Page 101 of The Witch is Back

“It’s a nice place,” he continued, smoothly dropping the last pencil into the box. He stayed kneeling, figuring his height would intimidate. “I’m adopting today, as a matter of fact.”

She glanced at him, blinking as they made eye contact.

“Hallie,” he supplied as if she’d asked. “Took one look, fell in love.”

A smile bloomed on her face like ink in water. “I love her,” she said in a quiet voice that was oddly melodic. “She doesn’t get cross like some of the others.”

“I’ve heard some of them yowl like grumpy grannies,” he said, and smiled when she did. “I picked a good one, then?”

She nodded seriously. “Hallie always lets you stroke her, especially if you’ve had a bad day.”

“You have a lot of those?”

She shrugged. “Not so much anymore. Leah pays me some to help out here, and I get to hang around with people I like.”

“Shouldn’t a nice kid like you have loads of friends?”

“Emma’s my friend. Well—” she changed her mind “—she’s my big sister so she kind of has to be my friend.”

His heart thumped. “Big sister?”

She glanced at him and smiled widely again. “The volunteer group thing.”

“Oh.” He didn’t even know why he’d gone there; the idea of Clarissa bedding down with a human was crazy. Even if, as he’d thought, the girl did behave and look kind of like a mini-Emma. “And you know Leah?”

Sloane nodded. “She’s cool. She has loads of animals. When I’m older I’m going to have five cats and four dogs.”

“That’s specific.”

“You have to consider these things.”

Bastian hid a smile. “Very practical. No wonder you and Emma get along.”

“Yeah, she’s cool, too. She, ah...” She shot him a look. “She’s teaching me all sorts of things about where you guys came from.”

“New Orleans?”

“Yeah. Was it awesome? It must’ve been amazing.”

“It’s a cool place. You’ve never been?”

“No, Emma says it’s not time.”

“Not time?”

Pink ran up the girl’s neck. “To, ah, visit.”

Weird, but maybe Emma just didn’t want to take a human near the witch world. Understandable. “It can be dangerous, too.”

“Yeah,” she said glumly. “They keep telling me that. But I think some things must make up for it.”

Some things? “Beignets can save a bad day,” he agreed.

She cocked her head. “What’s a beignet?”

He choked. “What’s a—Oh, sweet mistreated child. Tell you what, I’ll bring you a beignet next time you’re working here.”

She gave him a shy smile. “I’d like that. Maybe we can talk more about New Orleans. Emma says you’re leaving and I have a bunch of questions before you do.”

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