Letting the storm door once again slam behind her, Ria made her way into the workshop.As much as she craved the sunshine, she wanted to try a few smaller handcasting spells to see how much she remembered, and it wouldn’t help much to have her mother spying through the kitchen window.
The scent of sweet pea wafted around her as she entered the shed and brushed the pile of purple flowers to the side of the bench.Dropping the open book on the table with a loud thunk, she perched on her stool and began reading.
The spell was pretty much as she remembered.All handcasting magic required three things—words to call the Goddess, will to amplify the intention, and a unique wave of the hands to solidify it.
Words.Will.Wave.
Should be easy enough, she thought, scanning over the page.
The words were short and to the point, and her will had never been an issue, provided she could still tap into her magic.She just needed to practice the wave a few times more, and she’d be good.
Now, to test out her skills on something smaller.She set the apple on the table and analyzed it, sifting through the few spells in her brain she could still remember.Should she try a growth casting?Those weren’t too difficult, though they often resulted in a messy explosion if not precise.Maybe the shrinking spell would go better.
A soft chitter drew her attention off to the side of the shed where a squirrel crawled through the open window.
“Nibbles,” she cried, holding out her palm for him to crawl onto.The squirrel dashed along the shelving to her bench and dropped down into her hand.Ria leaned forward, and Nibbles nuzzled at her cheek.“I thought you’d disappeared.”
Ria’s heart swelled at the soft brush of fur against her skin.She and the squirrel had been inseparable when she was a teenager, and he even accompanied her when she attended classes at the community college down the coast.It broke her heart to leave him behind when she moved to Portland, but her landlord had been clear on no pets.She assumed he had passed on when he never reappeared upon her return, and the fact he showed up just as she was casting again didn’t escape her notice.
“You came back because you knew I needed help again, didn’t you, buddy?”she asked, running a single finger over his fluffy tail.
Nibbles chittered loudly in response, then hopped from her hand down to the open book.
“Well, I could use all the help I can get.I think the last time I handcast anything was when I extended your lifespan almost a decade ago, but it seems to be holding steady, since you’re still here.”That particular spell was not an easy one either, though the smaller the creature the longer it lasted.She still didn’t know if Nibbles would live another year or another century.She’d always been a bit lazy with her casting since she didn’t particularly enjoy it, and lazy spells tended to go awry.For all she knew, Nibbles might be the first immortal squirrel.
And since he might live quite a bit longer yet…
“What do you say, Nibbles?You ready for a change?”He’d been dark brown for long enough, and she still knew the appearance modification spell by heart.Heck, using it to hide zits was pretty much all she used her magic for as a teenager beyond what her mom forced her to do.On humans, the change often lasted a day or less, but on an animal, it might hold for much longer.
Nibbles stood and pawed at the air, a motion she decided was encouragement.
“All right, here goes nothing.”Ria squeezed her eyes shut and searched for the spark of magic that lived inside her.Deeper and deeper she dug, until at last, she found the glow in her mind’s eye.Drawing up just enough will to cement her specific intention, she swished her fingers three times in a clockwise direction and chanted, “By Hecate’s wonder, tear this mutable form asunder.”
Ria waited for that familiar tickle along her spine to indicate the magic was working.As the sensation blossomed and danced up her back, she waited for the change to take hold.Nibbles peered up at her curiously as a mist of light particles fell from an invisible cloud over his head, coating his entire body and turning him…
Pink?
Crap.
Nibbles examined his tiny arms, then let out a clearly annoyed chitter.
“I’m sorry, buddy.I was shooting for beige, not rouge.But I gotta say, you wear it well.”
Nibbles jumped onto the shelf above her workbench, and she could have sworn the tiny creature was glaring at her.
She glanced at her watch.Almost five p.m.She had hours still to practice.She just needed to tighten her will; that was all.She might have lost her touch, but she was still a witch.It would come back.
Hopefully.
Chapter Six
Lissa
SweatbeadedonLissa’sforehead, and she wiped the drop away before it could ruin her mascara.Summers were the worst in her opinion.She spent her days in a hot, stuffy studio.Was it too much to ask for a cool breeze?Or better yet, a nice, cool snowdrift?It seemed like each summer she spent in Oregon was getting hotter and hotter.She had to keep reminding herself it only lasted a few months.
Shifting anxiously, she wished this Elixir Enchantress would show up already.She’d nearly said “fuck it” and gone back to bed when her alarm blasted her from a beautiful dream about the women’s U.S.volleyball team and a lakeside winter cabin.
She glanced down at her watch.Five minutes past eight.Technically late, though still socially acceptable.She’d give it two more minutes then head home and try to resume her dream in which she’d been enjoying a threesome with the setter and outside hitter.
