Page 30 of Gone Hunting

“Only the greatest hag you’ll ever find,” Liam says over Koda’s, “Liam’s nutso aunt,” explanation.

“She’s not nutso,” Liam fires back. “She’s just a little eccentric.”

“Eccentric means you act a little funny or maybe dress up in that cosplay crap,” Koda says. “Eccentric doesn’t mean you blow up anyone stupid enough to knock on your door.”

Liam bats his hands. “That was just the one time,” he says. “And your hair grew back just fine. Besides, I told you she’s hard of hearing. She wouldn’t have zapped you like she did if you’d spoken up.”

Liam’s explanation does nothing to ease Celia’s worry. “What is she, exactly?”

Liam frowns. “I told you. The greatest hag ever.”

He sniffs the air, tilting his head from side to side when he detects Celia’s confusion.

“You don’t know what a hag is, do you?” I ask.

“Sure, she does,” Liam answers for her.

Gemini eyes Celia carefully. “If she does, it’s only from lore, not our world.”

He keeps his voice gentle. I appreciate it more than I can say. Celia is anxious and worried about her family. Her arrival makes no sense and like Dad said, there was a large amount of magic the night she materialized in the woods.

Liam flips over the chair, straddling it and giving Celia the onceover. “You seriously aren’t familiar with hags?”

“I assume you mean some kind of witch?” she asks me.

“Yes,” I reply. “I think what you saw right before you disappeared was a witch—or some kind of spell wielder.” I motion to Liam with a tilt of my chin. “Like Liam figured, to deal with magic, we have to go to someone who knows it well. Hags, like witches, are born with their power. But they tend to be . . .” Psycho is the first word that comes to mind. I don’t say it because Mimi is Liam’s aunt. “What I mean is, they’re a little . . .”

“Eccentric,” Liam offers, as if I missed his word choice the first time.

“Mischievous,” I offer, instead. It’s the most polite way to describe hags, especially Liam’s bat-shit-crazy relative.

“That’s one way to put it,” Koda mutters. He props an elbow on the table and turns to me. “Can youcallBellissima?”

“Oh! Or her daughter, Genevieve,” Liam suggests. “She’s hot.”

“Liam, put a sock in it,” Koda tells him. He motions to me. “Well, can you?”

“I’m not authorized,” I tell him.

“Then her daughter, Genevieve, like Liam said.”

“Koda, powerful or not, she’s too young,” I remind him. “Plus, everything she does has to go through her mother first.”

“It’s protocol,” Gemini agrees. “Aric would be crossing a line and we would be risking exposing Celia. Mimi is many things, but she won’t report Celia.”

“Are you sure?” Celia asks.

“She has no ties or loyalty to anyone,” I assure her, casting a glance at Liam. “Except maybe family.”

Koda tosses his napkin aside. “Can’t you think of something else?Anything else?” He spits out a curse. “Tell me you’re not seriously thinking about visiting Mimi?”

“What choice do we have?” I ask. “I can’t call the head witch without breaking protocol, or handing Celia over. Another strong and sane witch—”

“Sane being the right word,” Koda mumbles.

“May be willing to help,” I continue, ignoring him. “But they have no loyalty to us and even if we could trust them, they’ve likely been called upon to deal with the rising darkness.”

“You seem really hesitant about reaching out to Liam’s aunt,” Celia points out.

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