store and introduce him to that flavored lube he found or something more exciting like nipple clamps. Something to jolt him out of his sex drought.
Hope gaped at Grace.
“Oh, come on. I’m not suggesting we alter his anatomy. Just put a little juice in his tank,” Grace said, sounding exasperated.
“Nipple clamps?” Hope asked.
Grace stared at her for a long moment, and then she pursed her lips and asked, “Hope, are you reading minds now?”
“Wait a minute,” Joy cut in. “You’re reading our minds?” She clasped a hand over her mouth and gasped. “You are reading our minds. What the hell, Hope? How long has this been going on and why didn’t you say anything?”
“I…” Hope shook her head. “I have no idea what is happening.” She peered at Grace. “You did just think that Owen should take Paul to the adult toy store, right?”