place that spoke to her. There certainly wasn’t a bit about it that she remembered.
“Let’s start the tour upstairs.” Together, they edged up the wheezing steps, and little bits of her past began to filter back to her as he spoke. “There are three bedrooms up here and you can pick which one you want to stay in. Your old one…”
“Is on the left,” she finished for him. “I thought you said you rented this place?”
“We've tried. But, as you saw, the house can be…temperamental. Evidently, it’s been problematic when housing witches that aren’t, well, you.”
“Really?”
She was flattered. Despite being closed, a puff of wind roiled up from the window they stood by. The lace curtain fluttered up and came to rest around her shoulders. It felt somewhere between a cape and a hug. This rickety old place might be just the thing she needed in her life.
“Yes,” he said, disentangling her. “The place has absorbed untold quantities of magic from its occupants over the centuries. It's the coven's responsibility to always keep at least one witch in residence to keep it healthy.”
He opened the door to what had once been her room, and as Kelly stepped inside, a wave of nostalgia swallowed her. It had been painted, probably many times, but the walls rippled slightly, as if attempting to reject the new colors. As soon as she cast her eyes on the tiny child-sized bed, the covers turned down and the pillow fluffed itself.
“Well,” she said, barking out a laugh. “I guess the question of where I’m staying is settled.” She looked up to the ceiling with a broad smile. “Thanks!” It was hard to be certain, but she felt sure that one of the light fixtures winked at her. She appreciated the welcome from the house, but made a mental note to get her bed from her dorm later on.
When they stepped back into the hallway, a wrinkle puckered the carpet, catching Louie’s foot and sending him sprawling into a narrow table. He let out a yelp, but when he turned back, the carpet lay smooth. For the second time, Kelly found herself covering a laugh at the way her new home seemed to dislike the funny little man.
“Why not just head down to the kitchen and finish all this, shall we?”
Judging by the way he gripped the banister as if his life depended on it, he was clearly ready to be done with the whole mess. She didn’t blame him. It was far too early to take a tumble down the stairs.
“So why exactly is the place empty?”
“Hmm?” Louie was far too intent on edging to safety on the ground floor to really listen.
“You said the coven kept this place rented by witches. But it's pretty obvious this place is empty.”
“Oh, that.” As he reached presumed safety, he let out a barely audible sigh. “Not quite a week ago, the house kicked out every witch in residence.”
Kelly’s eyes opened wide in surprise.
“It did what? How?”
“Nothing too serious. Locusts. Boils. Blood running from the taps. I think they all kind of took the hint.”
“And when was this exactly?”
“The day you turned twenty-five.”
Interesting.
They arrived in the kitchen, where an almost foot-high stack of papers awaited them on the table. Kelly was in no mood to go through contracts and quailed at the hours ahead with this pencil pusher explaining everything.
“Now,” Louie said, all business. “You’re going to need roommates.”
He clapped his hand on top of the stack of what she realized were rental applications. She breathed a sigh of relief that he wasn’t going to require her signature on every page.
“I am?”
“Mmm-hmm,” he nodded. “Witches. Two of the best ones we can find to help strengthen the house. We have two hundred of the most suitable applicants here, the best and the brightest on top. I think we should make our selections today, if possible. Shall I order lunch?”
The pile of papers resumed its loathsome place in her heart, and her stomach curdled at the thought of food after her boozy night. Before she could answer, another startling gust ripped through the closed room. Actually, to call it a gust would be doing it a disservice—what rushed around them was nothing short of a whirlwind.
It ripped the entire dossier of candidates out from under Louie’s hand and sent them showering down around their ears. While the executor was clearly unamused, Kelly couldn’t help but laugh as the room snowed with a chaos of documents. As they all came to