“Shit. Okay, all my spell ingredients are at the bakery. Let me see if Acadia can come to watch the shop so we can go make a counterspell.”
He waited while she texted back and forth with her employee. He was anxious to get going.
“Okay, Acadia will be here in fifteen minutes,” Sorcha said once she stopped texting. “Just relax. I'll whip up the counterspell, you'll give it to your boss, and he'll be fine,” she told him.
“I hope so,” he said, and he paced the shop. “Tell me something, Sweetheart. How'd you end up with a snowy owl as a pet?” The owl hooted as if it knew he was asking about it.
“I volunteered at a bird rescue. Zen was a hatchling. He has a deformed wing and can't fly. They were going to put him down, but I offered to take him. As you can tell, he's not really his namesake,” she said as he kept hooting. “He was when he was a hatchling though.”
“They were going to put him down because he couldn't fly? Why?”
“Because he wouldn't be able to hunt, and would have starved,” she replied.
“Well, he's lucky to have you,” Finley told her.
“I think we're both lucky,” she countered, petting him.
Acadia walked in a few minutes later. “I have arrived. Go do what you need to, girl. I've got the shop,” she said.
“Thanks, Acadia. I really appreciate you coming in. I wouldn't have asked if it wasn't important.”
“No problem,” Acadia replied.
“Let me put Zen in his cage and I'll be ready to go,” Sorcha said and picked up the owl to presumably carry him upstairs.
When Sorcha returned, he held the door for her. “I'll drive,” he said and escorted her to his SUV. Once they were both in, he drove the two blocks to the bakery and parked.
“Hey, Deimos, this is Finley. Finley, Deimos. A spell I gave him has gone haywire, so I'm going to make him a counterspell,” she told the other witch.
“Nice to meet you,” Deimos said. “That sucks. I hope you get it sorted.”
?“Thanks. Come on,” she said and dragged Finley to the back with her.
Sorcha
Sorcha wracked her brain to try to figure out what could have gone wrong with the spell. She'd never had a spell go haywire before. “Hey, Finley, what happened when you gave your boss the cannoli?” she asked as she gathered ingredients.
“He wasn't in his office so I put it on his desk and left. A couple of my fellow coworkers asked about it and all said a variation of ‘I hope it works’. Why?”
Sorcha snapped her fingers. “That's why it went haywire! Intent. The others voicing their intent increased the potency of the spell. Now I know what to do to counter it.”
She had all but the last ingredient and swore. “Fuck! Not good.”
“What's wrong?” Finley asked.
“I'm missing an important ingredient,” she told him.
“Can't you just buy some more?”
“I can, but it'll take a week to get it,” she replied.
“Shit. I don't think he can wait that long.”
“No, I don't think so either. Looks like I'm going to Glasgow,” she replied.
“Glasgow? As in Scotland?” he asked.
“Yep. That's where Coven of the Crescent, the coven I get the Rogue's Wormwood from, is located. It only grows in Scotland.”
