Page 109 of The Witching Hours

Blessed silence. No one was hurt.

“Thank you,” I said.

“You’re welcome.”

Mitch’s starburst smile returned. The one that might make a lesser woman lose her breath and her wits.

“Do you mind if I have some refreshment while I await your decisions?”

“How long are you going to be here?”

“As long as it takes.”

“As long as it takes to what?”

“Hear and grant your wishes.”

“For discussion’s sake, how many wishes are we talking?”

“How many do you want?”

“Are you saying I could wish for more wishes?”

He shrugged. “No one has ever done that. Want to see what happens?”

“No.”

“Okay. I might as well be comfortable. Don’t you agree?”

With a snap of his fingers, my kitchen island was laden with fresh fruits, sweet meats, cheeses, tiny cakes, breads and pitchers of I don’t know what. Just the kind of thing you’d expect to see in an ancient Arabian palace. Normally the sight of that would make Paddy go insane, but he sat obediently next to Mitch looking like a dog trained by Cesar Milan.

“How are you making Paddy behave like this?”

Mitch looked down at Paddy. “He and I have an understanding.”

I squinted my eyes. “Does he still have free will?”

“Are you asking if he could misbehave if he wanted to?”

“Yes. Exactly.”

“He could. But he doesn’t want to.”

“Why? He always wants to misbehave.”

Mitch finished eating a small cake as he was pouring red liquid from one of the pitchers into one of my grandmother’s crystal glasses. “No. He doesn’t. He’s just often unsure what you really want from him.”

“Oh.” I felt bad. I was confusing my poor dog. “Look. We’re at an impasse. I don’t want to do the wish thing. It never ends well. And you can’t just decide to live here until I change my mind because I’m not going to change my mind. So. finish your, um, repast, or whatever you call it, and get back in the bottle. Okay?”

He sighed. “My answer can’t change just because you say something louder.”

The frenzy I was feeling was expressing itself in an increase in my volume. I’d give him that. I shouldn’t be raising my voice no matter how farfetched and bizarre the situation.

“Fine. I’m taking the vase back where I found it. My guess is that you’ll have to go where it goes.”

He smiled while chewing on a piece of cheese that looked really, really good. I ignored both him and the craving, picked up the vase and my keys. Paddy didn’t run in circles as he usually did when I suggested a ride. He just flopped on the floor.

“Come on, Pad. We’re going for a ride!” Nothing.

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