Page 33 of Seven Secret Spellcasters
She smiled and texted back.That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.
Grans came into the living room. “Ready to go?”
“Sure, let me leave a note on the whiteboard for Abigail. Just in case.” Mia made a note about going to the library and the time. She might as well stay busy since she couldn’t leave the academy. She sent good thoughts to Mark and went to join her grandmother in the library.
Two hours later, Grans said she thought she was close to having the link fixed.
Mia sighed and walked around the table one more time, looking for even a strand of ectoplasm or fog. She’d missed the last one, and the link to the archives had snapped when the ghost attacked, pulling Grans out of the spirit world and back into her body.
Mia could see the effort this in-and-out-of-the-archives work was causing her grandmother. She’d have to nap soon so she could run the ceremony later. At least, Mia thought her grandmother would be running it. She’d never asked. One more thing that would be a total surprise to her if she was wrong. But at least, after tonight, she would have her life back. No more hiding in the school worried about what some deranged witch would do for more power. The one thing Mia didn’t want to be when she grew up was someone’s battery. Either metaphorically or in real life.
That’s why she’d felt so comfortable in her relationship with Isaac. She’d thought their ability to have full lives outside of the relationship was a sign of maturity. Instead, it gave her ex-fiancé the time and space to cheat. She and Trent’s lives were as intertwined as hers and Isaac’s had been, but they were on the same page with the relationship. Sometimes a little too closely entwined, though, especially like tonight, when his dad and brother would be at her ceremony.
A flash of white brought her out of her thoughts, and she stepped in front of the materializing ghost, blocking her from affecting the archive connection. Mia swung the sage wand. She’d already burned through one wand. “Oh, no, you don’t.”
A moan, and the ghost disappeared. Another formed to her side. This was like the Whack-a-Mole game. She swung again, but the ghost dodged and went straight to the connection feed. Mia dove across the table and shoved the sage wand into the middle of the male ghost. He groaned and faded away.
Mia stood from the table. She rubbed her elbow, which she’d hit on the way down. She might have a bruise before long. The wand was burning down, and she didn’t have the time to run to her potions lab to get another one. They’d thought Grans would be done before one burned out. The second one had been for backup. Life Lesson Number 498: Always be triple-prepared.
Maybe she should write these lessons down for future kitchen witches as they were going through their learning stages. She could even publish the book on Amazon. Humans would think it was satire, but the witching world might not find it as funny as she’d hoped.
“Get me the candy bar from my tote.” Grans was out of the trance and watching her. She looked like she could sleep for a week. As she ate the chocolate, she told Mia what had happened. “A ghost must have gone through my connection during the last time or so I was connected. With him lost in the archive, I had to find him, trap him, and bring him back through. Did you see him?”
“I’m not sure. I’ve been fighting off a lot more ghosts than we’d planned for. I was almost out of sage.” Mia wanted to make sure her grandmother knew she hadn’t been just sitting around, waiting for her to come out of the archives. “Why were they trying to pass through?”
Grans finished her candy bar. “I don’t think they wanted to go anywhere. I think they wanted to keep me from seeing something over there. Now I have to find out what that was.”
“I have to ask. This isn’t normal, right?” Mia ground the fire out of the sage wand and put it with the other in the cauldron they’d brought from the potions lab.
Grans gathered her things. “No, this isn’t normal at all. Which is why it has me worried. I need to take a nap. Wake me up in two hours for lunch. Then we can dissect what happened this morning and why. Maybe you can see what I’m missing.”
There seemed to be a lot happening that shouldn’t be. Mia’s spinning plates in her head clicked up to the next speed. Whatever was happening, Mia was going to crash when they figured this out.
Unless there was another crisis.
And it seemed like there was always another crisis.
CHAPTER14
Dressed in a long white dress, her hair up on her head with a few curls drifting downward, Mia stared at herself in the mirror. She didn’t feel beautiful every day. She didn’t take the time to slather on make-up or curl her hair, just to put on sweats and work in the kitchen. Or, if it was her day off, jeans and a T-shirt to lounge around on the couch and watch reruns.
Jessica, Isaac’s new wife, looked like she was walking the runway every time she’d seen her.
Tonight, though, Mia thought she might be able to give Jessica a run for her money. Dinner had been nice, but a little stilted, with Steve glowering in the corner and Finn quietly watching everyone. Mia assumed the girl was in fight-or-flight mode, waiting for something bad to happen. Mia wondered how much of her story Finn had decided not to share with her new employer and now, landlord. Even when Mia had been single, she hadn’t been alone. She’d had a roommate or two, but she’d always known that if she needed anything, her parents or Grans would come to the rescue. Finn didn’t appear to have any kind of safety net. She sent a prayer of guidance for Finn up to the Goddess. And protection.
Mia had just finished smoothing her dress when a knock alerted her it was time to go downstairs. They’d set up in the gym, using the decorations for tomorrow to their advantage. She thought it looked lovely. And if there was anywhere her life was going to change, she wanted her journey to start here. Here in the school that she’d saved from being demolished and rebuilt into a strip mall for a frozen yogurt shop, a coffeehouse, and an axe-throwing bar. And probably a nail salon.
Instead, she’d used the commercial zoning for her cooking school, and her delivery and takeout business, but primarily, the academy was her home. For her and a few strays. A knock sounded again, but this time Trent called out, “Mia? Are you ready?”
She shook the thoughts and memories out of her head. No time to be waxing poetic about the building. She opened the door, and Trent’s jaw dropped. “I’m ready.”
“You sure are. I mean, you look amazing. You should wear that dress more often. At home. When we’re alone.” Trent held out his arm.
“You’re a nut.” She kissed his cheek, then wiped off the lipstick. “You clean up nice yourself.”
“This old thing?” Trent smiled. “Thanks for noticing. Everyone’s set up, so let’s go make you official.”
“And once we do, I can leave the house without worrying about being kidnapped for my powers?” Mia followed him to the apartment door.
