Page 66 of Grimoires & Glamoury

Shifting in my patio chair, I found Xander sitting on the grass with about a dozen flowers floating in a circle around his head.

“Wow!” I clapped for him. “Great job on the earth magick, buddy!”

“I practiced. Every day!” he called back.

“I can see that,” I said.

“He’s been working every day with elemental magick. Ever since that evening that you were with him in our gardens,” Ruby said quietly.

Xander ran over to me and the flowers stayed in place circling around his head. “I don’t hold my breath no more!”

“Congratulations!” I gave him a hug. “This calls for ice cream.”

“Hooray!” Xander jumped up and down, and the flowers dropped to the floor of the porch.

With a laugh, Damien got up and began to gather the fallen blossoms.

“I love ice cream!” Xander shouted.

“Let’s go inside and get you some.” Taking his hand, we went into the kitchen together.

“I hope it’s chocolate,” Ruby said as she followed us inside.

I turned to Ruby with a smile. “Is there any other kind?”

***

After an enjoyable few hours with the Dragos family, I found myself sitting alone on my couch. In the center of my coffee table sat a jar filled with the flowers that had been compliments of Xander’s magick. The little boy had been so serious arranging them for me, and those flowers stuffed haphazardly into an old canning jar meant more to me than any formal arrangement that I’d ever received.

My house was very quiet now, even with Nadia unobtrusively staying in the background, and I was feeling a tad lonely after the Dragos family had left.

Which was ridiculous. I had always enjoyed my solitude. Yet, seeing Xander bop around my back yard—so proud of his earth magick—had me wondering what it would be like to have my home filled with a couple of baby Witches. Sure, it would be loud, messy, and chaotic; but still, a part of me had always secretly yearned for that.

“Maybe I should go to a shelter and adopt a cat,” I muttered. “A Witch has to have a cat. It’s like standard issue. Then I would have company.”

My mood was definitely off, and I needed to snap out of it. It was a sunny day, maybe I could go to Caldwell Park and take a walk. I could stretch my legs and clear my head. Kate took walks most mornings and she swore by them. Surely it would be safe now. The threat of retaliation from Sawyer was no more, and the contingent of Fae were back where they belonged.

“Hey, Nadia?” I called out.

“Yes?” She appeared at my side.

“Wanna go for a walk with me?”

“It is a lovely day.” She smiled. “I’d enjoy that.”

Pleased with my decision and Nadia’s reaction, I pulled my hair into a ponytail, went and put on a T-shirt and stretchy walking shorts and laced up my shoes. The two of us took a long, enjoyable walk, and by the time we turned onto my street I felt more relaxed than I had in the past two weeks.

That was until I recognized the car that was parked in front of my house. It belonged to Charles Montgomery, and its engine was idling. I was so surprised to see it there that I tripped slightly.

Nadia took my elbow to steady me. “You have company, Lorna.”

I suppose he’d been waiting for me to return home, and that realization had me huffing out an annoyed breath.

Nadia and I walked down the sidewalk and as we approached the car, the passenger door swung open. Charles stepped out onto the lawn of my front yard, immaculately groomed and looking handsome as sin. He wore dark slacks and a crisp pale blue dress shirt that was unbuttoned at the throat. Not a single strand of his hair was out of place.

And of course, I was all wind blown and sweaty. He couldn’t have showed up before I’d changed out of the dress? I thought crossly. This wasn’t only about personal vanity. I was still the Magistra of the city, and damned if he didn’t owe me more respect than to simply drop by unannounced.

From the front passenger seat, a tall buff bodyguard emerged. His muscles seemed to make the seams of his suit strain, and his eyes were hidden behind mirrored aviator sunglasses, but his energy read Supernatural. I guessed he too was a Vampire. He positioned himself in a way that let me know he wasn’t comfortable with all of us standing out in my front yard.