“I know,” I repeated, quieter this time. Something about Ani’s regal presence always made me feel young and naive. Especially when she was unhappy.
She exhaled harshly before brushing her hands off and meeting my gaze. A glimmer of disappointment shone in her light brown eyes, but not anger. Never anger.
“It was an accident,” she murmured.
“It was,” I agreed. “I didn’t mean to.”
She nodded before she stood up and moved to sit beside me on the couch. She tossed a skinny arm around me and rubbed my shoulders soothingly. I slumped. “You didn’t mean to. And something amazing came out of it,” she said quietly.
I exhaled heavily. “I’ll fix it. Somehow.”
Ani shook her head slightly. “It’s not possible, dear. The creation of a familiar would have stripped the cauldron of its magical abilities.”
“Then I’ll find a new one,” I insisted. The plan solidified in my mind. I would travel, as far as it took, to find a new cauldron. I refused to ruin Hallow’s Eve for the coven.
“I don’t know where you will be able to find one,” she warned. “It’s been ages since I acquired that one, and it was a family heirloom. There is no telling where in Aldova will have a big enough cauldron.”
“Wherever it is, I’ll find it.” I declared. “I’ll find it.”
I allowed Ani to comfort me for a few moments longer before I extracted myself from her grasp and stood up. I tentatively grabbed the jar with Sludgey in it. The boiling mass stilled immediately.
“I’ll get out of your hair, then. Thank you, Ani.” I grasped the witch’s hand and squeezed briefly before stepping toward the door. “You’ve never steered me wrong.”
She nodded sagely, but a small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. “You have never needed much steering.”
I snorted out a laugh but accepted the compliment. That was a load of shit.
Before I could leave Ani’s cottage, another thought struck me.
The love potion.
My shoulders slumped and my ears drooped.
“Oh my, you just had a heavy thought. What is it?” Ani asked as she stood up from the couch.
“Something else happened,” I confessed.
“Something else, besides you breaking the largest cauldron in Moonvale?”
I nodded, biting my lip. “Something worse.”
“Worse?” Ani asked.
“I may have… drugged the entire town with a love potion.”
Ani stared at me blankly for a long time. “Is that a joke?”
I shook my head.
“Oh… dear. We’re going to have to call a coven meeting for this one.”
“You’re kidding,” Hyacinth blurted out with an astonished look on her face. The witch’s coal black eyebrows nearly reached her hairline. The whole coven portrayed varying levels of shock—from mild surprise to mouth-clutching awe.
I stood in front of them all, awkwardly clutching Sludgey’s jar in a sweaty grip. Luckily, everyone was too shocked to pay the jar much attention.
The coven sat in silence while I explained the tale of how the love potion came to be. And how it ended up inside the folk of Moonvale.
“Unfortunately, I am not,” I admitted.
