Witch In Charge - Celia Kyle Page 0,28
a mood. A gathering of witches sat at a sturdy, round oak table.
“I’m not a curse breaker,” Ryan objected.
“None of us are,” Tiffany said under her breath.
“We can’t worry about details like that right now,” Kelly said. “What’s important is that we try. I’ve been studying hard under Owyn, and I think I’ve got a few things figured out.”
It wasn’t a boast exactly, but she hoped it turned out to be true. Setting Ronun free had become her single-minded purpose, and she hoped that sheer willpower would make them all successful.
“Hopefully, this will help.” Kiki reached into her bag and pulled out a large, forbidding-looking volume. It thumped down onto the coffee table in front of them with the resonance of true authority.
“That’s a serious-looking grimoire,” Ryan said. He studied it with a sideways eye, but Kiki merely tucked her chin, looking just a bit embarrassed.
“It’s only a generic one, I’m afraid. I didn’t want to chance bringing one of the more specialized antiques from the shop. Not that I was afraid we’d ruin it or anything, but you never know what one of those old ones are going to do.”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Kelly was itching to get things started, and even a book of generic spells was better than none at all. “We’re breaking this curse tonight.”
There wasn’t a trace of her customary party girl tone, and even Tiffany and Aurora took note. The house itself seemed to gather around her, and the room dimmed and shifted into something far more appropriate to the evening’s proceedings.
The walls under the tapestries took on the appearance of damp, craggy stones, and the place where Ronun sat crouched in his masonry incarnation darkened into a sort of crevice. The whole place took on the appearance of a witch’s lair.
Well, kind of. Most witches practiced their art in the comfort of their homes or in bookstores after dark. Anywhere, really. The notion of a dripping, dank cave was something clean out of Shakespeare. Still, if the house wanted to get in on the act, it was hard to argue. The illusion certainly lent an arcane sort of seriousness to the proceedings.
“Have to say—” Tiffany looked around nodding appreciatively “—this ain’t half bad. Any chance we can keep it this way?”
“We can talk about that later.” Kelly was doing everything she could to keep a firm grip on the proceedings. “Let’s get down to the matter at hand.”
“We’re gonna need a cauldron,” Kiki noted.
“Way ahead of you.”
Reaching under the side table, Kelly pulled up her Instant Pot. She placed it on the table next to the grimoire and dragged the plug over to the rock face.
“Um. Little help?”
At her request, a socket came into view, but Hollow House altered the look so that it blended in with everything. When Kelly turned around, all of her friends blinked at her in disbelief.
“Seriously?” Ryan pointed at the shiny little appliance, the blue screen lighting up his face.
“What? It works. That’s what counts.”
“It’s maybe a little…incongruous,” Aurora said, satisfied to have found the precise word she wanted.
“Well, I’d ask the house to make it something more appropriate, but I’m not sure it really matters what it looks like.”
They all waited for a moment, staring at the Instant Pot to see if it would magically shift into some cast iron cauldron more suitable to the surroundings. Nothing doing.
“I like what you guys have done with the place.”
Nathan, shirtless as ever, lounged in the doorway—or rather, the mouth of the cavern. He sipped lazily on a microbrew and hooked a thumb loosely into the waistline of his pants. The little bit of weight gave just a peek at the sculpted lines of his hips.
“Who. The fuck. Is that?” Kiki stared openly, not caring if she was making a spectacle of herself.
“Hands off, sweetheart,” Ryan hissed at her, straightening up his spine. “Hey, Nathan. Want to lend a hand? We’re trying to break a spell.”
“Cool,” Nathan replied in that way where no one could tell if he actually thought it was cool or pathetic.
“We’re not trying,” Kelly cut in. “We’re doing it.”
“One leads to the other, I’m told.”
Again, Nathan indulged in a sip of beer, and everyone except Kelly laughed as if he’d just cracked the single greatest joke of all time. Amazing the effect an incredible set of abs could have on a room.
“There's an open seat here,” Ryan said, patting the chair next to him that Kelly had been sitting in.
Nathan leveled a look on him