Chapter Four

In Which It Was Obvious To Everyone Else

I try to lay off my lame attempts at flirting with Marcus for the rest of the night. We spend several hours drinking way too many cups of coffee and talking about old times, about his ex, about Lugh and Jacqueline–anything to avoid, I realize later, talking about me. I don’t know why I’m so nervous about admitting what I do. I’m not ashamed or embarrassed. At least I’ve never had a problem before.

I fall into my own bed at five, long after I find myself having a hard time keeping my eyes open. Marcus offered to let me stay and take his bed, but I declined. Since I can’t control my magic, I felt I’d be asking for trouble. Burning his new place down would not be the best first impression.

Back in my room, I pass out the moment my head hits the pillow and wake for nothing until nine when a voice calls my name, demanding I rise.

“Sarah!”

“SARAH!”

“Sarah! What the hell happened last night?” Shania, my roommate, best friend, and fellow dancer at the Wild Hare, yells, her voice growing louder as she makes her way down the hall to my room.

She bursts through my door, beautiful even in her bonnet and ancient pajamas.

“Sleep,” I groan, pulling the pillow over my face. “Go away.” I turn to roll over, forgetting how sore my back side is and end up cursing as I roll into the fetal position.

“You didn’t answer my question, woman. Darla just came by with a package labeled ‘For Sarah’s butt.’ So spit it out. What happened?”

“It’s nothing exciting,” I tell her, groaning as I try to sit up. The soreness has gotten worse overnight. “One of the customers grabbed my leg, and I fell on my ass.”

“Someone touched you and none of the bouncers got to you first?”

“Darla tried, but…”

I don’t mean to say the “but,” but now that I have, I can’t not finish. Shania knows me well enough to know when I’m keeping something from her.

“There was a bachelor party last night, but it was also the night the Lamar’s were having their pack party for Zach’s engagement, so it was a bunch of distant cousins or something working the place. The bachelor was a creepy asshole. He kept harassing the girls all night.”

I blink as I try to open my eyes against the bright morning sun. “He was really… handsy, and it pissed me off. He grabbed my ankle and was shoving his hands down my pants when I accidentally cast a fire spell on him, and now Darla thinks I’m a witch.”

Shania stares at me, open-mouthed for a moment. “I’m sorry. Did you say that you cast a fire spell and now Darla thinks you’re a witch?”

“Yeah. Darla’s a witch, too, and now I’m stuck going to some witch classes she teaches at her house.”

She snorts. “You’re going through an apprenticeship?”

“Yeah, why? Darla said I need to learn to control my power or I can end up hurting someone.”

Shania huffs a laugh and turns to leave.

“No, come back.”

“You told me to go away.”

I sigh. “Noooo, I need to know what’s so funny.”

She smiles. “Nothing.”

I give her a dark look as I try to scoot out of my bed. “Something. Cough it up.”

“It’s just… Do you know when witches do their apprenticeship?”

I shake my head. “I don’t know anything about witches.”

“Witch apprenticeship usually starts in high school.”

I stop trying to scoot and stare at her. “So, it’ll be me and a bunch of…”

“Teenagers, yup,” she chuckles and turns away from the door.

“How do you know so much about witches?” I ask, slowly following her.

She shrugs. “You don’t live in Black Raven County without learning a few things about the people that live here.”

“So you knew that Darla was a witch?”

She opens the fridge and begins to dig around. “It wasn’t obvious?”

“What wasn’t obvious?” Ella asks, as she comes in through the living room. She’s dressed–hair and makeup perfect at the ungodly hour of nine a.m. Ella shares the house with us and picks up shifts at the club here and there as a cocktail waitress on the weekends. But unlike Shania and I, she actually has her life together and is almost ready to apply to law school.

“Did you know Darla’s a witch?” I ask her.

Ella shrugs. “Wasn’t it obvious?”

“Not to me.”

Shania pulls out a container of cold Korean leftovers and shakes her head. “You won’t believe who Darla thinks is a witch.”

Ella looks between us. “Sarah? A witch?”

Shania grins. “And she even talked her into an apprenticeship.”

Ella turns to me. “You know it’s all teenagers, right?”

I give Shania a dark look. “Well, I do now.”

Ella giggles, “You’re going to be like the college kid at the high school parties.”

“I think I’m going to just tell her I can’t do it anymore.”

“NO!” Ella and Shania practically shout at the same time.

Shania shakes her head. “You accepted an apprenticeship, you have to complete it. Witches are all about their word being their bond. You want to get off on the right foot with the community. Besides, what if something bad happens?”

I love Shania and Ella both, but do I trust them at this moment? Absolutely not. They’re probably dying to watch me muddle through weeks with a bunch of teenagers.

“Like what?” I challenge.

“I don’t know…” Shania starts.

Ella shakes her head. “I don’t know either, but just don’t. It’s bad vibes, karma, energy, whatever you want to call it. All the witches I’ve ever known are all about paying things forward and what you put out there coming back to you. Making a promise and then breaking it can’t be good. You have to go. You told Darla you would.”

I look between them, still pretty certain I’m being pranked, but it’s not worth the risk. “Fine, I’ll go, but I’m not going to be happy about it.”

Ella giggles, stealing a piece of bulgogi from the to-go tray. “Hey, if Sarah’s a witch, does this mean we get a cat?”