Big Witch Energy - Kelly Jamieson Page 0,17
comfortable leather furniture, and a patterned rug in shades of navy, gold, and orange that picks up the hues of the wood floor and wall paneling. I take a seat on a sofa.
“Who needs anything?” Joe asks. “Drinks?”
Romy holds up a half-full glass of wine. “I’m good, thanks.”
Cassie walks in. Romy shoots her a surprised look. I wince. Romy’s no doubt wondering how she cleaned up so fast. Cassie holds up a glass of wine. “I’m fine.”
Joe moves to the bar. “Trace, would you like a scotch?”
“Sure.” I don’t really like the stuff, but Joe enjoys it when I have a glass with him.
“Magan, go get the bottle of rosé,” Felise says lazily.
“Who was your servant yesterday?” Magan doesn’t move.
Felise sighs. She doesn’t move either.
It’s a standoff. They do this all the time. We wait.
“Well then,” Cassie says cheerfully. “It’s lovely getting to know you better, Romy.”
“Thanks.” Romy smiles. Then her gaze lands on Felise’s wineglass as she leans forward to pick it up. It’s full. I watch Romy squint, the corners of her mouth pulling down.
Jesus. I shoot Felise a warning glance. She shrugs.
“We have something to talk to you about,” Cassie says.
My gaze bounces from Cassie to Joe to Romy and back to Cassie. Oh no. Oh fuck. Here we go.
“Okay.” Romy leans back, crosses her legs—damn, she has great legs—and sips her wine.
My gut tells me she has no idea what’s coming.
As the most tactful of all of us, Cassie has clearly been nominated to drop the bomb.
“You mentioned that your mother didn’t talk much about Joe,” Cassie says, her tone neutral.
“No.” Romy tilts her head.
“She didn’t tell you why we broke up,” Joe adds.
Romy shakes her head.
“Well, I’m going to tell you,” Joe says. “This might be, um…” He looks at Cassie.
“Surprising!” she says.
Romy blinks.
“Ilena and I had known each for about six months,” Joe says. “We were really young—I was only twenty, she was nineteen. I had the crazy idea we’d be together forever.”
Cassie’s eyes flicker, but she keeps her smile in place.
“I felt she needed to know the truth about me.” He pauses. “Like I said, I was young.”
Romy’s chin dips. “The… truth.”
“Yes.” Joe rubs his ear. “The truth. About who I was. Who I am.”
Romy’s smile is uneasy, her eyes shifting around the room. The air around us has become heavy, Felise and Magan unnaturally quiet.
“The truth,” Joe murmurs, dropping his gaze. He swirls his whiskey. “The truth is…” He looks directly at Romy. “I’m a witch.”
Romy’s mouth quirks. A nervous laugh falls from her lips. Then she sees no one else is laughing. In fact, everyone is dead serious. Including me. Her smile fades. “What?”
“I’m a witch.” Joe’s voice is stronger. He holds her gaze as he sweeps an arm out. “We’re all witches. When I told Ilena that, she reacted… pretty much as you are now. Clearly you don’t believe it.”
“I… uh…” Her eyelashes flutter again.
“It’s okay,” Cassie says gently. “It’s a lot to take in. But please, listen.”
“Ilena didn’t believe me. She thought I was seriously deranged. When I kept trying to explain it, she got scared. I told her I could prove it with a simple spell or conjuration. So I conjured up a milkshake for her.” He pauses. “I think she nearly had a stroke. This wasn’t something she could get her head around. Ilena was lovely and had many good qualities, but she didn’t have a lot of imagination.” He winces apologetically.
“No.” Romy swallows. “That’s true.” She tosses back the rest of her wine. I stand and take her glass. Over at the bar, I refill it from the bottle in the ice bucket there, then place it back into her hand, curving my fingers over hers briefly to make sure she has a grip on it. She seems… stunned. Of course she is. Who wouldn’t be?
“She just couldn’t accept that there are other worlds… that beings with magical powers exist. We live among the rest of you… but we have our own community. Our own traditions and customs.”
“This isn’t… real,” Romy says faintly. “Why are you doing this?”
“It is real.” Felise speaks up. “Please believe us, Romy.”
Romy turns wide eyes on her half sister, then swivels her head over to me.
I nod.
She closes her eyes. “You’re all completely batshit.”
Felise chokes on a laugh, and I can’t stop my lips from twitching into a smile.
Romy’s eyes fly open and she gives us a shocked stare. “You’re laughing about it?”
“I don’t blame you for thinking that,” Felise says.