Page 58 of Uncharmed

‘You’re . . . you’re here! In my bakery?’ Annie stuttered.

‘Of course, babe. Wouldn’t have missed your triumphant return, would we? We missed you terribly,’ Romily pouted, then helped herself to a pumpkin to nibble on daintily.

Annie laughed, surprised by the warmth. ‘I can’t believe you finally came to visit. How did you know I was back?’

Romily shrugged nonchalantly. ‘Just a hunch.’

‘There’s no keeping secrets from us,’ Vivienne said. ‘I can’t believe you’ve spent almost the entirety of October doing voluntary work. Universe above, get a life will you, Wildwood? You could have jetted off somewhere glorious to get away from it all and hibernate for the winter, rather than sucking up to the coven even more than you usually do.’ She smirked, examining her reflection in the back of the mirrored napkin dispenser. ‘Hard work, I assume? You look dreadful.’

‘Harmony,’ Romily snapped, with a literal snap of her fingers to accompany it, as though her friend were a chihuahua to return to her heel. It was only then that Annie noticed Harmony, who had been distracted on entry by a handsome man enjoying a sandwich in the corner. There was a wave of iridescence floating between them, the man inhaling sparks of her siren-inherited allure without realizing. Harmony stuck out a sulking bottom lip and dropped the incantation, leaving the man to shake out his head as though it were full of cobwebs. Ruby had also joined the visit, but had launched straight into a hearty conversation with Faye about the difference between an Americano and a long black. She gave Annie a giant grin and a full, slightly chaotic wave when their eyes caught.

‘Hi, Annie,’ Harmony smiled brightly as she approached. ‘Universe above, your roots! Are you prepping your Halloween costume already? The Bride of Frankenstein is such a fun one.’

Annie shot a self-conscious hand to her hair.

‘You do look a little peaky, Annie,’ Romily said softly, rubbing her upper arm gently. ‘What did they have you doing, those awful witches, wherever it was that they holed you up?’

‘The common coven have so little regard for personal maintenance. Everyone at you-know-where thankfully understands that image is everything in this realm and the next – something that Selcouth never cares to acknowledge,’ Vivienne said.

‘They’re all desperately ugly, that’s probably why,’ Harmony said sadly and sincerely, as though discussing a heartbreaking charity campaign.

Annie gave them all a weak smile, but found that it felt like tugging a spoon through dark treacle to form one across her face. ‘Why don’t you take a seat? The window booth is the best spot. I’ll bring you some tea and some treats. Just . . .’ She lowered her voice to plead with them. ‘No magic, please?’

‘Wouldn’t dream of it,’ Vivienne said with a serene smirk.

While Ruby stayed chatting to Faye and Pari, the Fortune Four took elegant and poised position at the window, Romily whispering something as they sat down that made Vivienne snort and Harmony squeal with laughter. Although self-conscious, strangely sure that the comment had been about her or her bakery, Annie had to admit that they looked ethereally beautiful as the afternoon sun streamed in and lit them all in the golden hour. One of many tricks up Romily’s sleeve was a spell for always finding flattering lighting wherever they went. The sight of their glow gave Annie that itch again, the longing to revert back to old ways, to be perfect once again. Perfect enough that she blended in alongside them.

‘Tell us all about it, then,’ Romily purred with concentrated eyes on Annie as she sipped at the delicate china mug (Annie had given them the very best of her vintage collection). She felt her brows raise of their own accord at the reality of Romily Whitlock asking yet another genuine question about her life and whereabouts that didn’t involve some kind of gossip fodder. She smiled, surprised and touched. Every so often, Romily showed glimpses of the old version of herself whom Annie had grown up with. It felt exciting and heartwarming, like rediscovering a lost favourite toy.

‘It was . . .’ Annie struggled to find the words that wouldn’t make the girls shriek with judgement and laughter. ‘Wonderful. Rewarding. I was looking after a teenage you-know-what who was struggling to rein in her . . . “confidence”.’ Annie explained, before mouthing the word ‘magic’ to a slightly baffled looking Harmony. She got a drawn-out ‘ohhhh’ in return.

‘Well, look at you. Should we have brought an apple for teacher?’ Vivienne said dryly, adding a spoonful of sweetener into her cup.

‘What was the girl like? A total nightmare? A right little witch, I bet,’ Harmony asked, holding onto Annie’s forearm on the table with spilling sympathy.

‘What?’ Annie laughed, shaking off a rush of hot defensiveness for Maeve. ‘Not at all. I mean not the easiest kid in the world, but I’ve never known anyone with such a heart of gold. Apart from maybe the two that I work here with.’

‘Oh? And what are we? Rotten nightshade? Pickled newt liver?’ Romily said, with an air of offence.

‘And you three, of course. That goes without saying,’ Annie smiled. She felt her patience twitch in an unfamiliar, jarring way.

‘How did her magic seem? Did you get it under wraps?’ Vivienne asked.

‘We made real progress. She’s talented and so bright. It didn’t take us long to realize that anything creative seemed to make it flourish, so we did all sorts of lovely activities to combine her art with her magic. She’s a very special girl,’ Annie said, carried away on the memories of those happy days before she could rein herself in as she normally would around them. As soon as she’d shared so much, she found herself regretting it.

‘A “special girl”, hey? Anyone would think you actually enjoyed yourself, holed up with some ghastly teenage girl with no manners and no money.’

Annie smarted and distracted herself by refolding the napkin on her lap. ‘Honestly, I did, Viv. I think she managed to teach me far more than I taught her in the end.’

‘Like what, how to prepare instant noodles and apply uneven eyeliner?’

‘She was quite extraordinary,’ Annie said, wanting to defend Maeve further from their harsh preconceptions. Their judgement felt all the more acute without the hex to blur her responses.

‘Yes, yes, very special. Very precious. An absolute darling, by all accounts. So where is she now?’ Vivienne said quickly. ‘Have they found someone else to palm little Maeve off onto?’

Annie opened her mouth to reply, then closed her lips, stumbling over an unwelcome, ugly thought. A thought that made her shoulders tense, her blood stop moving through her body.

‘I . . .’ She swallowed hard. ‘I don’t think I mentioned her name.’