Page 95 of Boss Witch

St. Claire was beautiful in the summer, bittersweet that she wouldn’t be able to show Gavin how pretty it was when the leaves turned. The town went through an awkward stage just before the snow fell, like a kid in junior high, all barren limbs and brown earth, but when everything was blanketed in white and the holiday lights sparkled, winter was magical too.

No wonder there are so many witches in the Midwest.

Clem stopped by the grocery store and set the food up. By five, she was ready. By six, she was freaking out.

Her family arrived en mass, shortly after half past six. Already, she could cut the tension with a knife, with Allegra glaring daggers at Barnabas, and Gram sending him sympathetic looks, like he was the big fish that got away.

Enough.

Clem took control of the family meeting. “I have a few things to say, so I need you all to listen without interrupting. I’ll take comments once I’ve finished, okay?”

“Fine” and “okay” came back with various levels of enthusiasm. It didn’t matter if they liked it, only if they consented to hearing her out.

“First, this is for Mom and Dad.” She seldom called them that, so they both stilled. “It’s been ages, and I need you both to stop now. Stop using me as a game piece, trying to one-­up the other.” When they would’ve interrupted, she held up a hand. “I don’t care if that’s not your intention, it’s how I feel. And I have the floor right now.”

Barnabas nodded tightly, and Allegra had tears in her eyes again, but she inclined her head as well.Good, they heard me.

Clem went on, “Let’s stop, okay? Don’t let Gram stir the pot. Just ignore her.”

Gram let out an outraged noise. “Clementine Odette, I’m sitting right here. I have a few things to say too! I heardallabout what you did. How dare you—­”

“Ask you to be accountable for your actions?” That certainly wasn’t what Gram had been about to say, but Clem was on a roll, and she talked over the old witch. “You’ve hurt all of us long enough. You’re passive-­aggressive with Auntie Min, you cut my mom down constantly. You tried and failed to control Danica, and you’re constantly manipulating us. I wanted everyone here to hear what I’m saying.” She paused to let her words sink in. “Do we acknowledge as a family that there’s a problem with how we interact?”

Everyone nodded, even Barnabas. Gram’s face tightened, and it looked like she was about to kick off.

Danica shook her head. “Let her finish, Gram. You agreed.”

“This is the end of my patience,” Clem said, shooting her cousin an appreciative smile.

It wasn’t easy for Danica to stand up to Gram, but she had Clem’s back today, as promised.Sisters for life.

Since Clem had the floor, she’d speak her mind fully. “Gram, we’ve warned you repeatedly, yet you still pulled that crap at dinner. And for what? To shame Mom because she doesn’t live up your standards of what a witch should be? Guess what, Ilovemy mom. And I’m strong enough to fight, so let’s go.

“If I have to, I’ll cast a spell to block you. I’ll even go to the mundane police and get a restraining order. Whatever it takes, I’m done letting you hurt people I care about.”

Gram crumpled, her face drooping with a complex mixture of heartbreak and fury. “Where’s this coming from? I can’t believe you have the audacity and bad manners to speak to me like this. I basically raised you, and you—­oh.” She clenched a fist. “I’m so angry!”

“Fine, you’re angry. But I don’t care if you pray mad, stay mad, and die mad. That’s your choice. Or you could choose to be different. To care about your family and accept them as they are instead of only giving a damn about your bloodline. How this turns out is up to you.”

***

In a matter of weeks, Gavin’s life became unrecognizable.

Not only did he settle into the slightly down-­at-­heels flat in the building across from the small campus, but he also attended classes during the day. He submitted his resignation to the university in Wales, making his sabbatical permanent. It had been difficult anyway, balancing his father’s expectations against the day job, and in the end, he hadn’t been able to do it.

Gavin hadn’t seen his old man since the showdown in the car park weeks ago. The council had taken him, but he had no notion if a man like Jason Rhys could be rehabilitated. At base, he trusted the witch’s council would act with more compassion than his father.

It was odd to get a formal education on a part of his heritage he hadn’t known about, but apparently, it wasn’t unknown, as ten other witches shared his curriculum. The classrooms were warded carefully, so mundanes couldn’t wander in or overhear any of the information. Gavin befriended a few of his classmates, who ranged in age from past secondary school to a man old enough to be a pensioner. Sal reminded Gavin a bit of Leonard.

“When they said I’m a wizard with machines, I had no idea they meant it literally,” Sal joked one day after class.

They hadn’t discussed their major attunements, but Gavin guessed Sal was a technomancer. It seemed rude to ask how he’d gotten to that age without knowing he was a witch. But maybe he’d been raised by mundanes? Gavin suspected unexplainable events must’ve dogged Sal’s steps, odd things that couldn’t be accounted for by science or logic.

Three weeks into the program, there was a knock on his door toward evening. He’d been emailing with Grandad, and he’d even provided his address, but he wasn’t prepared to find him standing in the corridor outside his flat.

An older man waited beside Grandad, brown-­skinned with curly gray hair and a well-­trimmed beard. He wore wire spectacles and a bow tie. Gavin liked him on sight. He was as proper and put together as Grandad was scruffy. Time hadn’t changed that. His grandfather still favored navy jumpers, even though the weather was too hot for it. He was tall and thin, sea-­weathered from twenty years on a boat, hair gone mostly white, but his eyes twinkled as he pulled Gavin into a mighty hug.

“Surprise,” he said, pulling back.

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