Page 25 of Castings & Curses

“Yeah, he got you so hot and bothered, I was sure you’d have jumped his bones by now,” Pippa said.

“He runs every time he sees me.” Morana pouted. “I can’t understand why.”

The rest of the coven burst into laughter.

Even Corwin and Jared were grinning, Natalie noticed.

“You raised an army of spiders the first time you met him,” Rowan pointed out.

“I’d run too if I were him,” Amari whispered.

“He’s a vampire,” Morana exclaimed. “I had no idea a couple spiders would freak him out.”

As if she’d raised the spiders on purpose. More likely, Morana had simply lost control of her powers due to the hot-and-bothered situation.

“It was way more than a couple,” Jo said dryly.

“And they all happened to be dead,” Annika said with a giggle.

Jo beamed at her, no doubt thrilled her mate was fitting in so well with the rest of the coven.

“So your coven name hasnothingto do with distinction,” Corwin said, grinning at Natalie.

She just rolled her eyes. “Have you been pondering that all this time? Just now figured it out, did you? Well, good for you. And let’s be clear— we doeverythingwith distinction.”

“Even cum,” Pippa said cheerfully.

* * *

“Oh, no!”Soraya wailed. “Someone save the kitty fast!”

While Bygul wasn’t prone to panic attacks, he had to admit he agreed with Soraya. They needed a hero or this cat Tivali swore was purrfect for their witches was going to end up a very scary-looking alligator’s lunch.

“I can’t watch,” Soraya moaned, slapping a paw over her eyes.

It happened so fast, Bygul almost missed it.

“Did—did that cat justswatthe alligator?” Muezza asked.

“Twice!” Tivali said smugly.

“I must be seeing things,” Bygul said, “because Iswearthe gator’s backing away!”

And itwas.

The massive alligator slithered backwards into the water, watching the cat the entire time, as if it feared another attack.

“You’re right,” Bygul said abruptly. “The cat’s purrfect. Are you sure none of the humans around here are taking care of it?”

“Pretty sure,” Tivali said.

“And who cares if they are?” Soraya demanded hotly. “Who lets a cat roam around gator territory? As if it could ever win those fights!”

“Uh, it pretty much just did,” Muezza pointed out.

“Not the point,” Soraya growled.

In this case, Bygul happened to agree.

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