Page 33 of Midnight Witch

Things just keep getting weirder!

“What’s going on? How come you have Betsy? And—” She stopped and swallowed, a singular truth resonating inside her. “Wait. You remember who I am?!”

“More to the point, she can see familiars,” Violet commented warily.

“But—you’re not a witch!” Mae blurted out at the old woman. “I can tell, since I can see magic cores. You don’t have one.”

“You make it sound like that’s a weakness,” Mrs. Son-Ha said sourly. She watched Mae for a moment, reached inside her coat pocket, and passed her a red ginseng candy. “Here, you look like you could do with a pick-me-up. Follow me. My house is the safest place in this city right now for you people.”

She pulled on the throttle of the Vespa and had traveled a good twenty feet before she realized they hadn’t moved. She stopped and directed a scowl at them over her shoulder.

“Are you coming or not? I haven’t got all night, you know.”

CHAPTER15

Mrs. Son-Ha’stwo-story clapboard house stood like an ominous sentinel at the end of a cul-de-sac in Glendale. They parked behind her Subaru, crossed an immaculately maintained front yard dotted with gnomes with fishing poles, and headed up a short flight of red-brick steps.

Nikolai scanned the dark street as they crowded under the covered porch. It was eerily quiet, even for a Saturday night.

“This place is deader than some of the graveyards I’ve visited,” Cortes observed.

“Ditto,” Vlad muttered.

Mrs. Son-Ha glanced at them as she fished her house keys out of her fanny pack. “There’s a Mahjong competition at the local civic hall. Which is a good thing, considering your present circumstances. Those busybodies would have poked their noses in our business faster than you can bleed a stuck pig.”

“Hey, didn’t Mae say that old ladyis the number one gossip on Long Island?” Miles whispered to Violet.

“Are all Korean matriarchs like this or is it just the people you know?” Cortes asked Mae.

A cacophony of excited barks and yips erupted inside the property when Mrs. Son-Ha opened the front door. Two Chihuahuas, three Shih Tzus, and something that like looked like a cross between a Jack Russell and a poodle shot out of a room off the main hallway and bolted toward them at lightning speed.

The dogs skidded comically on the hardwood floor at the sight of Tarang and Brimstone. They hesitated before approaching with cautious sniffs, their tails down. Dexter yipped confidently in Mrs. Son-Ha’s arms. She released the Chihuahua and took his coat off. Lines wrinkled her brow when she turned and saw them hovering on the doorstep.

“What are you waiting for, an official invitation?” she snapped.

They reluctantly crowded inside the hallway.

Mrs. Son-Ha peeked out at the sky and shivered. “Jeez, it’s not even October yet and it’s already cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey out there. This winter is gonna be a killer.”

She shut the door and locked it.

Nikolai exchanged a cautious glance with Mae while the old lady engaged two more deadbolts.

Mrs. Son-Ha placed her house keys on a hook on the wall and pointed at their feet.

“Shoes off,” she ordered imperiously. “Coats go on the rack.” Her gaze dropped to Tarang and Brimstone. She squinted. “You two are dead meat if you poop in the house.”

The tiger and the fox huffed, affronted.

“I should talk her into working for theBlack Devils,” Vlad told Cortes.

“I know what you mean,” the Columbian agreed. “It’s like her voice is wired to my hindbrain.”

“You have a sharp mouth on you, young man.” Mrs. Son-Ha studied Cortes with a shrewd look. Her gaze shifted to Mae. “You should make him your consort. He has good genes. I see beautiful children in his future.”

Nikolai clenched his jaw. Vlad’s eyes glowed red.

Mae clocked their thunderous faces.

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