Page 24 of Love's a Witch
“Och, I can’t wait. I do love to dance.” Felicity clapped her hands.
“You’re just leaving?” Nova glanced from Mandy to me.
“Aye. It’s a basic skill, at best.” Mandy adjusted her necklace, her nose wrinkled in distaste.
“Ew.” Lyra glared at Mandy.
“Did you just call Sloane ‘basic’?” Nova crossed her arms over her chest, her tattoos standing out against her pale skin.
“Yeah,” I said. Was Mandy Meadows calling me a basic witch?
“It’s a rudimentary skill. We can all do it.” Mandy Meadows was already gathering her purse, a quilted cream Chanel, and moving toward the door.
“Rude,” Lyra said.
“Is that true?” I asked the room, and the coven members that already had their magick all looked away except for Raven. She shrugged, a sympathetic smile on her face.
“It’s a useful tool to have, Sloane. And as you grow more confident with your magick, you might be able to tap into a few other strengths down the road. Not always, but sometimes that is how it works.”
Mandy Meadows struggled at the door, hissing as her hand touched the knob.
“Damn it, Broca.”
“Mandy, as president of the Charms, would you say this was the appropriate manner to welcome a new member, and her newly discovered magick, to the coven?”
“I welcomed her yesterday.” She blew on her hand, glaring at Broca.
“Leadership is done by a vote, isn’t it?”
“You wouldn’t.” Mandy narrowed her eyes at Broca. The rest of us swiveled our heads between the two like we were watching a Ping-Pong match. Broca shrugged one shoulder, concentrating on a stitch.
“I would. I’ll do whatever I feel like, Mandy Meadows, and you should remember that.” Broca didn’t look up from her sequins.
Blue leaned forward, sniffing toward the food on the counter, and I remembered my promise of cheese to him. Walking over to the fridge, I opened it with one hand and pulled out a container of cheddar cheese cubes, and then some chicken breasts that Lyra had cooked the night before. I knew I’d have to ask Raven what an emberwolf’s proper diet is, but for now Blue wriggled in my arms, ecstatic at the sight of food.
“Ugh, fine.” Mandy rolled her eyes and stomped back over to the kitchen and put her purse on the counter. Taking the container of cheese, she walked across the room, and Blue whimpered softly.
“It’s okay, buddy. I’ll get you your cheese,” I promised him.
“Levitation is a useful tool for any witch to have in her bag of tricks,” Mandy began, and lifted the lid on the cheese. “It doesn’t require spell-casting, ingredients, charms, or any sort of ritual. Some more advanced magicks require a level of preparation that can’t be done at a moment’s notice.”
“Like what?” Lyra asked, swiveling on the couch.
“A healing,” Raven said, playing with a strand of rose quartz beads around her wrist. “A proper healing requires not only an investigative assessment, but then a gathering and harvesting of correct spell ingredients, as well as careful thought into the words you’re using to ask the magick to heal. Intent is everything in magick, but preparation and research magnify it threefold.”
“That’s one. Divination, protection, elemental, banishing, binding, love—” Mandy Meadows ticked them off on her fingers, nails painted ballerina pink.
“You can really do a love spell?” Nova glanced up.
“There’s a spell for everything. But the Charms stick by our code of conduct.”
Never harm, always charm, Nova mouthed at me, and I bit back a grin.
“Most witches will be able to use several types of magick, once they learn where their specialties lie. For example, I’m not a great healer.”
Surprise, surprise. Mandy Meadows was about as nurturing as Darth Vader.
“But I could heal if I needed to. I’ve gained enough knowledge and expertise that I could manage it. But someone like Raven, who comes from a long line of healers, will require very little effort and be far more effective than I could ever be.”
