What the Hex (Hex #2)(5)
Author: Jessica Clare

 

Reggie beams that big, cheery smile at me. “You look nice today, Penny. Hope you didn’t dress up for us.”

 

“I just like wearing pretty dresses,” I tell her, pulling off my apron and fluffing my shoulder-length black hair. Today I styled it in a flip so the ends curl up before they hit my shoulders, and I have it clipped back from my face with a tiny pink bow above one ear. My pink gingham dress matches, a retro-cut rockabilly style with a tight waist, a flaring skirt, and off-the-shoulder sleeves. Even in my low heels, I’m nowhere near Reggie’s height, much less Ben’s. “You two sure are tall today!”

 

Ben just blinks at me. Reggie giggles and moves forward to give me a hug. “Come on. Let’s get some coffee, and I’ll tell you all about our proposal.”

 

I flip the sign on the door to BACK IN 1 HOUR and lock it behind me. Reggie and I have gone for coffee many times in the last couple of months. The good thing about CBD Whee! is that the strip mall the store is located in is fairly quiet, which means I can leave during the day and it’s not as if it truly affects the flow of clients. Most people would probably wonder how a CBD store with a bad location manages to stay in business, but only those who are part of the witchcraft community know that it’s actually a front for a spell components store, where we make the bulk of our money. As long as I get those orders out on time, my boss doesn’t care if I disappear for hours on end.

 

This is the first time that Ben has ever come to lunch with us, though, and I admit I’m a little nervous. Between that and the whole “we have a proposal for you” sort of thing they keep bringing up, I’m wondering if our friendship is about to get strange. I hope not. I adore Reggie, and it feels weirdly good to have friends that aren’t in the Society of Familiars. It reminds me that there’s life outside of my small circle, and that’s something I didn’t realize I needed until I met her.

 

We walk a couple of blocks over to the coffee shop, a small chain store tucked down a slightly busier street. Reggie keeps the conversation flowing between us, with Ben silent as he holds her hand, and me on the other side of her. It isn’t until we get our drinks and pastries and sit down at a table that Reggie gives me a sly look. “So, like I said, we have a proposal for you.”

 

“You’re about to ask me to participate in a threesome?” I guess. I mean, it’s weird, but if we can all stay friends afterward, I suppose I’m down. It’d be something different in my life at least. Derek’s comments last night must have really rattled me if I’m considering a threesome with my best friend and her boyfriend just because I’m bored.

 

Ben spits coffee all over the table. Reggie rears back in surprise, her mouth hanging open.

 

“Not that, then?” I ask.

 

Reggie’s mouth snaps shut. “Penny, no! Why would you think that?”

 

“I don’t know,” I say defensively. “You showed up here with your boyfriend and kept talking about a strange proposal for me! Double-yew tee eff, right?”

 

They exchange a look. “It’s not about that at all,” Reggie says. “You tell her, Ben.” She nudges him with her arm. “He’s your friend.”

 

“He’s not my friend,” Ben mutters, but he gets a napkin and wipes down all the coffee he spewed on the table. When she nudges him again, he sighs and looks up at me. “An acquaintance of mine is in need of a familiar.”

 

Oh my god.

 

Oh my god.

 

This is my moment. This is happening. I’m no longer going to be a spell component gopher working for a witch who never wants me to leave the cash register. I won’t have my parents giving me pitying looks on holidays as they race off to take care of their witches and ignore their daughter. I’m going to be part of someone’s life. I’m going to be important. My dream is coming true. I take a few gulping breaths, fanning myself with my hands. “And you thought of me?” I squeal. “That’s amazing! That’s—”

 

Both of them reach over to shush me, casting nervous looks around the coffee shop. “Penny, quiet,” Reggie hisses. “Listen to the whole situation.”

 

Uh-oh. There’s a catch. My excited visions of the future pop like soap bubbles. “Go on.”

 

Reggie glances over at Ben again, and he toys with his paper coffee cup. “So the warlock in question is . . . forbidden from taking a familiar.”

 

I gasp. As the secretary of the local Society of Familiars, I’m responsible for all record-keeping. In addition to dues and meeting minutes, we have a list of warlocks and witches that we are forbidden to serve. For this particular area, there’s just one warlock on the list. “Willem Sauer?”

 

Ben nods once. “Have you met him?”

 

I shake my head, wordless. Oh em gee. Oh em gee. Willem Sauer wants a familiar under the table? And they’re asking me? I’m just about the worst person to be considered for the job. I play by the rules. I don’t color outside the lines. I do everything by the book, and the book very specifically says “do not touch” when it comes to Willem Sauer. “Is he nice?”

 

“He’s a dick,” Ben says abruptly. “But I owe him a favor, and that’s why we’re asking.”

 

Reggie raises a hand in the air. “Before you panic, just know that all we agreed to do was ask around. Please don’t think you’re obligated to say yes in the slightest. But he wants someone to help him, and he wants someone on the sly. I know you’ve been waiting for a while, which is why I thought to ask you first.”

 

I swallow hard, thinking. I should say no. Of course I should say no. The covenant of the Society of Familiars states explicitly that we’re not to work for anyone without going through the society for permission first. That it all has to be orderly and by the book. As secretary, I’m bound to uphold those rules, maybe more so than anyone else.

 

But then I think about Derek’s words. How I’m just like him and how I’m reaching the end of my shelf life and how I’m going to end up being in the society all my life. Always a bridesmaid, never a bride. I’ve had a chance to sleep on it, and the idea is still horrifying. I’m realizing that if I continue on the path that I’m on, that’s exactly how I’m going to end up.

 

And I hate it.

 

“I’ll do it,” I tell them.

 

Both Reggie and Ben look surprised. Reggie leans in, whispering, “Don’t you want a bit more information first?”

 

I’m not sure there’s anything they could tell me that would change my mind. I desperately need a change of pace, and even though this goes against everything I am as a law-abiding aspiring familiar, it’s something I need to do, or I worry my life is going to pass me by. That I’ll end up like Derek, shepherding a bored crowd of wannabe familiars through the system without ever getting to experience it myself. “Tell me about Willem,” I say firmly. “Then I’ll decide.”