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“2Pac, naturally. I’m a Cali girl.” Sophie accentuated her words with an exaggerated toss of her auburn mane of hair, perfecting the California girl hair flip, and strutted into the library.
“I’ll allow it,” I said. “Mainly because I know the Sox are better than the Dodgers.”
“I’d jump on that except I’m not hugely into baseball.”
I gaped at her like she’d just said she slept in a coffin at night.
“You don’t…but…” It was impossible to grow up in Boston and not like baseball.
“Ladies, are we here to talk about the celebrated catalogs of early nineties rap artists, or do we have something important to discuss?” Archie barked from the corner where he’d taken a seat at the end of a massive table that dominated part of the library. I’d stumbled on the library in my sheer inability to find my way back to my room the other day, and if I’d been a girl who loved books, well, this would have been my nirvana. It had high bookshelves with rolling ladders, a painted ceiling with an honest-to-god mural, and a large fireplace that likely warmed the whole room in winter.
“How in the hell do you know about rap music?” Lachlan raised an eyebrow at Archie.
“I’m hardly sheltered, lad.” A faint pink color rose to Archie’s cheek, and suspicion rose inside me.
“2Pac or Biggie?” I asked Archie, hands on my hips.
“In my estimation, The Notorious B.I.G was the better rapper.” Archie sniffed and snapped his newspaper, folding it neatly on the table in front of him while Lachlan pretended to faint.
“Archie listens to rap music? Is…is that what’s on your speakers in your toolshed?” Lachlan asked.
“I find it important to listen to a wide range of musical genres, and aye, American rap music occasionally makes its way into my repertoire. Now, why did we call a midday meeting? I thought this was for tonight?” Archie looked at Hilda who gave a quick shake of her head.
“What was for tonight?” I asked, that feeling of being kept in the dark rising once more.
“Um, now that you’ve had a few days to settle in, we wanted to have a talk with you. About some other aspects of your job…should you choose to accept it. Well, I mean, legally it’s not part of your job, but it’s…” Sophie wound a piece of hair around her finger and shot a desperate look at Lachlan. “I’m bungling this.”
“Bungling what?” Munroe asked from behind me, and the low timbre of his voice sent a shiver down the back of my neck. I turned to see him with wet hair and a clean shirt, and the fresh scent of soap drifted in with him as he came to stand by my side.
“What did you want to talk about today?” Hilda asked, ignoring his question.
“There’s a broonie living in the banquet hall, and it left a book of Kitchen Witch spells for Lia.”
Gasps filled the room.
“I’m guessing that’s not what you wanted to talk about tonight?” I asked faintly, dropping into a chair at the table.
“Tangentially, I suppose,” Archie mused, tapping his finger on the paper in front of him, a faraway look in his eyes. “A broonie. Och, it’s been ages since I’ve heard talk of one of those.”
I leaned over and rested my forehead lightly on the table, my thoughts threatening to scramble once more.
“Look, you’ve gone and broken her, Archie,” Hilda chided him.
“Och, it’s not me that’s broken her. It’s likely the wee broonie. They can be quite difficult, you ken?” Archie grumbled.
“Oh, can they?Canthey?” I flipped my head up and glared at Archie. “And the ghost coos are harmless, and the Kelpies will probably eat me, but the broonies, och, well, they’re just difficult, are they?” I tried out a Scottish accent.
“I mean…aye…that’s the way of…” Archie clamped his mouth shut when Hilda shot him a warning look.
“We’ve brought you here under false pretenses,” Sophie began, and then her eyes caught on Munroe. “Um, Lachlan…should we maybe do this alone?”
“No.” I grabbed Munroe’s arm when he made to stand. “He stays.”
“Munroe’s solid. It’s not like it’s much of a secret anymore, what with the whole town involved now.” Lachlan shrugged.
“Involved in what, exactly?” Munroe moved just slightly closer to me, enough that his broad arm brushed mine, and I immediately leaned into his warmth. Listen, I’m not the type to hang on a man’s arm and beg for him to protect me, but I’d also never dealt with the land of magick water horses and batter-throwing kitchen goblins, so maybe, just maybe, it wouldn’t hurt for me to lean on someone.
“Lia,” Sophie said, drawing my attention to where she sat, her arm tucked through Lachlan’s, her face wreathed in sympathy. “I had a sharp learning curve to deal with as well. It’s going to sound…well, insane really. But the truth is, we brought you here, not only for your superb cooking, of course, but because you’re the next person to join the magickal Order of Caledonia. Should you choose to join, of course. You can say no.”
