Page 66 of Bright Dark Curses

“Hope.”

“Okay, okay.” I licked some errant whipped cream off the corner of my mouth as I put my thoughts in order. “The Council sent a witch to test me, but I messed up the spell, and I don’t want her to find me outside the shop because she didn’t like I wasn’t there when she first came to the Tea Cauldron.”

“The witch Council is testing you?”

I took another good bite. Sugar helped with everything, especially stress. “Yup. Covertly.”

“A covert Council witch?”

“She didn’t say she’s from the Council.”

“So how do you know?”

“Bagley guessed it.”

Dru arched her two perfect eyebrows. “Really?”

“They test witches from time to time, apparently. When you think about it, it makes sense. Like those food critics who go to restaurants under false names so they don’t get special treatment.”

“You’ve been watching too much TV.”

“Not true. I’m too busy for TV,” I told her proudly.

“That’s why I caught you watching Surviving in Nowhereville season two on the laptop last week.”

“That’s different. That’s a reminder that we always have it better than someone else.”

“Sure. And how do you know it’s a Council witch and not some kind of code Bagley had with one of her evil witch friends?”

That was an excellent question. “I don’t see how that would work. Even if Bagley had talked with this witch before, or had Hannah relay some kind of message, the shop had customers when she was there. There would’ve been no way for her to try to communicate with Bagley if she thought her spirit still haunted the shop.”

“It’s complicated,” Dru admitted, “but Bagley is the devious sort.”

“Better to be safe than sorry.”

“Finally, you get a saying right.”

I grinned and finished my crepe.

“What kind of potion did the witch want?”

“Immunity potion.”

“Legal?”

“Complicated to make, but perfectly legal.”

“Wouldn’t the witch have asked for dark magic if it was a test?”

“I think they want to test my products, not the state of my soul.”

“Hmph. And you messed up the spell?”

“Ethan called while I was doing it, so I lost my focus.”

Dru wrinkled her nose. “Bad timing.”

“Yep. I had to order a new crystal with rushed delivery.” I brought out my phone and browsed to my order page.

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