Page 22 of The Witch is Back

“Not yet.” Tia shook back her shoulders and gestured at the counter with a small flourish. A cocktail shaker and several ingredients appeared in a puff of purple smoke.

Emma arched an eyebrow. “Feeling a Bewitched vibe, T?”

“Gives it a little something extra.”

Leah clapped her hands together. “Cauldron cosmos. That means something happened at the party. Dish.”

“Get me a drink first,” Emma muttered, slumping.

Leah reached out, fingered the material of Emma’s dress as Tia got started on the mix. “This is what you wore?”

Emma slid her a look.

“I know, but c’mon. This belongs in the section politicians’ wives shop in. Demure, boring. Camouflage for the dead.”

“That’s her go-to.” Tia picked up an ice pick and hacked at a block, keeping an air shield up around it to save them from flying ice.

“You know, I’ve heard some friends are nice.” Emma split a sour look between them.

Tia added a pinch of something pink that sparkled and a large splash of some liquid that came in a pink bottle. “Real friends tell the truth, and truth? It hurts, baby.”

Barely restraining from rolling her eyes, Emma nodded at the notes on the counter. “Do you need help?”

“No, all done, really.” Leah bundled them together. “I’ll put these in the safe and when I get back, I want to hear everything.”

“She will, too.” Emma watched her friend go. “Last time she made me describe the appetizers.”

Tia snorted. “She’s not the only one. Sloane has an unbelievable appetite to know everything.”

“Just remember she’s barely thirteen.”

“By thirteen I’d cast my first hex.”

“Well, she’s human.”

“Half.”

“With no powers.”

“Yet.” Tia shook her head. “Not relevant yet, in any case.” She capped the cocktail shaker, picked it up and then let it go in midair. It hovered there. She nodded to Emma. “You always know when it’s the best consistency.”

Emma didn’t have the best control over her limited telekinesis, but she’d had a lot of practice with this. She flicked her fingers and had the cocktail shaker vibrating like a cat on a washing machine. Leah came back in and watched, delight curving her face.

“I’ll never get over that,” she said, with a wistful tone. “Can I try mixing the next round?”

Emma quit shaking, reeling in the cocktail shaker until it rested on the counter. “Sorry. I have to get back for Chester.”

“Then next girls’ night.” Leah threw herself back onto her stool. “I think I’ve almost got it.”

Tia and Emma shared a look. The last cocktail that Leah had made had had way too much jasmine powder in it and they’d all ended up without a voice for a few hours.

Leah caught the exchange. “Hey, come on. It was better than the time before when I made Tia vomit blue.”

A snorted laugh escaped Tia as she conjured three chilled martini glasses and began pouring the concoction into them. “You think bringing that up is going to help?”

Leah accepted her glass. “Shows some improvement, right?”

“She’s like sunshine bottled.” Tia passed Emma her glass. “You clearly didn’t grow up in the witch world.”

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