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  “So there are other covens? Are they here in Western Woods as well?”

  Lita smiled. “There are dozens of covens, yes. However, they generally live in other magical towns. Most magical towns where witches live are dominated by a single coven, although in some of the larger towns, two, and sometimes three covens all live together.”

  “Wait, there are more magical places that just here?”

  “Of course. There are hundreds of magical towns located around the world. Each has its own unique residents, however, paranormals are allowed to travel freely between each. There are access points to each in both the human world, and in other paranormal towns.”

  This was totally crazy. It was going to take a while to get used to this, for sure.

  “So, how am I going to learn to be a witch?” I asked. “I mean, you did that cool spell, but I don’t know any of those sorts of things.”

  Lita frowned slightly. “That is going to be the biggest challenge here, I think. We have a coven school, of course. But it’s designed for small children. Witches generally complete their formal education by the time they turn fourteen. There are advanced magical instruction courses for those looking to go into a career that involves more complex magical skills, but of course, you’re nowhere near the level to be accepted into those. And quite frankly, I don’t think anyone involved would enjoy you joining the class of four-year-olds to learn basic magic. However, I have an idea.”

  Lita pointed her wand towards the door, which shone a forest green color for a split second before Amy opened it.

  “Yes?” she asked politely.

  “Amy, would you mind coming in here for a second? I have something to ask you.”

  Amy did as she was asked, giving me a small smile as she made her way over and stood at attention in front of us.

  “I have something to ask you,” Lita said. “Tina here has absolutely no experience with magic whatsoever. I obviously don’t want her joining the four-year-olds learning to use their magic for the first time, and I was wondering if you – perhaps with the help of the other girls your age – would be willing to bring Tina up to speed in your spare time.”

  Amy’s dark eyes shimmered with excitement; despite her serious demeanor she couldn’t quite keep the excitement off her face.

  “Really? You want me to teach a complete beginner how to do magic?”

  “Yes,” Lita said with a smile. “You’re a very talented witch, and I think you would be best suited to teach Tina. Perhaps with the help of some of the other girls?”

  “Of course, I would love to,” Amy gushed. “Tina can come and live in our home, as well. We have that spare bedroom, after all, ever since Anastasia left.”

  “Good,” Lita nodded. “So that’s settled. Let me have a little bit more of a chat with Tina, and when we’re done here I’ll leave her with you.”

  I gave Amy a shy smile, and she practically grinned back at me. She could obviously barely contain her excitement as she nodded and left the room.

  Lita gave me a kind smile when the door closed behind her once more. “Amy is one of our most naturally talented witches. She can be a little bit intense, but I trust that she and the other witches she lives with will be able to teach you properly.”

  “Thanks,” I said quietly.

  “I know this must all be a lot to take in,” Lita said kindly. “I can’t imagine how you must be feeling right now. Why don’t I leave you with Amy, and you can try to get settled in?”

  I nodded. “Sure.”

  “If you have any things you need from the human world, you can go back and get them in the morning.”

  “I don’t really have much,” I said softly. It was true. There were some pictures of my parents that I would treasure forever, but other than that, to be honest, I didn’t really have all that much back in Seattle. After all, I saved all of my money so I could go to college.

  Did this witch town have college?

  Lita stood up and I followed after her as we made our way to the door. “Please, come by anytime if you need anything. I’m the head of the coven. I’m here to help you, even if strictly speaking you’re not necessarily from our coven. But you’re a witch, and we’re going to take care of you.”

  “Thanks,” I managed, giving Lita a smile. This was still very, very overwhelming.

  As we passed out into the main hall once more, I noticed Chief Enforcer King was back. Her face was lined with worry.

  “Chief Enforcer King needs to speak with you urgently,” Amy said to the coven leader.

  “Of course,” Lita replied with a curt nod.

  “There’s nothing wrong with me being here, is there?” I asked, worried that the Chief’s arrival here had something to do with me.

  “No, don’t worry,” King told me. “This new development has nothing to do with you.”

  “Amy, feel free to leave your post for the day and get Tina settled. I can handle things here.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Amy replied, and I half expected her to throw in a salute or something. The two older women went into Lita’s office and closed the door behind her.

  “I wonder what’s going on,” I asked, shooting a glance at the now-closed door.

  “Do you want to know?” Amy asked with a mischievous grin.

  “Well, we can’t, can we?”

  “That door is sealed with magical powers to stop anyone from listening in, but I figured out a spell ages ago that lets me listen in anyway when things get boring. You have to promise not to tell anyone though, ok?”

  “Deal,” I agreed. Amy grinned.

  “Good. Jupiter, I really do wonder what is said by the leader of the coven of thunder. Hear her words and let me listen.”

  I heard Lita’s voice suddenly, although it was like she was right next to us instead of inside the other room.

  “Murdered?” she asked.

  “Yes,” Aria King’s somber voice replied, sounding equally close. “He was found strangled outside The Magic Mule, where he’d spent the evening.”

  “What’s The Magic Mule?” I asked Amy.

  “The local bar,” she replied, shushing me with her hands so we could keep listening.

  “That’s terribly tragic. I’ll let Myrtle know first thing in the morning.”

