Page 13 of Seven Secret Spellcasters
“Sounds like we have a dinner to warm up.” Mia rotated her marshmallow and brought it out as the tan was beginning to darken. Trent had the graham cracker and chocolate ready for her. “So, tell me a little about you, Finn. You aren’t from Magic Springs, are you?”
“No, I grew up in Nampa, but then my mom remarried, and I thought it would be better to give her some space, so after graduation, I tried Boise, but it felt too big and too close to home.” She glanced around at the people gathered around the firepit. “So I headed this way to see Sun Valley, and someone told me about a job here in Magic Springs. So here I am, with a broken-down van.”
“We have similar stories.” Christina grinned. “I took a plane to Vegas before Mom canceled my credit card. Then my brother Isaac rescued me from there and dumped me on Mia’s doorstep when Mom got tired of me not following her rules. I was a bit of a wild child.”
“ ‘Was’?” Levi asked and got swatted by Christina. He pulled her closer and kissed her head. “That’s your best quality, babe.”
“No, that’s not true. Christina is bright and caring, and for some reason, she loves my troublemaker son.” Abigail smiled at the pair. “When did you realize you loved cooking? Don’t look shocked, I see you reading cookbooks on your lunch hour. Only true fanatics like us do that.”
“When my dad left, Mom went to work, so I started making my own dinners. Then I made enough so she could eat when she got home. I did a lot of research on how to make a grocery budget last,” Finn admitted. “When it was the two of us, I cooked everything. Then, when Dale moved in, he took over the cooking. He’s good to my mom, so I’m happy for that. I don’t fit into their lives.”
Mia and Trent exchanged glances. There was more to Finn’s story, but Mia wasn’t going to push the girl. Not until she found out more. She hoped Finn was accurate about graduating high school. Mia didn’t want to be harboring an underage runaway.
Finn sniffed her marshmallow before taking a bite. She made a face, then looked at the others. “Does anyone else smell sulfur in the fire?”
CHAPTER6
Sunday morning, Grans and Mia headed into the library to try to access the coven library archives spot. Mia glanced downstairs like she could see Finn’s bedroom on the first floor.
Grans saw her and waved the concern away. “Just lock the library door. No one is getting in here unless they have a key. The library ghosts aren’t the most welcoming to the living.”
Peaches, the ghost cat who spent her time warming herself in the sun that came in the large windows, meowed as she wound herself through Mia’s legs. Mia reached down to pet her, but her hand went through the cat’s body and Peaches turned into smoke.
“Animal ghosts are unpredictable. It’s best if you don’t try to interact.” Grans nodded to a large table. “The archive connection should be on that table. At least it was when I attended school here.”
Mia sat across from her and set her grimoire next to her. “Are you sure I don’t have to be official in some way to get into the archives?”
“Of course not. Coven children can access the archives years before they take their vows. You’re overthinking this, which is not a good sign for your testing tomorrow. Maybe you should chat with Trent about his testing. It could put you at ease.” Grans placed the palms of her hands on the table and started humming.
Finally, she looked up. “Maybe we have the wrong table.”
Mia could hear Gloria’s laugh from the other side of the wall where Mia’s kitchen was located. “That’s enough from the peanut gallery over there.”
Grans glanced over her shoulder. “Gloria was laughing?”
“She’s been a little vocal lately,” Mia admitted. “I think it’s all the commotion around Halloween and the coven party.”
“Familiars aren’t supposed to get anxious. They’re supposed to calm you when you’re anxious.” She looked at Mia. “Where did you get Gloria, again?”
“I thought you gave her to me?” A pit was forming in Mia’s stomach. “I was staying with you the summer between my freshman and sophomore years. She was on my bed when I arrived, so I thought she was a gift.”
“When did she start talking? Making a connection?” Grans pulled Mia’s grimoire over to her side of the table and opened it to the first spell page.
“It was after I went home that fall. I was home alone one Saturday night after a football game. My friends had gone to a party, but I’d wanted to go home. I’d found out that the guy I had a crush on was dating a freshman. I was devastated because he’d talked to me the week before, and I thought maybe . . .” Mia felt her face turning red as she remembered the embarrassment. She’d told all her friends, then found out he was already dating Sharon. “Anyway, Gloria said he wasn’t worth my tears, and I’d have a great boyfriend soon.”
“And you started dating Bodie by Thanksgiving if I remember the timeline. Your mom was furious that you blew off the PSAT training session and went to the movies.” Grans looked at the wall of books again that separated the two rooms.
“What’s wrong?” Now Mia was concerned. It wasn’t like her grandmother to blow anything out of proportion.
Grans met her eyes. “Your familiar isn’t supposed to bond with you until after you start your journey to your acceptance. Your mother hadn’t abdicated yet back when you were in high school. She waited until after you were out of high school to give me her grimoire. I had started your training as a lark, but you shouldn’t have had a familiar yet. And there’s one more thing wrong with your story.”
Mia watched as Grans returned her grimoire, then said, “I don’t think so. I know it was a while ago, but I think I have the timeline right.”
Grans refocused on the table. “I’m not sure it matters, but I didn’t give you Gloria.”
“Then how did she wind up on my bed that summer?” Mia was starting not to like this week at all.
“Now, that is a good question.” Grans’s face lit up as the table started to glow. “I knew I had the right table. Mia, open your grimoire to an empty page and repeat after me.”
