Page 43 of Strike It Witch

“I know.” I stood, picked up my drink and my purse, and opened the door. “If it wasn’t dangerous, he wouldn’t have asked me to do it.”

“Betty…”

“Aww, you’re worried about me.” I gave him my sweetest kiss-my-ass smile then let it drop off my face. “Thanks for your concern, but I don’t need it or your protection. I have a mystical cat, an unprincipled gnome with a violent streak and—” I held out my hand, and the dying lavender blossomed in my palm, scenting the room with its perfume, “I have my magic.”

Chapter

Twelve

At noon, I went around to the occupied spaces in the park to let my tenants know I’d be doing the protection spell tonight at midnight and to stay inside their homes.

The side benefit of delivering the announcements personally was I scored a fresh-baked cinnamon muffin from Jaq and Xandra, a jar of boysenberry jam from Trini Orosco, and some leftover wine snacks from Ida.

Oh, and I got another lecture from Sra. Cervantes.

Lucky me.

“I swear to every goddess in the firmament, if one more person tells me, ‘Lila wouldn’t have done it like that,’ I’m going to lose my blessed mind.”

Cecil looked up from his workstation, purple hat flopping over his nose. Fennel was rubbing against my legs, trying to calm me. I was supposed to be setting up the ingredients for the protection spell, and all I’d done so far was make a mess of things.

“Plus that cryptic comment from Sexton.Vita?Life? I know the soil is capable of life. I want to know how to make it not hate me. Why can’t anyone answer that question?” I asked Cecil.

The gnome shrugged, which was a trick with no visible shoulders, and went back to his work. He was making a charm, and it wasn’t any kind I was familiar with.

“Please tell me there isn’t a manifesto attached to that.”

Cecil’s head turned until his nose pointed at me. Then he slowly swiveled back and began working again.

“You scare me, gnome.” I glanced down at Fennel. “Keep an eye on him, please.” To Cecil, I said, “No more letters to the editor of the Smokethorn Valley Press. You’re going to get me arrested.”

He made a chittering sound that I took to be gnome curse words and flicked pollen from his hat in my direction.

Fennel set a lavender flower on my foot and meowed. Most cats couldn’t tolerate the herb, but Fennel was a different sort of cat.

“Sorry for being such a grouch. I guess I’m just disappointed by Sexton’s talk with the soil. It was a once-in-a-thousand-years stroke of luck that he offered to do it. I was hoping he’d find out more.”

I picked up the bud Fennel had gifted my foot, walked to the lavender planter, and sank down beneath it.

A feeling of peace immediately washed over me.

Lavender, in all its wondrous forms, was my favorite herb. The woodsy floral scent alone was often enough to pull me out of the foulest of moods. Cecil had taken to hurling bunches of it at my head after he did something atrociously bad, like the time he’d knifed Sra. Cervantes’s tires in retaliation for her yanking out a patch of dandelions growing in her yard and tossing them into the dumpster.

She’d viewed the plant as a weed. Cecil viewed it as an edible green and her as a wasteful heathen.

Fennel curled up in my lap, and I stroked his sable fur.

“I have to find a place with soil receptive to me, and soon. The past three years have drained my magic and part of my soul. I can’t last here another year with things as they are.”

Cecil abandoned his evildoings and perched on the edge of his worktable, his tiny, chubby, bare feet swinging back and forth. He clicked and snicked, conveying a feeling of sympathy to me.

“Thanks. I know you guys understand. Probably better than anyone.” I let out a sad, shallow sigh and ran my hand lightly over the cat’s soft ears. “Wherever I end up, you guys are welcome there. I’d never make you come with me, but I hope you will.”

Fennel meowed, rubbed his face against my leg. Cecil clicked.

“Your choices. Always.” I made to stand. Fennel padded to his bed beneath the herb planter, and Cecil went back to his work. I returned to crafting the protection spell, feeling calmer overall.

Except for one thing…

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