Witch In Charge - Celia Kyle Page 0,17

bundled herself down the stairs, scrunching her skirt down as she did.

When she yanked open the heavy door, a blast of bright, early afternoon light seared into her skull, and she held a hand up to shield her eyes.

“Woah.” Even in the harsh light, she could see Ryan and the rest of The Night Sparrows lingering on her porch. “You had a banner one last night, didn’t you?”

“One for the books,” Kelly groaned. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“Yeah, well.” He sized her up. “You know that most people function in the daytime, right?”

“I told you, I’m working nights now.”

It was a weak excuse. She knew that he knew she hadn’t been working.

“Are you guys gonna keep chatting or can we start bringing this stuff in?”

Trevor, the bassist, was no-nonsense. Not a hostile bone in his body, but not much of a sense of humor either. Regardless, Kelly liked him. He was fun to mess with.

“Sorry,” she said, in no mood to play just yet.

She stepped sheepishly out of the way, and the band started lugging all her crap inside. Where did one find friends like that anyway? They’d packed her out of her place and brought it all over while she was sleeping off a party that they'd played at.

I’m gonna have to get them a card or something.

“Afternoon,” Lurella said, nudging something with her toe. “Want us to bring this in too? Not the kind of thing you leave on the porch.”

The keyboardist stepped aside and Kelly’s jaw dropped. It was the gargoyle from Cora’s office. Her sneering buddy.

“Oh, wow,” Kelly mumbled.

“You can say that again,” Ryan said, plopping his box down and hovering over her shoulder. “Cora is gonna shit bricks if she finds out you stole that thing from her office, even if she's on maternity leave.”

“But I didn’t!”

Right?

“Well, it didn’t fly here, girl. So…”

He let the implication hang and went out to nab more stuff to bring in. At least he had the good manners to not look her in the face when he insinuated that she was an alcoholic thief. So, thanks for that.

To be fair, Kelly had done crazier things that she didn’t remember, but she felt certain she would have remembered this. After all, she would have had to get herself into Cora’s office after a house party. That was a big adventure for someone who should have just sat down on the couch with some water, aspirin, and a sleeve of saltines.

The next few hours dragged by as Kelly helped unload her junk. What kind of moron drank like a fish the night—scratch that, the morning—she was moving into a new place? A total moron. But at least her friends were there, and she would be forever grateful they didn't give her too much shit for all the breaks she took. At one point, she slumped next to the gargoyle and rested her head on its shoulder for a super-fast power nap.

“Ummm, hello?”

A young red-headed witch stood uneasily gazing down at her.

Double shit!

Kelly had slated roommate interviews for that afternoon. What the hell had she been thinking going out and getting plastered with so many items on her agenda? What next? Had she scheduled an exterminator too?

“You must be…?”

“Patricia Winklemeyer.”

“Patricia! That’s right. Come on in. And don't mind the movers.” Sounding chipper wasn’t exactly what she had in mind, but why scare off a potential roommate? “The kitchen's the first door on the left. I'll meet you in there.”

When the witch was out of sight, she cornered Ryan with a pleading look. “Would you guys mind finishing up? I've got a thing.”

“Bish, are you serious?”

Again, she broke out her patented ‘please don’t be mad’ smile.

“I’ve got interviews.”

Ryan rolled his eyes so hard for a second it looked like he was stroking out. Then, with a shrug, he kissed her cheek and went off to break the news to the rest of the band. It wasn't as though she'd really helped all that much anyway. Relieved to have one thing off her plate, Kelly went into the kitchen to find Patricia examining a row of old poison bottles on the sill above the sink, glistening in the late afternoon sun.

“These are cool,” she said, sounding like she meant it.

“Yeah, they belonged to…” Kelly couldn’t conjure up which ancestor it was. “Somebody. Won’t you sit down?”

The timid young witch ducked her head in a nod and pulled a chair away from the table. Before she could settle on it though, it shot out from