Page 40 of Sugar, Spice, and Magical Midlife

He dragged a hand down his face with a groan. “Basically, the evil nobility.”

“Yikes.” I shared a look with Ethyl while Des stared out the window. “I had no idea there was this much unrest among the magical European classes.”

“Things are much different here than in your American bubble,” Antonio said, his frown deepening. “The caste system is strong here. It’s harder for witches to advance if they aren’t born into the right families.”

Was that censure I heard in his voice? American bubble? I didn’t know what else to say, so the words flew from my mouth like vomit. “Oh, that’s too bad.” I worried my words lacked empathy, but I never knew what to say in situations like this.

Antonio pulled down another street and up a narrow, steep driveway. He pressed a remote attached to his visor, and the gate opened to a walled yard. We parked on the side of the charming house I recognized from the pictures. “We here,signorinas. Let me show you your room.”

I slid out of the car, very aware that my dull migraine was still there like a gnome pounding a hammer in the back of my skull.

Des tugged on my jacket and pointed to a rickety old shed in the backyard.

“What?” I whispered.

But he didn’t answer as Antonio ushered us through the back entrance of the house and up a creaky staircase to a room at the end of the hall. He pushed open the door, revealing a quaint room with two double beds and a terrace that overlooked a garden on the side of the house.

“This is bedroom forsignorinasandbambino.” He nodded toward a door down the hall. “Bathroom down there. You must share with my other guests, but they satyrs, so they mostly go outside.”

“Oh, okay.” I inwardly cringed. Share a bathroom with satyrs? I’d better not find a pile of goat turd balls in the toilet.

“My shift is over, but wife still at work.” He stretched his back while rubbing his round belly. “Please, help yourself to food in kitchen, but do not go through locked wooden door.” Shadows fell across his features as a sudden chill swept through the room. “That is la casa for me and wife.”

I swallowed while rubbing warmth into my arms. “Of course. Thank you, Antonio.”

He didn’t return my smile. Odd.

“What’s the wi-fi password?” Ethyl blurted while holding up her phone. “My reception isn’t great.”

I looked from her to Des as he eagerly banged against his iPad screen. “Yeah, it’s slow.”

“No wi-fi!” Antonio snapped as he slammed the door behind him, leaving the three of us alone.

Des whined and Ethyl made a sputtering sound.

“We’ll be too busy to need our computers, anyway,” I said to my son as a way of appeasing him, even though his bottom lip looked ready to fall to the floor.

I gaped at the shut door, confused how Antonio had transformed from a jolly elderly witch into a grumpy old fart. Perhaps he was a bear shifter. I heard they were temperamental. Whatever the reason, I had an uneasy feeling that we shouldn’thave come here. Suddenly, those gnome-roaches weren’t sounding so bad.

AFTER I FLUSHED TWOtiny ball turds and a pile of goat pubes down the toilet and then freshened up, I returned to find Ethyl and Des in their beds. Des was playing video games and Ethyl was swiping her magical dating app.

I walked onto our little terrace, fragrant with all kinds of flowers that bloomed even beneath the light of the moon. I leaned against the low brick wall, looking down at the darkened cobblestones beneath me, and smiled to myself as the sweet sound of violin music filtered from somewhere beyond the rows of ancient buildings with cracks on the surfaces and bricks crumbling in some spots. Somewhere in the distance, a deep church bell rang, so powerful it reverberated my bones. I breathed out a sigh of relief after eight bell tones. I mentally calculated that it was Sunday night. Our date had been two nights ago. How odd it seemed a lifetime ago that Ric had inhaled my popcorn bucket.

The air displaced above me, and I heard Puffy’s excited squeal. I looked up to see the dragon flapping his wings above my head, little rings of smoke following in his wake.

“It’s lovely here, isn’t it?” Ethyl asked as she leaned against the wall beside me.

I pushed off from the wall, worrying the old brick wouldn’t hold both of us. “Did Antonio seem weird to you?”

“No.” She arched a brow. “Why?”

“I don’t know.” I turned my gaze to the cloudy night sky. “I kind of got a vibe from him.”

“A vibe?”

I shrugged. “I can’t explain it, but something seemed off.”

She laughed, tossing her pink ponytail behind her. “You’re not used to foreign witches.”

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