Page 100 of Witch Please

“You’re cooking in my place for two weeks, but yeah. There’s no reason for us to worry about taking sides anymore. She’s still our grandmother, but she’s—”

“A hateful, manipulative old witch?”

Clem closed her eyes with a sigh. “Yeah. It’s so hard to reconcile with how awesome she was when we were kids. Guess we have to remember that just because she was nice to us, it doesn’t mean she didn’t hurt other people.”

Danica nodded, pulling the blanket up around her shoulders. “Agreed. I haven’t decided if I’m cutting her off entirely yet. I probably need to talk to Mom more. That’s where the problem started. Gram raised us believing that our mothers were weak—that they didn’t have anything of value to teach us. Maybe she didn’t say it outright, but—”

“It was insidious, this slow and careful indoctrination. Fuck!” Fists clenched, Clem leaped to her feet. “I need a shower.”

Before her cousin could dodge into the bathroom, Danica opened her arms. “Hug it out? We’ll always be best friends, even after we mate for life.”

“Ugh, fine.”

As she stepped closer, she spied several sex marks on Clem’s neck and shoulder. “Something you want to tell me, Clementine Odette?”

“If youeverdrop my middle name again, I won’t be responsible for the consequences.”

Danica stifled a smile. Her cousin freaking hated her middle name and the fact that Auntie Allegra hadn’t realized her initials spelled COW; everyone had teased her in kindergarten, leaving pictures of cows all over her desk. Clem would never have anything monogrammed in her life—what a terrible struggle.

“You didn’t answer the question.”

With a groan, Clem buried her face in her hands. “I’m in so much trouble.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I can’t stop sleeping with him!”

Her eyes widened. “The hunter him? Gavin Rhys.”

“Yeah.”

“Fuck,” Danica said.

“That’s precisely the problem. It’s like I’m bewitched.”

She shared her appreciation for the joke by quirking a smile, but she stayed on topic. “I guess that’s one way to distract him. Not the path I would’ve chosen, but maybe…” Trailing off, she couldn’t decide how to complete that sentence because honestly, even if the Waterhouse curse wasn’t real, that just meant Clem could safely be with a mundane. None of that made hooking up with a witch hunter safer or more advisable. And this wasn’t like her normally logical, organized, in-control cousin. If the affair wasn’t life-or-death stakes, maybe she’d even be in favor of it.

Clem sighed. “I’ll figure it out. And for the record, you’re forgiven. We’re good.”

“Okay. Just remember that we’re here if you need us. Oh! I just remembered. I promised Titus I’d get our friends together. I’ll ask in group chat to see what night works for everyone.”

“Leanne will bang one of his buddies,” her cousin predicted, heading for the stairs.

“That…is plausible. Take today off. Tomorrow, too. I’ll work from open to close for the next week if you want.”

Clem turned. “You sure?”

“Definitely. You need to sleep.” She didn’t say it aloud, but her cousin looked like microwaved shit with circles under her eyes and her makeup smeared like Harley Quinn after a hot night. “And I owe you big-time for my drunken bender and the vanishing act.”

“True. You do. Okay, I’ll take a few days off. Try to get my head on right.”

Danica hadn’t showered at her mom’s house, so she cleaned up quickly and crept out of the house like a shadow. To preserve Clem’s peace, Danica didn’t even go in the kitchen. Everything was different now. She didn’t need to resist Titus, so she’d stop by the bakery every day if she felt like it. And today, she did.

There was a line, even this early. At least it wasn’t out the door like it had been most mornings when she queued for cinnamon rolls. Maya greeted her with a reach-across-the-counter hug. “Morning, sis.”

“Wow, okay. Can I get a regular vanilla light latte and a ham-and-cheese croissant?”

Lucy popped up from stocking the cups in the café area. She looked happy in the uniform, delighted to have work to do. “On it!”

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