Page 22 of Castings & Curses

ABRA-CAT-ABRA

PEPPER MCGRAW

CHAPTER1

“I foundthe purrfect earthbound cat for our witches,” Tivali announced, her whiskers practically quivering with excitement.

All things considered, Tivali was a fairly decent matchmaker, which meant her definition of purrfect probably wasn’t far off from Bygul’s.

Of course,hewas still the top matchmaking cat at Pawsitively Purrfect Matches, but Tivali was an acceptable, though rather distant, second.

Honestly, it could be a lot worse.

It could be Soraya standing in front of them, announcing her selection.

The goddesses know they’d be in trouble then.

“Okay,” Bygul said. “Tell us about this cat.”

“Maybe we should go see her instead.”

“Why?” Bygul asked suspiciously.

“Because you’ll never believe me unless you see her in action. Trust me, this cat is one of a kind.”

“Fine,” Bygul sighed. “Where exactly are we going then?”

“The Louisiana Bayou.”

“The Bayou?” Soraya exclaimed. “Do you have any idea what the humidity’s going to do to my fur?”

“Lead the way, Tivali,” Muezza said, his tail twitching in a manner that told Bygul he was thoroughly amused at the thought of Soraya’s imminent bad fur day.

* * *

Natalie absolutelyadoredher coven’s name.

The name had come about shortly after her coven of five moved to Zero, Kansas. Within a week, Rowan and Jo had walked into town, bringing their total members to seven, a number historically accepted as the minimum required to be listed on the Association of Witches membership roster.

Not that any of them cared about joining some fuddy-duddy witches’ association, especially when most of them, at one point in time or another, had been exiled from a coven listed on that roster.

Regardless of their feelings about the association, though, all of them agreed they needed a name for their newly formed, newly settled coven.

They also agreed it should start with Zero (for obvious—and hilarious—reasons), but could not agree upon the exact name.

Therefore, one evening several weeks after arriving in Zero, the coven gathered around the fire pit behind their coven house with the express purpose of coming to a consensus.

While plowing through several bottles of wine, they tossed out increasingly ridiculous ideas.

Things began innocently enough with The Zero Coven being suggested—“It’s simple and to the point,” Jo explained, but things deteriorated fairly quickly from there as the ideas became more and more outrageous.

“How about The Zero Control Coven?” Tempest suggested a couple hours and a number of bottles into the conversation.

“Okay, now, let’s not exaggerate,” Natalie said. “We have more control thanzero.”

“Speak for yourself,” Morana said.

“Well, then, if we’re going for honesty,” Pippa said, “I vote for The Zero Orgasms Coven. After all, we’ve pretty much doomed ourselves by moving to this town of no eligible men—or women,” she added hastily when it appeared Jo and Rowan might both protest. “Honestly, the involuntary abstinence might soon have permanent effects on my libido.”

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