She chanted some words that he couldn’t understand, low and hypnotic, and Chloe shivered.
Itwaspretty unnerving, even for him – he could definitely see how it would be frightening for her.
Abruptly the flame went out, the shadows receded, and the lamps brightened. Everything was normal again, and it would’ve been impossible to tell that anything had even happened, if not for the curlicue of smoke that continued to rise from the charred remains of the herbs.
“Whew!” said Margot. “That went better than expected.”
Before Ethan could work out the most polite way to respond tothat, Curtis doffed his hat and bowed his head a little.
~Pleased to meet you, Miss Chloe,~he said bashfully, and Chloe almost jumped out of her skin as she turned to face him.
“You… you’re…” she stammered, her face as pale as… well, Curtis’s.
~A ghost, yes,~he said.~It takes some getting used to, I know. It took me a while myself.~
“A ghost… okay, you’rereallya ghost,” she murmured, blinking rapidly as she stared at the apparition now suddenly standing in front of her, before shaking her head and assuming a more determined look. “Nice to meet you too, Curtis,” she said, raising her hand again in an awkward wave, and smiled a little as Curtis waved back.
She turned to Ethan, looking up into his eyes. “I’m, uh, sorry I didn’t believe you,” she said. “Though, to be fair, I hope you can understand why I was a bit skeptical?”
“Absolutely,” he said – and it was the truth. She could have stolen his car and left it in a ditch somewhere, and he would have forgiven her instantly. Not automatically believing a near-stranger who said that ghosts were real and that one was, in fact, hanging out with them right at that second was not a particularly dire offense, in his book. “No need to apologize.”
“Thank you,” she said, and it was several long moments before Ethan was able to tear his eyes away from where they were locked with hers.
“I’m afraid that I can’t perform any stronger magic, such as divining your reason for returning to this plane,” Margot said apologetically. “I fear that the spell of revelation is as far as my limited powers extend under these circumstances.”
“No, uh, don’t apologize – you’ve been a big help,” Chloe said, dragging her gaze back toward Margot, much to Ethan’s annoyance. “So many things about today makea lotmore sense now. Although…”
Her face twitched a little, and Ethan could tell that he wasn’t out of danger just yet.
“You said…magic,” Chloe continued, seemingly picking her words carefully. “Were you being literal, or metaphorical?”
“Oh, I was being literal,” Margot said cheerfully. “I’m a witch.”
“I see,” said Chloe levelly.
“Not a particularly good one,” Margot went on, apparently unfazed by making such an unflattering admission. “Which is why I decided to ‘pivot’ to selling books! It’s much more fun.”
The word ‘pivot’ came out awkwardly – she made the air quotation marks around it and everything. If Ethan had had any doubts about Margot having spent most of her life sequesteredaway from regular human society, they were now well and truly dashed.
While some witches and wizards were more mainstream, most of them spent most of their time in their little magical enclaves, tucked away from the outside world, living according to their own laws and culture. It meant that they could be a little…oddby human and shifter standards.
Ethan couldn’t say that he was a huge fan of the few witches and wizards he’d encountered throughout his life – or in magic in general, for that matter – but at least Margot seemed friendly and harmless.
Well, mostly harmless, anyway. Her cheerful indifference regarding her apparent inability to fully control her magic was enough to have both Ethan and his pegasus on alert for potential danger.
“Well, I’m glad that you found your true calling,” Chloe said, still sounding remarkably calm. Her face, however, told a very different story – one that started withOnce upon a time there was a lawyer, and ended withAnd then the lawyer told the heroine everything she wanted to know while she threatened him with a scalpel.
“We can talk about this later,” he muttered. She looked only slightly mollified, but nodded.
Curtis looked up from where he had apparently been involved in a staring contest with Monty.
~Not to distract from your conversation, but would I be able to talk with Miss Margot some more about the town’s history? I feel that her insights would be most invaluable. Everything has changed so much from the home I knew… I admit, I want to know how things have come to be the way they are. And I believe it would help me to understand why I have been brought here,~Curtis said, his voice just a little forlorn.
“Of course,” Ethan said, feeling a bit guilty. He’d been so distracted by everything that he’d forgotten why they were even here in the first place.
Chloe nodded in agreement. “And if there’s anything I can do, please just let me know. Not that I think I’d be of much use in this situation, being a vet who barely knows the town,” she added. “But I’d really like to stick around and help out in any way I can – if that’s okay with you,” she added to Ethan.
Tell her that it would be our absolute pleasure!the pegasus bellowed in the least pleasurable voice imaginable.Tell her that we would love nothing more than for her to assist us to the very ends of the earth!
