“Someday, when we’re both sure we don’t want any more kids.” The pair walked quietly for a second. “I’m a little worried about missing the sun, but everyone says I won’t. You know what Orrin says he misses the most? Drinking tea.”
“No way!”
“It’s true. Isn’t that weird?” They laughed at the sheer absurdity of it, but when they fell quiet again, Kiki’s mind immediately tied itself up over the thief again.
“Man,” Sara said, “this thing really has you bugged, huh?”
“What makes you say that?”
“We’ve been walking for two blocks and you haven’t said a word. If you keep your brow furrowed like that, you’ll be old before your time.”
“Witches are supposed to be old.” Kiki tried to blow it off, but Sara wasn’t about to let it go.
“Girl, please. First of all, you’re an Enchantress, not just some run of the mill witch, so you can give that shit up right now. An Enchantress is beautiful by definition. Second, you can’t live with roommates for the rest of your life. Eventually, you’re going to have to stop running away from love. Your Resonate is out there. I know it.”
“I’m not running away from anything!” Quickening her pace, she stuffed her hands in her pockets and hoped the moonlight wouldn’t reveal the blush that burned across her cheeks.
“You’re an Enchantress, Kiki. Get yourself a man.”
“I’m not just going to cast a spell over the next guy I see to make him believe I’m his soul mate. I couldn’t live like that. It wouldn’t be right.”
“Other girls do it.”
“I’m not other girls. Besides, if I couldn’t keep a thief out of the store, how can I keep a man at my side?”
“Enough with the thief,” Sara butted in. “Look, we can take care of this. With that off your plate, maybe you can relax enough to let a man find you. I’ll see if Orrin will put Thayne on your little problem.”
“And who exactly is Thayne?” Kiki had to chuckle. Why did vampires all have such extravagant names?
“Thayne is Orrin’s right-hand man. Let me tell you, that man knows how to Get. Shit. Done. He’s got a knack for it.”
“Wait a minute. You’re saying I ought to bring in some kind of vampire ‘fixer’?”
“He’s really something, but there’s a catch.”
Ugh. There always was. “What is it?”
Sara stopped walking and squared up to her friend. “You can’t be around when he’s there.”
“What? Why not? Is Thayne the kind of person who needs absolute privacy to work his secret vampire ways or something?”
“You just can’t be.”
“But it’s my shop.” And Kiki wanted to see this person caught.
“Look, I’ll have to get Orrin to talk him into it as it is. He’s not going to want to do this in the first place.”
“Sara, what the hell are you talking about?”
Sara heaved a sigh as if she hadn’t been the one to volunteer Thayne in the first place. “Because he hates Enchantresses. Like, he hates them. With a passion unrivaled.”
“That’s funny. Passion is what we do,” she quipped.
“I’m serious.” Sara gave her a firm stare. “If he’s going to do this favor, we’re going to have to sort it out so you’re not around.”
“So, what’s the deal with this guy? Why does he hate us specifically?”
“Nobody knows,” Sara put her hands up. “Whenever anyone even brings up Enchantresses, he gets all dark. Shit, it took him a while to warm up to me, and I’m just a regular witch.”
“He never talks about it at all?”
“The most I’ve ever heard him say is that he had a bad experience with one. That’s it. After that, he clams up.”
Kiki hated it but wished his case was unique. By virtue of the kind of magic they practiced, Enchantresses tended to inspire strong feelings in people. Sometimes they created those really strong feelings, which was part of the problem. All it took was one bad Enchantress to give them all a bad name.
“Here.” Kiki took the key to the shop off of her ring and handed it off. “If you think we can make this work, he can have tomorrow. I’ll need to be in on Thursday to handle deliveries. After that we can set up a schedule of some kind.”
“What’s up with Thursday?”
“I’ve got a shipment of free-range Eye of Newt coming in that I’ve got to sign for.”
“Can’t someone else do it?”
“In blood.”
“Got it,” she jerked her head in a quick nod and then after a beat gave a little shimmy. “Mmm… Blood.”
“You’re ridiculous.” They were still laughing when they got to the house they used to share. Hearing voices coming from the kitchen, the two headed back to see how much of the conversation they could catch.
“Hey! You made it.” Hazel beamed from her seat at the table. As a fae, she was nearly always shining, but tonight there was something extra.
“Yeah, sorry to be late.” Kiki waved at the group. “Trouble at the shop.”
“Again?” The other roommate, Trinity, was in full-on wolf mode. Of course, they had scheduled the interview for a full moon. Werewolves could be among the more divisive roommates, so if the new girl at the table was cool with it, she might just be a winner.
“Yeah. I really don’t want to talk about it right now.”
“I’m sure.” Hazel rolled her eyes. “Anyway, this is Gayle.”
“Hi.” Gayle gave a funny little wave. “This is a really great house.”
“It is,” Sara agreed. “I really hated to leave.”
“We really hated to lose you,” Trinity added. Even in partial-wolf form, she was the absolute sweetest.
“Why did you move out, if you don’t mind my asking?” Gayle questioned with a curious smile.
“Not at all. I got married!” She waved her ring and flashed those fangs again. Even in a world full of real magic, rings still had the power to make a table full of grown women get all giggly.
“So, what shop is it?” Even though she was trying to be polite, Gayle had been eyeing Kiki since she’d walked in.
“Oh, I own Witch Way Supply Co. We’ve been having some issues…”
“Witch Way?” The new girl blanched. “Rumors say the owner is an Enchantress. You’re not…are you?”
“I am.”
Dammit, they could all see by Gayle’s horrified expression that this wasn’t going to go well.
Gayle stood, clearly trying not to fly out of her chair. “I knew it. When I saw you, I knew you were. This isn’t going to work.”
“Sure it is,” Trinity tried to keep things smooth. “It’s not a big deal. Kiki is the most chill, nearly asexual Enchantress you’ll ever meet.”
Kiki wouldn’t exactly call herself asexual. She was just in a dry spell—pun not intended.
“Look, I’m really sorry, but I can’t. Not to be rude, but I can’t live with an Enchantress.”