Witch In Charge - Celia Kyle Page 0,12

raised his voice. Kelly kept walking, grateful she could catch snippets of conversation without getting accused of being a busybody.

“I’m telling you—” His voice dropped low enough she couldn't catch the rest, then he got louder again. “When she touched me—” More mumbling before she heard his final word. “Weird.”

Who was touching Ronun? The weird jealous feeling hit her again and this time she ran with it. Slowing down a little as she passed them, she strained to hear everything, hoping for more details on who was touching him and why it was weird.

“I don’t know,” Kalliope snapped, as rude as she'd been to Kelly.

“Isn’t that what I paid ten grand for?” he snapped back.

Kelly couldn’t linger to hear more without giving herself away, so she moved off toward some empty tables, her mind spinning over the overheard conversation. She no longer felt jealous at all. Clearly they were having a business meeting of some kind, but that was a hell of a lot of money. Exactly what services did Ronun want a witch like Kalliope to perform? Matchmaking? Some witches specialized in love potions, though Kelly had always considered that cheating.

She passed by the counter and got a blueberry muffin to nibble while she waited for Louie. Ronun’s words still echoed in her mind as she grabbed a table. Picking at the muffin, she wondered when—no, if—Owyn would ever let her perform any truly exciting curse breaking work. Probably not, judging by his gruffness with her. Giving up on the muffin, she considered doing another lap to see if she could gather more intel on Ronun, but that's when Louie finally arrived.

And boy, he didn't look very happy to see her. He was frowning so hard his brows almost met in the center of his face and his mouth twisted downward. When he saw her, she could practically feel his energy focusing on her like a bolt of pure frustration.

“Hi, Louie!” She tried an eager tone, hoping to disarm him.

Instead, his eyebrows shot up to his non-existent hairline and his mouth twisted sideways instead of down.

“Kelly.” It was only one word, but it was delivered with a finality that made her stomach lurch.

When did this become my life? All because I had to help out a friend and keep an innocent man from punishment. If this is what you get for being a hero, no wonder we don’t have many.

As Louie opened with a dressing-down, her thoughts wandered off like a dog from a broken leash. Her “crime” of casting an unsanctioned truth spell in open court was the reason for her being thrust into indentured servitude at the OCJ. It had nothing to do with Louie being on her ass. Louie was on her ass because she had inherited a house with the auric strength of a spiritual grandmaster—and the mental stability of a three-year-old.

“Are you listening to me?” Louie snapped.

“Of course, I am!” Kelly said with enough indignance to cover the fact that she had not, in fact, been listening.

“Okay, I’ll start again, since it’s obvious you weren’t listening.”

Even though Kelly’s instinct was to deny it, she decided to keep her mouth shut. Think of it as a lesson in restraint. Maybe I’m growing up. Only seconds passed before she rebelled against the idea. The part of her determined to prove it false almost bolted from the cafeteria to find the nearest party.

“Kelly,” Louie growled a warning.

“I’m listening.” She snapped her eyes onto his face, determined to engage.

He sighed. “I’ve been talking to Nathan and…”

“Yeah!” She burst in. “What’s the deal there? You never told me I already had a roommate. I didn’t realize I was inheriting a vampire as well as a house.”

“I apologize,” he said, without looking the least bit apologetic. “I didn’t think of it. He’s just such a part of the place he’s almost like a piece of furniture.”

“I’m sure he’d be overjoyed at the comparison,” she muttered.

Louie's soft chuckle lifted Kelly’s spirits a bit. If she could get him laughing, he wouldn’t be able to chew her out. Before she could pull out some truly hilarious material, his expression grew serious.

“No, don’t try to distract me, young lady. I gave you those applications in a certain order. The first few people were the most suitable. You can’t just go off the reservation and take in whoever you want…”

“Wait, hold up. Are you telling me my opinion doesn’t matter at all?” She squinted at him confidently, waiting for the conversation to take its