  “We need to keep this under wraps as much as possible. We haven’t had a murder here in years; I don’t want paranormals to panic.”

  “Especially not with our new arrival,” Lita pointed out, and my eyes widened. That was me.

  “Exactly. I believe Drake was with her the entire time until he brought her to me, so there’s no way she could have done it, but you know the way people here are.”

  “Right. I’ll make sure she’s made aware of what’s happened, and that she should keep her head down until this is solved.”

  “Good, thank you, Lita. I’m going to head back to the crime scene now.”

  “Kill this spell, or it won’t end well,” Amy whispered, brandishing her wand once more and waving it at the door. Instantly, the voices disappeared, a second before the door opened once more and Aria left, nodding at us as she strode quickly back out.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Amy whispered to me and we followed Aria out into the dark night.

  Chapter 6

  “Did I hear right? Was someone murdered? Also, where are we going?”

  “Yeah, it sounds like it. Myrtle is – was, I guess – married to Philip Vulcan, one of our coven members. He wasn’t exactly the greatest wizard ever, and from what I’ve heard he spent almost every night at The Magic Mule, but I can’t say I’d heard he was involved in anything that might get him killed. As to where we’re going, I’m taking you home.”

  “Lita said you have roommates?”

  “She did,” Amy nodded, and I realized then that Amy had probably listened in to the entire conversation between Lita and I. Of course she would have; I was a new witch who had shown up in the middle of the night. “Ellie works as a cook at Hexpresso Bean, the
local coffee shop. Sara is between jobs at the moment. Her magic is, well, inconsistent. She’s very good on the broom, though.”

  “And you work for Lita?”

  “I do, I work as her assistant. It gives me time to study; I’m working on some advanced magical theory courses with the intention of eventually teaching them.”

  “Cool,” I said, impressed. Amy sounded smart.

  “Our house is just here,” Amy said, motioning towards a cute wooden chalet with green shutters and a large patio that stretched across the entire ground floor. “Come on in.”

  I did my best to follow Amy quietly into the house, not wanting to wake up my new roommates. I figured that probably wasn’t going to make the best impression. Amy led me towards the back of the room and into a bedroom.

  An owl flew over and landed on Amy’s shoulder, and while I tried not to stare or point it out, I just couldn’t help myself.

  “Umm… that’s an owl… and he’s on you,” I said, as the grey bird peered at me curiously. I couldn’t help but notice his eyes looked a lot like Amy’s.

  “Oh yes, this is Kevin. He’s my familiar.”

  “Right. Familiar. I made a mental note to ask what a familiar was later; I just didn’t think my brain could handle any more information right this second.

  “This one’s yours,” Amy said, motioning into the bedroom. “The bed is already made. I’ll be here when you wake up and we can get you settled in a bit more.”

  “Thanks,” I said gratefully, a wave of exhaustion washing over me. The events of the night had obviously caught up with me. Amy closed the door behind her as she left, and I didn’t even bother turning on the light or changing out of my clothes before absolutely collapsing on the bed.

  I woke up a few hours later to sunlight pouring through a window. It took me a split second to realize where I was, as the events of the previous night came flooding back to me.

  Had that all really happened? Surely, it was all a dream. And yet, here I was, in an unfamiliar bedroom, with a turquoise-and-white color scheme – white bedframe and sheets with a turquoise duvet, white walls with turquoise curtains, rug and armoire – wondering if maybe I’d just gone insane. That was definitely a more likely possibility than the idea that I was actually a witch, right?

  I yawned, and while a part of me really, really wanted to crawl back into bed and go back to sleep in the hopes that this time I’d wake up in my normal single bed back in Seattle, another part of me was now too curious to sleep, and I eventually decided to head out into the main part of the house.

  I wandered into the kitchen, following the delicious smell of baking, where I found a half-dozen cinnamon buns on a plate, along with a hand-written note next to them.

  “Hi there, new roomie! Sorry I wasn’t here to meet you, but I hope these rolls make up for it. Try to convince Amy to come by Hexpresso Bean later and say hi.”

  There was a smiley face, and a scribbled name: Ellie.

  I smiled. It looked like my new roommates had been told about my middle of the night arrival.

  I went through all of the cupboards in the kitchen until I found a plate, and I grabbed one of the cinnamon buns and began to dig in.

  The taste was heavenly, with half melted cream cheese icing dripping down the sides of the delicious pastry. There was more than just that though; it was like with every bite my energy levels grew. By the time I had finished the cinnamon bun, I actually felt like I had gotten a full night’s sleep. I looked at the rest of the bun suspiciously. There had to be magic involved in making these, right?

  Just then, a tall, slim woman with bright red, curly hair, freckles, and huge green eyes made her way into the room.

  “Oh, hi! You must be Tina. I’m Sara,” the woman said, grabbing a plate from the cupboard and a cinnamon bun of her own.

  “It’s nice to meet you,” I said. “And it’s nice of you to let me live here, too.”

  “Of course! Besides, there aren’t nearly enough witches our age in this coven. Most of the coven witches are older, so it’s nice to finally have someone else to hang out with.”

