Page 15 of Witch's Rite
"Absolutely, dear. It's very simple to cast."
"What about the energy I felt through her palm against mine?"
Diana grinned. "She was revealing herself to you in the subtlest way possible."
"Hah!" I declared triumphantly. "I knew it was a secret handshake!"
My grandmother chuckled as she set her tea down and picked up her spell book.
"You said her aura had lots of greens and blues and was very shimmery?"
"Yeah, it was beautiful," I said. "It looked kind of like the Northern Lights, or how sunlight shines underwater."
Diana held one finger up in anahamotion as she flipped through the pages with her other hand.
"She is most likely a water witch, so it's no wonder you feel a need to connect with her," she said. "Earth and water are very supportive elements of each other."
"That makes sense," I mused, drinking my tea more deeply now that it was the perfect temperature.
My grandmother shot me an affectionate smile.
"I'm so glad to see you want to connect with another one of our kind, especially the same age as you. I was getting worried about you spending time with those--"
"I still haven't actually talked to her yet," I interrupted, unwilling to hear whatever she wanted to say about my guys. "She seems nice enough but who knows, we could end up being mortal enemies."
I still hadn't talked to Ash since last night, although I believed he was being truthful about the whole name thing. Still, just the sheer fact that he was purposely withholding information frustrated me to no end. I wasn't angry necessarily, just not in the mood to talk or definitely fuck.
After closing up shop, I made sure to hide the rose bouquet in the back room so Diana wouldn't see them when she came over. If she gave me shit for just hanging out with demons, I had zero intention of letting her know things were getting romantic.
"Well, that's always a possibility dear, but all signs point to you two hitting it off just swimmingly," Diana grinned. "Now shall we learn some glamour?"
* * *
The glamour lesson went smoothly enough. I got the hang of it after just a few practice casts. For fun, I disguised my mane of long, dark hair with a spiky blonde cuta laMiley Cyrus circa 2014.
"Interesting choice," Diana said with a chuckle.
"What, you don't like it?" I fluffed up the short pixie cut in the mirror. It even felt like real hair on my head.
"It's cute. I'm just not sure it's you," she mused. "All the women in our family had the most amazing dark hair." She brushed a hand through her silvery-white hair. "Well, until age caught up with us," she added with a dark laugh.
"I'll be honest. I could get addicted to this," I said, closing my eyes and focusing on the incantation as I drew another gesture in the air. When I opened my eyes again, my hair was now a pastel purple and fell in luxurious waves down to my waist, with my lip color matching my hair perfectly.
"I mean, this is seriously perfect magic for a night out," I said, twirling in the mirror. "Who needs an expensive trip to the salon when you're a witch?"
"For what is makeup and hair dye but another form of magic?" Diana said with a wink.
"You've got a point there," I said, running a finger along my lower lip. Not even a hint of a smudge. I wondered how badly Nona would freak out if I kept this look for work tomorrow.
"Well I'll get out of your long, purple hair for the night, dear," Diana said, gathering up her things. "Even though you look glamorous, I can see your eyelids drooping. Remember to get enough sleep while you're learning."
"I will," I said, holding back a yawn. Although casting magic was always draining, I did notice my stamina improving. It no longer exhausted me like when I first started.
After a quick goodbye hug, I locked up the shop and headed upstairs to my apartment. My stomach let out a monstrous growl as I fumbled with unlocking the door. Damn, I skipped lunch and forgot to go grocery shopping. It would probably be takeout for dinner again.
If I weren't in the beginning stages of becominghangry, the man lying comfortably on my couch would have been a more welcome sight.
"Sal!" I barked in surprise. "What are you doing in my house?"
