“Who? The Mayor?” I ask.
“Yes! That ghost is always walking through me on the sidewalks. Since when can he make himself corporeal?”
“Ghosts have the power to do lots of things,” I say. “They just have to figure out how.”
Jamie shakes his head. “Fucking hell.”
Raegan giggles and whispers to me. “Sounds like he does it on purpose.”
We continuethrough the throngs of people, all while I try not to look too closely at every light–haired brunette who walks past. Eventually we stumble upon the coven’s booth. Unable to avoid speaking with her family this time, Raegan plasters on a fake smile for the witches.
“Raegan! You made it!” A tall dark-headed witch leans over the table in front of her to pull Raegan into a forced hug.
“Hey, Calliope,” Raegan greets her placidly.
The woman smirks in Jamie’s direction. “Hey there, wolf boy.”
Jamie growls.
Before there’s any sort of heated exchange, an older woman who looks to be in her sixties comes out from behind a curtain. “Raegan, dear. Thank you for coming to support us.”
I doubt Raegan knew these women would be here, given her initial reaction to seeing them, but she smiles and nods anyway.
Calliope takes both of Raegan’s hands in hers as if they’re preparing to say a prayer. “The woman who works with you—Simone—we absolutely love her. Next time you see her, tell her to swing by the house. I want her to meet the other girls.”
Calliope winks and squeezes her cousin’s hands, but Raegan looks like she just took a sip of vinegar expecting it to be sweet tea.
“You met Simone?” Raegan asks.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Jamie’s eyes close. Either Simone reached out to the coven, or they found out about her on their own. Either way, Raegan clearly had no idea about any of it, and it’s written all over her face.
Jamie places a hand on the small of her back, but she doesn’t relax against his touch. If anything it makes her more tense.
Calliope is wearing the most pompous shit-eating grin I’ve ever seen. “Oh yes! I think we really clicked. She’s going to make a great addition to the coven.” She looks to the other witches in the booth with her, and they all exchange eager looks. “I would have thought she’d tell you.” Calliope cocks her head. “Or are you not that close?”
Raegan tries not to show her reaction, but I can tell by her body language she’s been caught off guard.
Then the older woman speaks up. “You know it’s the best place for her. We wouldn’t want a new, untrained witch out on her own. It’s not safe—for her or for anyone else.”
Raegan takes a breath and clears her face of any lingering resentment. “You’re right,” she says. “I’m glad she’ll have you all to help her.”
The older woman gives her a tight-lipped smile. Jamie gestures that they should be on their way, and then wraps an arm around Raegan’s shoulders, steering her away from the booth. I follow like a lingering shadow a few seconds behind.
When I catch up to them, Jamie has guided Raegan to a bench near the roundabout, far enough that the coven’s booth is no longer in sight. He sits down next to her. “I’m sorry you found out like that.”
Her hand is covering her mouth like she’s still trying to figure out what just happened.
She looks stuck, so I try to break the trance by asking a question. “Was that your mother?”
She chuckles half-heartedly. “Yep. Isn’t she lovely?”
Just that small interaction was enough to tell me how self-centered a person Raegan’s mother is. No wonder she dislikes the woman.
She takes Jamie’s hand that’s been twitching anxiously at his side. “I’m not mad at you. I just hate it when they know something I don’t.”
“I know. That’s why I should have told you.” He crouches in front of her. “To be honest, I wasn’t sure what the deal was. After I told you about what happened with Simone in the shop that day, she showed up with Calliope a few days later. They chatted for a long time, but I didn’t listen to the conversation.”
Raegan shakes her head. “It’s not like I didn’t know this would happen. I just…I have such a strained relationship with them, and I only just got to know Simone. It feels like I’m losing her—like they’re taking her from me.”
