Page 51 of Strike It Witch

“Feel like you’re purposely missing the point.” She wiggled her fingers, asking Fennel permission to pet him. That she’d asked him and not me made me like her more.

He gave it to her. Weird, considering he normally didn’t like anyone besides Ida, Cecil, and me to touch him. He was either checking Bronwyn out without being obvious, or he genuinely liked her. Given the slow, soothing movement of his tail, I was leaning toward the latter.

“Hey, I have a question for you.”

“What is it?” She smiled as Fennel batted a receipt off the counter.

“I know you can’t tell me the coven’s business, and I wouldn’t expect you to, but do you personally know anything about a local cult praying to Mictlantecuhtli?”

Her hand stilled on Fennel’s back. “No. Why? What’s going on?”

I gave her a considering look then shook my head. “Sorry. You have to report things like this to the coven.”

“You don’t trust me?”

No, but don’t take it personally. I don’t trust anyone except Ida and Fennel. Sometimes Cecil.

“I don’t want to put you in a position to have to cover for me,” I said. “Besides, at this point, it’s little more than a hunch. If I find anything worrisome, I’ll bring the information to you, because the coven should know what’s happening in their town.”

“You’d do that?” Fennel head-bumped her, and she absently stroked his back.

“I won’t let innocents suffer because I’ve got a vendetta against the coven.” I handed her my credit card, ready to pay and get out of here.

She handed it back. “No charge. I still owe you for what you did for me. Your plant friend camefast. She even tried to pay me for him.”

“Figured she might.”

“And get this. She’s able to supply your ethically harvested saguaro spines at a less expensive price, not to mention a host of other supplies I hadn’t been able to find elsewhere.” She smiled, pure joy radiating from her. “She’s an absolute gem.”

“Glad it worked out.” The seeds weren’t expensive, so I didn’t fight her about paying for them. I returned my card to my wallet and dropped it and the package into my oversized shoulder bag. “Thanks. But we’re square after this, okay?”

“Okay.”

Fennel gave her one last head bump then leapt off the counter and onto the floor beside me.

“It was very nice to meet you, Fennel.” She gazed down at him with the smile Snow White wore when singing to the birds.

“Meow.”

“Betty, listen. Please.” She lowered the volume of her voice and raised the intensity. “I’m serious about the invitation. The coven would be lucky to have a witch like you in our midst.”

“I know. But I was serious, too.” I matched her intensity, if not her volume. “As far as I’m concerned, the La Paloma coven mother bears responsibility for my mom’s death. If I ever show up at one of your meetings, it would be a good idea for you to walk out the back door. Because the night’s definitely going to end in blood.”

Chapter

Fourteen

Itossed my seeds into the back of the Mini and turned on the radio, singing the chorus of “Rock On” by David Essex.

Fennel meowed at me to get a move on, so I entered the address Alpha Floyd had given me into a GPS app and clipped the phone to my air conditioner vent. La Paloma wasn’t a huge town, but it was big enough for me not to know the name of every street—unlike Smokethorn—hence the GPS.

On the alpha leader’s advice, I’d grabbed a weapon or two—besides Fennel and my magic—and they were currently tucked into my bag, vibrating with menace.

“Should I bring in the Mara blade?” I asked Fennel. “Alpha Dickhead said to bring a demon-killing weapon, but this feels like overkill.”

“Meow.”

I took that as a yes and arranged the unsheathed dagger in a side pocket of my bag. “Cecil made us a couple of hex bags. I asked him not to make them lethal, but you know how close to that line his chubby little feet like to walk.”

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