Page 23 of Seven Secret Spellcasters
As Mia closed and locked the library door, Grans patted her arm. “Now, was that so hard? It’s important to keep your channels clear of negative energy. Especially when they’re so close to where you sleep at night. Ghosts have been known to get a little aggressive when they think they are being ignored.”
Mia decided to ignore that statement. “Abigail said I need to invite my circle for Thursday. What does that mean?”
“Your circle of advisors. The ones who have helped you so far. Only you know their names before Thursday’s event. Except for me. You have to invite me since I’ve been training you. And Abigail, of course.”
“Can I invite Trent? Or will that out him to the coven?” Mia hated secrecy, but this was one secret she thought was important to keep. Except she’d already told Mark. She needed to get Trent alone so he knew that Mark knew. And this was why she hated secrets. She was horrible at keeping them.
“It’s your circle. Humans can be invited, but they rarely are. It wouldn’t look odd to the coven. You two are a couple, and Trent knows about magic, even if he isn’t supposed to have powers.”
Mia nodded. She hadn’t told her grandmother about Trent, but she’d known. And when Cerby and then Buddy showed up, that cinched it. She opened the apartment door to chaos.
Trent and Steve were yelling at each other in the living room, with Levi trying to keep the brothers from coming to swings. Mia could hear Abigail and Thomas yelling at each other in the kitchen.
Christina was holding a barking Cerby back from attacking Steve’s ankles, and Muffy was hiding behind Christina. He ran to Grans and begged to be picked up as soon as Mia and Grans stepped inside. Mr. Darcy was up on the mantel, his back up, and spitting at the men who were still yelling at each other.
Gloria was laughing.
Mia had one skill she’d learned early on the playground of Roosevelt Elementary. She put it to use now, and with two fingers, she whistled loudly, breaking up both fights.
“What in the world is going on?” Grans held a shaking Muffy. “You all sound like you’ve gone crazy.”
CHAPTER10
By the time the fighting had stopped, Abigail had sent Thomas and Steve out of the apartment and back home. Levi had gone along with the men, after kissing Christina goodnight and promising to be back tomorrow. Now, without the father and two of the sons, the rest of the group sat at the table.
“What on earth started this?” Mia looked around the table.
Abigail met Trent’s eyes, and he nodded. She took Mia’s hand and said, “Dear, we found out that Steve put a listening spell on you when he arrived. He’s been monitoring everything you’ve said or done the last few days.”
“He what? I thought he passed on his powers to Trent?” Mia was beginning to think that the action of passing your powers was more of a ceremonial act than an actual one.
“Steve showed no signs of having any magic since he’d completed the transference when he went to law school. But Thomas knew. All along. I’m going to have a long talk with my husband about keeping secrets from me as soon as your initiation is complete. But now we have to be concerned with keeping you safe.”
“Two days, and this will be behind us,” Trent said as he pulled Mia into a hug. “Let’s just get through the next two days.”
Mia closed her eyes and leaned into his strength. “Okay, so you know what I said to Mark. And you probably know Mark’s secret too. We need to keep that quiet.”
“I’ll make sure Steve knows not to let that out. He has a vested interest in us keeping his secret as well.” Abigail dished up spaghetti as she talked. “He told his dad about the spell this weekend when he was caught monitoring Mia on his phone while they were fishing. He said he’d canceled it, but then he went crazy tonight when you told Mark about Trent’s powers. That’s when it all came out.”
“Dad always treated Steve differently,” Trent said as he passed a bowl of spaghetti to Grans. “He was always Dad’s favorite.”
“I can’t deny that. I think it was because he came first. Then, when you two came so close together, you boys bonded, and Steve was the odd guy out. It didn’t help that there were seven years between you and him. He didn’t have much in common with two babies. There’s a lesson here for all of you. If you’re having more than one child, and I hope you do, have them all close together. Your life will be chaotic and messy for several years, but then you’ll have time for yourselves.”
“Levi and I haven’t even talked about kids.” Christina blanched as Abigail talked. “I’m still busy creating a career, and Levi hasn’t even decided on one.”
Mia shook her head. “Don’t look at me. We’re not even engaged. Talking about kids is off the table. Especially since we have Cerby and Buddy. I’m not sure having a toddler around a young dragon or hellhound is a good thing.”
Grans patted Abigail’s hand. “Don’t worry, Abigail. Grandbabies will show up sooner rather than later. Not to change the subject, but tell Mia about your circle and your initiation. It’s been so long since my own, I’m not sure I remember all the fine points.”
As Abigail talked, Mia started a mental list of those whom she wanted to invite to join Grans and Abigail in her circle. Her mother, Theresa, had already told her not to invite her. The farther away from magic and Magic Springs for her, the better. Christina would be her honorary human member. Mia had almost told Christina about her adoption when they’d started talking about kids, but Grans had changed the subject. By the time the evening was over, she had at least the start of a list.
After Grans and Abigail went to bed, Trent went out in the backyard to let Cerby play with Buddy. Christina went to her room to call Levi and talk about wedding plans. The girl had a binder she kept adding to. This wedding was going to be massive. Mia hoped Levi was up for it.
When the parking lot alarm went off, Mia watched as Finn got out of a large Ram truck. She grabbed the Tupperware dish of spaghetti and a bag of cookies and headed downstairs to meet her.
Finn opened the door and stepped back when she saw Mia. “I’m sorry, did I wake you?”
Mia waved her inside. “Don’t be silly. I wanted to bring down some spaghetti in case you get hungry before breakfast or want to have something available for tomorrow’s dinner. I cleared off a shelf in the fridge behind the takeout counter for you to use. You can put groceries in there, too, and anytime you want to cook, just tell Abigail to leave the kitchen open for you. Of course, you’re also welcome to eat with us.”