  “Well, I don’t know how much fun I’m going to be to hang out with. After all, I only found out a few hours ago that I’m a witch, and I have absolutely no idea how magic works.”

  Sara shrugged. “That’s not a problem. I’ve been doing magic my whole life and I still mess it up constantly.”

  “Does that mean it’s hard?”

  “It depends on the person. I find it hard. I was always much better at physical activity than magical studies. I might not be able to make a potion to save my life, but I can fly a broom better than anybody who lives in Western Woods.”

  I grinned. “Can you teach me how to fly a broom then? That sounds awesome.”

  “Of course! In fact, this morning when Amy was doling out assignments to teach you, she figured that broom flying was definitely my domain.”

  Amy chose that exact second to walk into the room. “Good, you’re up. How are you feeling?”

  “Honestly, when I first woke up I kind of thought all of this had been a dream. Also, is there some sort of magic in those cinnamon buns? I feel like I’ve gotten a full night’s sleep since I’ve eaten one.”

  Amy gave me a sly smile. “It’s good that you noticed. Yes, I told Ellie about last night, and she figured that when you woke up you probably wouldn’t be feeling at your best. So, she added an energy boosting potion to the recipe.”

  “She left a note saying that I should stop by Hexpresso Bean and say hi.”

  “We can do that, of course. We should also get you some new clothes, too.”

  I looked down at the clothes that I was still wearing from my last shift work, which seemed like it had been weeks ago: a plain black tank top, and a pair of leggings with simple ballet flats. I supposed it was really all I had, now.

  “I, uh, don’t really have much money. Plus, what’s the currency situation like, here? Do you take US Dollars?”

  Amy laughed good-naturedly. “No, we have our own currency. Wow, this is definitely going to be fun. As for money, don’t worry about it. The coven will take care of everything until you get on your feet and find a job suitable for a witch of your skills.”

  “I have a feeling there aren’t going to be that many jobs for someone with no talent whatsoever,” I said with a small smile.

  “You’d be surprised,” Sara said. “Even I manage to find something from time to time.”

  “You’re always so down on yourself,” Amy said to Sara. “You have skills of your own, even if they’re not strictly on the academic side of things.”

  “It’s easy for you to say,” Sara replied. “Your mother isn’t one of the most famous healing witches in the world.”

  “Healing witches?” I asked.

  “They’re the equivalent of what you would call a doctor,” Amy explained. “Of course, our healing witches use magic to heal people. It’s one of the most difficult jobs in the paranormal world, and requires extensive training. Sara’s mother has a reputation for being one of the best.”

  I suddenly felt a little bit sorry for Sara. I imagined it couldn’t be easy to have a mother who was so famous for being so good at magic, especially when Sara sounded like she wasn’t that good at magic herself.

  “Anyway, we should get going. It is getting late in the day,” Amy said.

  Sara laughed. “It’s barely 10 in the morning.”

  “Yes, well, the early bird gets the worm.”

  “And the second mouse gets the cheese,” Sara replied, sticking her tongue out at Amy. “You don’t have to be so perfect all the time.”

  “It’s fine,” I said with a smile. “The faster I get used to everything in this place the better.”

  “Well, I can join you for a few hours. I have a job interview to do broom deliveries for Plants and Potions later on today, but it’s not until 2 o’clock.”

  “Great!” I had to admit, it was really nice to feel like I actually had fri
ends. Besides, I was about to navigate a whole new world of magic. It was good to have someone on my side who knew what they were doing. Two someones was even better.

  Chapter 7

  “So how far away is Hexpresso Bean?” I asked as the three of us left our little cottage.

  “Oh, everything in town is within walking distance. Western Woods is quite small by paranormal town standards, and you can essentially walk from one end of town to the other in 20 minutes,” Sara replied. “If you want to go further out into the woods, however, then it’s a good idea to know how to use a broom. There is enough nature around that even while staying within the town boundaries you could easily spend a day walking around.”

  “Is hiking a big thing here?” I asked. It sounded like this was a nice place to go on a few day hikes.

  “Why walk somewhere when you can fly?” Amy asked. “Besides, a lot of the shifters use the woods for their own thing.”

  Right. I’d forgotten about the shifters existing. So, hiking in the woods was out, but I was definitely cool with flying around them.

  The three of us walked down the cobbled streets for about three minutes until we reached a narrow brick building with a bright red door. Hanging above the door was an old-fashioned sign that looked about 200 years old with a faded, painted cup of coffee and ‘Hexpresso Bean’ written in cursive above it.

  As soon as we pushed the door open, the wafting aroma of roasting coffee beans and fresh baking reached my nostrils. I stopped and inhaled deeply, enjoying the scent. The interior of the coffee shop was surprisingly large, with tables and comfortable-looking couches spread haphazardly about. A large coffee machine at the back of the room squealed as a barista frothed up some milk, and the low murmur of idle conversation filled the air. Despite the fact that it was midmorning on a weekday, Hexpresso Bean was almost full.

  “I’ll grab us a table,” Sara said. Amy nodded, and motioned for me to follow her towards the front counter, where a woman with long blond hair, brilliant blue eyes, and fluttering golden wings behind her hovered, a polite smile on her face.