Page 15 of Do You Even Hex, Bro?
My eyes drift closed, Kyle's countdown ticking away in my mind.
Fifteen hours.
Fifteen hours and fifty-nine minutes.
Fifteen hours and fifty-eight...
Chapter
Four
MICAH
"Do you idiots want to move the coffee table, or should we just do this on top of Sean's dried protein shake spills and Cheetos dust?"
Sadie stands in the middle of our living room, her black-lacquered fingernails drumming against her leather-clad hip. The silver rings on each of her fingers shine in the migraine-inducing light from the ceiling lamp that has three different colored LED lightbulbs in it. She's dressed in her usual goth witch uniform—black jeans tight enough to cut off circulation, combat boots that add four inches to her height, and a T-shirt with a pentagram that reads "Your Village Called, Their Idiot Is Missing."
Subtle as always, my dear stepsister.
"It isn't fucking Cheetos," Sean protests, but he's already moving the coffee table. "It's Flamin' Hot Doritos. I have taste, dude."
Killian prowls around the room's perimeter, shoulders tight, jaw clenched. He's been on edge since I convinced him to let Sadie help us. Not that I blame him. The last time she performedmagic in our house, his fur grew back white on his left flank, and we never did find out what happened to that pizza delivery guy.
"This isn't what we discussed," Killian says, arms crossed over his chest. "I thought you were doing a locator spell to find our Bonded, not whatever..." he waves his hand at the items Sadie is pulling from her oversized black bag, "thisis."
Sadie rolls her eyes so hard I'm surprised they don't fall out of her head. "That's because you don't know shit about magic, wolf boy. A locator spell only works if you have something connected to what you're looking for." She pulls out a small copper bowl, several vials of suspicious-looking liquids with one looking particularly piss-esque, and a bundle of herbs that all smell like weed. "Do you have a personal item from your destined magical counterpart? No? Then shut up and let the professional work."
"Professional?" Killian scoffs. "You don't even have a license."
"That's just The Man trying to regulate witchcraft," Sadie retorts, continuing to lay out items in a circle. "You think the Salem witches had licenses? You think Circe filled out paperwork before turning men into pigs?"
"I think Circe had a point," I mutter, earning a rare smirk from my sister.
"Look, this is simple," Sadie explains, surprisingly patient for her. "Instead of trying to find your Bonded, I'm going to make your Bonded find you. A summoning rather than a search."
"I don't like it," Killian states flatly.
"You don't have to like it. You just have to pay for it." Sadie finishes creating a perfect circle with white salt. "Now all of you, sit around the circle. Except you." She points at Rowan, who'sbeen silently observing from the corner. "You go stand by the front door. Someone might feel compelled to knock when this works."
"Ifthis works," Killian mutters but sits cross-legged on the floor where she indicates.
I drop down beside him, followed by Sean, who's vibrating with excitement. The big guy has been unbearable since Killian agreed to this plan, alternating between cleaning everything in sight and bouncing off the walls like a puppy before First Hunt.
"This is so fucking cool," Sean whispers loudly. "Do you think our Bonded will be hot? I hope she's hot."
"You'd just better hope she doesn't have standards," I whisper back, unable to resist.
"If she does, she definitely won't be interested in you," Sean replies with a grin that shows just a hint of fang.
"Shut the fuck up, both of you," Killian growls, his pack alpha voice making my wolf instinctively flatten its ears despite my human brain wanting to flip him off. Killian has always been kind of an alpha-alpha. A super alpha, if you will.
Sadie moves around the outside of the circle, lighting black candles at four equidistant points. The flames burn higher than natural fire should, making the shadows from our busted furniture dance around the living room. The hairs on my arms stand up and a shiver runs down my spine that has nothing to do with the temperature. Magic always feels like the air before a storm, and it makes my inner wolf's fur stand on end.
"You're just going to find our Bonded, right?" Killian asks, eyes tracking Sadie's every movement. "Not bind some random person to us against their will or anything fucked up like that?"
"Her," Sean adds immediately. "Make it a her."
My sister stops and puts her hands on her hips, giving me a blank stare and pointedly ignoring Sean. "What kind of witch do you think I am?"
