“We already have more than enough messes to clean up from the few humans who keep their magic. Why do you think there are so many stray cats around? It’s our job to keep an eye on you and fix things before the other humans realize they’re broken.”
“So stray cats are…?”
“Field agents, yes. If you ever have any extra money laying around, try to donate to your local shelters. We’ve lost too many good agents to…” He shuddered. “Never mind.”
“I’ll do what I can,” I promised, wondering whether it would be okay to pet him or if such a gesture would be more condescending than comforting. “So what now?”
“Now, you head home and get some rest. I’ll come for you in the morning to get you started on your Town Witch duties.”
I wanted to thank him, to apologize for the friends he’d lost in the field, but before I could say anything, he raised his voice and bellowed, “Barnes!”
Parker appeared almost immediately, grabbed me by the arm, and led me away. Well, it looked like I’d have to wait for tomorrow to get any more answers.
10
I knew I should try to get some sleep, but I was way too excited to make such a thing possible. I still had so many new questions spinning about my brain, and they needed answers.
Of course, Parker had remained relatively tight-lipped on the drive back home, which left me to my own internal musings.
One thought in particular dominated my mind from the get-go: “OH MY GOSH, I HAVE MAGIC NOW! WHEEEEEE!”
Eager to put my new powers to the test once I was home, I tromped outside and stood in the yard, hoping for some violent winds I could silence… But the night remained calm, still, and highly uncooperative. I briefly considered setting up a campfire to douse with whatever decided to fly forth from my hands. Then again, who said my abilities were limited to soothing the elements? Both Parker and Fluffikins had worked some form of mind control on me, and even though I didn’t have anyone to influence with me now, I bet I could do almost anything I set my mind to.
Let’s see…
Fluffikins had pulled the magic out of me easily without either of us having to think much about it, but now that I was left to my own devices I didn’t really know where to start.
I studied the brooch affixed to my top as if it would flash the answer in big bold letters. Nope, no such luck.
I still didn’t even know what my new job as a Town Witch temp entailed. What would my responsibilities be? What kind of magic would I be able to perform? Fluffikins had offered precious little by way of explanation.
Luckily, as an author by trade, I was already well accustomed to indulging my imagination. True, I mostly wrote contemporary romance set in the real world—you know, the world that up until today I’d assumed had no magic. Usually when I wrote my books, I dreamed up cute ways for the heroines to meet their heroes or huge romantic gestures for the heroes to use to win back the heroines after messing things up royally. And while I was really good at doing both those things, neither helped in exploring my newly granted paranormal abilities.
Maybe if I wanted to cast a love spell or something… Wait, was that a thing I could actually do now? My breath hitched as I realized just how endless the possibilities might be.
This, of course, made me wonder how much of the common lore surrounding witches was based on reality and how much was simply the work of overactive imaginations like mine.
I ran through the ways I’d seen witches portrayed in the popular media.
Black cat familiar? Check.
Green and ugly? Heck no. I mean, at least not green and probably not ugly, either.
Fancy spell book? Not yet.
A flying broom? Wait a sec…
Would I really be able to fly? And if so, would I need a broom?
Yes, flying, was definitely going on the to-do list.
I was half-tempted to try it now by jumping off my roof and letting those survival instincts kick in like they had with Fluffikins, but that didn’t seem like the smartest stunt to pull when I had no one around to magic up some healing or call an ambulance in case it all went wrong.
Flying would definitely have to wait…
But what else could witches do?
Hmmm. Maybe I could shape shift. I mean, why not?