Page 13 of Witch's Rite
"Yes!" I declared, blinking out of my trance and swiftly moving to the register. "How's your morning so far?"
"Good, thanks," she replied politely. "How's yours?"
"Just…magical."
"Great."
Her aura flickered with a shimmering shift from green to blue, but her expression didn't twitch in the slightest as she handed over a five.
"So you're the owner?" she mused casually.
"Yes!" I stuck my hand out so abruptly I nearly poked her in the sternum. "I'm Deja."
"Juno," she answered, taking my hand in a gentle grip. "I love coming to this place. It's so relaxing."
"Thank you, it's great to have you." I forced myself to let go of her hand, despite a pleasant hum of energy passing through our palms. "Just let me know if you need anything."
"I sure will," she said, picking up the tray with the teapot, cup, and mini breakfast scone that Nona had swiftly set down. "Nice to meet you, Deja."
"You too, Juno."
I stretched and clenched my fingers as I watched her set her tray down on a coffee table and began thumbing through a book.
She did something magical when she touched my hand but it was so subtle, I didn't even know if I should acknowledge it or not. It felt too light to be an actual spell. Could that have been the secret witch handshake?
She sat at an angle where I couldn't read her book cover this time, but her wrist flicked and her fingers moved in a subtle but unmistakable way. I fought the urge to launch myself over the counter and pick her brain, to find out what she was casting and learn it for myself.
Screw the demon boys. They were not my priority, at least not at that moment. Growing my powers, and finding a community with others like me, was.
7
RAUM
Amorning flight had been a daily ritual of mine for the last three hundred years or so. Watching the human world wake up was always fascinating, and always shifting depending on the time period and location.
I noticed humans were slowly rising later in the day, sometimes missing dawn entirely. Their workdays shifted further back. First, it was sunup to sundown, then it was nine to five. Lately, I noticed more ten to six schedules, especially in San Francisco where everyone wanted to skip morning traffic.
Yes, I gathered lots of useless knowledge in my bird form. But you never knew when it would turn out to be useful.
After a few hours of fighting with seagulls and watching runners on the beach as the sun came up, I flew back to the house we occupied while in human form.
Through the open window I usually came through, I spotted Ash pacing in the upstairs study. He looked even more grim than usual.
I flapped and braced for landing, gripping the windowsill in my claws. Behind Ash stood Sal, staring at Ash like he wanted to kill him and holding the edge of a chair in a death grip.
"Seems I missed a cheerful morning meeting," I said after shifting back to human form.
"This fucking hypocrite almost told Deja her original name," Sal hissed through gritted teeth. "After being all up our asses constantly about not telling her shit."
I lifted an eyebrow. "Is that so, boss?"
"It is," Ash said tersely, not one to mince words. "But I didn't say it. I caught myself."
"Clearly, you said enough if Sal is so riled up."
"He gets riled up by the wind blowing the wrong way," Ash scoffed.
"Fuck you! Why don't you tell him the rest of it?" Sal seethed. His aura grew and flames began to ignite all around him like his skin was burning.
