The Whimsy Witch Who Wasn't - Donna Augustine Page 0,26
them seemed to be serious.
Musso pointed to the candle. “Touch it and imagine your finger is a straw, sucking up a warm drink on a cold day.”
I placed my finger on it and imagined the straw. Nothing happened. I moved my finger closer to the flame and tried again.
All three of us stared at the candle, Zab and Musso seeming as stumped as I was.
“How old are you?” Musso asked.
“Nineteen.”
“And you’ve never done magic before?” Musso asked.
“Just at the factory.”
“She’s probably just too full. She’s got to unload some magic. It’s like eating too much. A few days with Hawk should fix that.” Musso waved his hand in the air, seeming to call the matter solved, and went back to his desk.
“Or not,” Belinda said, as she raised her eyebrows and flipped through a magazine on her desk. “Maybe you won’t be the savant Hawk thinks, but I’m sure he’ll let you stay on as a maid or something. Always garbage to be emptied and floors to be mopped, after all.”
Zab leaned closer. “Don’t mind her. She thinks she owns the place because she sleeps with Hawk.”
She looked like the type of girl a man like Hawk would date. Perfect hair, perfect clothes, perfect nails. The works. While I stood here with hair that wouldn’t lie flat no matter how many irons I took to it. My wardrobe, which had never been good, had taken a nosedive, not that she’d had to pick out such horrendous clothes. No one would ever notice me standing beside Belinda. The only person who seemed to think there was a reason to feel threatened was her. Maybe she’d had to grow into her looks? Ugly-duckling syndrome or something? Didn’t matter. She’d soon realize we weren’t in competition and things would be fine.
I looked about the place, eager to move on from the candle issue.
“Is there anything for me to do? I’m supposed to help out.”
“Yes,” Belinda said. “There’s a broom closet over there. After you’re done with that, the shelves need dusting.”
I kept on smiling as I made my way to the closet and took out the broom. This was going to be a long few weeks.
I was drinking tea in the back room, blissfully alone. It was the same place Hawk had brought me to test my magic with the gem. Now it would act as my sitting room while I was here. Zab had lit the fireplace for me before he left, and the place was quite cozy. Musso and, more importantly, Belinda had left shortly after him.
I’d been alone here just long enough that I was beginning to think Hawk wouldn’t show up at all. I wasn’t certain if that was good or bad. If I didn’t get this thing that he needed done, I’d never be free of this place, and Rabbit’s fate was tied to mine. But boy was it nice to get a second alone where I could pretend things were still normal.
Plus, I had some interesting reading: Advanced Spells Made Simple Enough for Even a Whimsy. Besides the title being insulting, it might be useful. If Hawk wasn’t going to show up and train me, there was some training I needed to do on my own.
I scrolled through the list of spells: warts, bad luck, good luck, love, hate, greed, happiness. Still no puddle jumping. What was the problem with these books? I needed to puddle-jump. I continued to scroll and paused on “eavesdropping.” Now that might come in handy, considering my current predicament.
I flipped to the page and read the spell. That was it? I could remember this. Maybe the title was fitting. This was pretty simple.
The back door opened, and I slammed the book shut as Hawk stepped inside.
The moment he walked in, he brought that energy with him. The kind that filled the room. It made sense why people avoided him. There was something altogether unsettling about it, almost as if it put you on the edge of your seat. For some reason I couldn’t begin to fathom, I sort of liked being there, hanging on to the edge, not knowing what would happen next but always feeling like something would. Maybe it was growing up with chaos? I’d thought I longed for peace. I’d made my life as calm as possible. But being near him, it was like taking a shot of adrenaline. Hawk called to something fundamental in me that needed to die for good.