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What happened to the grumpy man who would spend his Christmas with the cat from next door?
* * *
Fifteen minutes later,I found myself at the door outside Karin’s cabin with Zaide and Charlie standing in the street behind, waving me inside like a parent sending a child to school. I glared at them, but they both smiled and continued walking up the hill to the main house.
Karin flung the door open wide and cheered, “Clawdia! I was just about to send a search party!”
She’d let her hair down since this morning and curled it so it fell in lovely blond waves around her shoulders. Her floral summer dress and matching red sandals were also very cute.
I suddenly felt very underdressed and unprepared.
“Oh, I’m sorry. We fell asleep,” I mumbled as she pulled me inside.
The cabin was exactly like ours, except it had a far more homely feel. There were plates on the dish rack, rugs on the floor, pictures on the walls, and a large bookshelf taking up the majority of the open plan space.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure you need your rest after all the healing you’ve done today.”
I frowned and immediately tensed.How does she know about that?
“My father is the doctor.” She rolled her eyes and laughed. “He’s grateful you’ve halved the number of his patients in only a few hours.”
I instantly felt bad for judging her.See? She’s not doing anything untoward. She’s trying to help you. Stop being so paranoid.
“I’m glad to have helped,” I mumbled as I scanned the titles of the books on her shelf. They were all magic-based.
She must be a very dedicated witch.
Karin waved her arm toward the sitting area, and I noticed two ladies I hadn’t seen there before. “These are my cousins, Natasha and Naomi.”
Twins. They were beautiful girls with brown, curly hair and blue eyes very similar to Karin’s. Their smiles were warm as they stood up from the sofa to greet me, revealing their matching outfits. Pink halter tops and denim skirts.
“It’s lovely to meet you both.”
“I’m Natasha. I wear a pink bracelet.” She pointed to her wrist and drew my attention to the braided fabric tied there.
The other twin, Naomi, also waved her wrist and introduced herself. “And I’m Naomi, and I wear the blue bracelet.”
Karin explained with a laugh, “They have to wear something to differentiate themselves, or after a few drinks, even their own mother confuses them.”
“We won’t swap them either. Promise,” Natasha said with a devilish grin. I returned it, warming up to the twins more now I’d seen their mischievous side.
Naomi picked up a bag and handed it to me. “We gathered some things from our wardrobe that you might like.”
“Oh, wow. Thank you.” I opened the bag and peered inside to see a stack of clothes. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this. I haven’t had a chance to go shopping since I became human. I’ve been wearing Winnie’s clothes.”
And her clothes didn’t exactly fit. If I thought too hard about the number of people, I’d unintentionally flashed in the past few weeks due to a lack of undergarments and oversized clothes, I’d never recover my dignity.
“Who’s Winnie?” Natasha asked as she sat back down and picked up a glass of wine.
I paused before saying, “She was my witch.”
“Was?”
“She … she was killed.” I swallowed and tried to repress the tears forming in my eyes. It was so easy to forget she was gone when we were busy trying to survive, but when I had time to think, I missed her.
“We’re sorry for your loss.” Naomi gave me a sympathetic smile, but it didn’t help me stop the grief. I looked up and tried to blink back tears.
Karin’s cheerful voice sounded strange in the somber atmosphere. “It’s absolutely fascinating that you turned human. And you managed to get a new witch? How exactly did that happen?”
