Page 22 of Love's a Witch
Blue looked up at me, a cheeky grin on his face, full well knowing what he was doing.
“Och, you’re just the bestest boy, aren’t you? Can you fly to me?” I asked, holding out my arms. Blue launched himself into the air and flew to me, slamming into my chest with all the aplomb of a sodden paper towel, and I gasped out a laugh as I caught him.
“Right, graceful you are not. But you don’t need to be, do you, sweet thing?” I beamed down at where he leaned back in my arms, his tongue lolling out of his mouth, my heart full.
“Welcome home, Blue. I think we’re going to be best friends.”
CHAPTER SEVENSloane
We only had two fire accidents with Blue, which were quickly snuffed out, and he received loads of reassurance that he was still the best emberwolf in all the land. Somehow, I had not managed to stay awake until midnight and had dragged myself upstairs, Blue flying in front of me like a fat bumblebee drunk on nectar, before collapsing in bed. You would have thought after years of wondering what my magick was going to be, I’d be bouncing out of my skin to wait for the clock to chime midnight, yet the long days of travel to get here in time for my birthday had caught up with me, and I’d crashed.
Or maybe I was just avoiding reality.
For one night longer, at least.
The smell of smoke teased my nose, and an alarm bell rang in my head. My eyes shot open to see Blue, his wings tucked around him, slumbering blissfully between my feet. His little paws moved, scrambling at the blanket, chasing something in his dream. He grunted, a small stream of fire erupting from his nostrils, and singed the fabric of the blanket.
“Oops,” I said, reaching over to tamp out the burning edges of the fabric.
I could see how this might become a touch problematic. Did they make fireproof sleep blankets? He looked so cute, snoring away. When he let out a wee roar, fire once more pluming from his nostrils, my eyes widened.
The last thing I needed was to burn the house down on my birthday.
“Blue,” I hissed, nudging him as I beat out the flames on the blanket. “Wake up, buddy.”
Blue grunted, coming awake mid-snore, and blinked sleepy eyes up at me.
“Hey, bud. It’s time for breakfast. Are you hungry? Do you want some cheese?” We’d learned last night that cheese was his favorite food, and none of us could fault him for his taste.
At that word, he shot off the bed, caught himself mid-leap, his wings springing open and keeping him from hitting the floor. From there, he did a lazy lap of the room, his wings sparkling in the sunlight streaming through the window.
Wait, sunlight. Did that mean the snow was gone?
Bounding over to the window, I peered out, only to see the neighbor from yesterday clearing his sidewalk. When he saw me at the window, he repeated the same two-fingered salute from yesterday. I waved cheerfully,again. This was our thing now.
The formerly rolling green hills were still completely covered with a soft blanket of pristine white snow, a few streams of smoke twirling from the turrets of the castle and into the sky, and fat cotton-puff clouds hung above us all. And the sun shone, reflecting icy diamonds across the snowcapped roofs. Knowing the respite was brief, because irrespective of our curse or not, this was still Scotland, I threw on my Keep Calm and Carry a Wand jumper over my pajamas and tore downstairs. Blue zoomed ahead of me, his tongue flailing behind him as he flew, his mouth open in a smile.
I could just picture him saying,Wheeeeeeeee.
It was like he was new to flying and having just as much fun with it as we were watching him fly. Broca had informed me that he was around two years old, so well past his baby years, but still quite young for his kind. A sweet old witch had taken him in and trained him before Broca had brought him home to us.
“Happy birthday!”
I skidded to a stop at the bottom of the stairs, a room full of people staring back at me, and Blue swerved in midair, caught unawares by the crowd. His wings flapped against my face as he tried to land on my shoulder, but he was too big and too clumsy to maneuver that, and we ended up tangled together in a heap on the floor. I cradled Blue to me while he nervously licked my face, shooting looks over his shoulder at the group staring in shock at us.
“Um, happy birthday?” Nova asked.
“Oof,” I said, shifting Blue in my arms, scrambling for purchase as I tried to stand. Why were there so many people in our house? I glanced down at my faded pajama pants and sighed. So much for any sort of dignity this morning. Finally, standing, I nodded to the room.
“Hello, um, everyone. Quite a gathering we have here at”—I slid a glance to the clock on the wall in the kitchen—“seven thirty in the morning.”
“Yes, well, no time to waste. Have you figured out your magick yet?” Mandy Meadows—for some reason I could only think of her by her first and last name—stood and crossed to me. She’d changed her pantsuit. Today’s was a rose-petal-pink tweed with black and white stripes, and she’d added another strand of pearls at her neck. The Charms were here, including Raven and another woman I hadn’t met yet.
“Is that an emberwolf?” Tam asked. She must have run here—like a maniac—given her pink cheeks, exercise leggings, and red fleece jumper. “Cute little fella.”
“This is Blue.” I turned to the room, so Blue’s face showed, like I was showing off my new baby to the world. I guess I kind of was. “Broca gave him to me for my birthday. Blue, say hello.”
Blue gave a sharp yelp—a sound caught between a bark and roar—and a spear of flame shot out and singed Mandy Meadows’s suit. Her eyes widened, fury rippling across her face, and I quickly patted out the small flame on her arm.
