Page 77 of Boss Witch

Chapter 24

The next day, Clem called Ethel to see if the hunter team was still gone, following the Herring-­Bird with complete conviction.

They’d checked to make sure the crew had rolled out the night before, but Ethel felt the need to scan the motel in case they saw through the ruse and doubled back. Twenty minutes later, the older witch called back to confirm. “No sign of them in the area. I think they’re in Michigan, but I won’t risk a finding spell. That might give the game away.”

“Understood. Thank you. I hope they go all the way to the Yukon,” Clem muttered.

“Are you holding up okay?” Ethel asked, unexpectedly prolonging the call.

“I’ll survive,” she said firmly. “Talk to you later.”

This will buy us some time.

She still had to worry about Gavin, but if he’d planned to move against her, he would’ve enlisted the aid of his fellow hunters, not let her coven turn them aside. Since he’d kept his mouth shut, maybe she had some hope of reaching him. That was a weight off her shoulders, and it let her focus on catching up on repairs at the shop, though after last night’s casting, even simple spell work left her light-­headed. She needed time to replenish her energy, but delays would impact customers who might take their business elsewhere. Fix-­It Witches had built a reputation for prompt, flawless service, and their clients didn’t care that hell had broken loose in Clem and Danica’s personal lives.

Just past noon, she knocked back an energy drink and finally got around to checking the company email. The inbox was full of the usual spam and solicitations, along with a few inquiries about possible service calls. Clem answered those right away. At the bottom of the list, she spotted Gavin’s name.

Quickly, she skimmed the message and froze, staring at the screen for long moments. She couldn’t believe what she was reading at first. It sounded like he was proposing an alliance, maybe even like he wanted to protect her. There had to be a reason he was using an email address that was mostly numbers instead of sending a text like usual.

Has he broken away from the order?

She couldn’t decide how to respond. This didn’t seem like a ruse. Capture would be straightforward with so many hunters arrayed against her, no need to lure her into a trap. Odds were, this was a sincere olive branch. A frisson raced through her, illogical excitement over the prospect of seeing him again, even under these circumstances. It felt like much longer than a few days since she saw Gavin last. Finally she wrote:

Come to my place at four if you get this in time. If not, tomorrow will do.We’ll talk more then.

Then she dove back into work until Danica arrived later to relieve her. She hesitated, trying to decide if she should share the news with her cousin. Hell, it felt like pulling teeth when they’d had that convo where Clem admitted her relationship with Gavin had gotten thorny and complicated.

So, this time, she took a breath and chose not to isolate herself. “I’m meeting Gavin later,” she said.

Both Clem’s parents had been too wrapped up in their personal drama to listen when she was having a hard time, and it became second nature for her to deal with shit on her own. Among the coven, she was the least likely to confess she was having personal problems, the least likely to ask for help even if she needed it desperately. Her can-­do attitude, somewhere along the way, had become an “I don’t need anyone else” lifestyle.

Danica dropped her phone with a clatter, and worry clouded her brown eyes. “Are you sure that’s safe?”

“Not entirely, but judging purely by behavior, if he wanted the others to know about me, they would. He let them go off on a wild goose chase—­”

“Maybe literally in this case,” Danica cut in, likely trying to lighten the mood.

Clem managed a halfhearted smile. “IhopePriya picked a goose. That way, if they catch up to our Herring-­Bird, it’ll be a real battle.”

“Right? I watched this video of a goose who fights everybody—­wait, what we were talking about again?”

“Gavin. And how he didn’t tell his cronies about me. I think that’s a strong enough statement to warrant a discussion.” Goddess, she hoped her faith wasn’t misplaced.

After a moment, Danica nodded. “Are you sure you want to face him alone?”

This is exactly why I don’t share stuff with people.

“I’m positive. Things good with the CinnaMan?” she asked, almost as an afterthought.

“We’re great. I’m concerned about you right now…and the rest of the coven. I’ve been quietly freaking out since the new witch hunters showed up.” Her cousin gave her a searching look, genuinely worried, not being meddlesome.

Gotta get better at accepting care.With effort, Clem refrained from snapping,I’m handling it.Because she understood her cousin wasn’t casting aspersions on her capability. This wasn’t subtext; it was just an emotional response.

“It’s understandable. The situation is…”What’s the right word? Tense? Terrifying? Unnerving?They all fit, so she lifted a shoulder in a shrug.Danica seemed to get it, no need to ramble on.

“Good luck,” her cousin said, patting her shoulder.

Grabbing her bag, Clem headed out. The weather was scorching hot today, muggy as well, and she was soaked in sweat by the time she trudged home. Goliath was on the porch again, but he cried in disappointment over finding Clem instead of Danica and ambled back toward Hazel Jeffords’s house with his tail swishing the air.

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