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“Cara,” Jay said.
“Okay, okay,” she said. She stood and stretched, rolling the knots out of her shoulders.
They went downstairs, and Cara was relieved to find the house still empty. She was basically a prisoner of the coven, and everyone knew it. The news had spread like lightning - there was a void in town, and Cara was involved.
Jay’s mothers were both nice people, but Cara didn’t feel like explaining herself again, so she let out a sigh of relief when she realised there was nobody else home.
“Where are your moms?”
“Out,” Jay shrugged. “Something with the elders, I think.”
Cara frowned, and he raised his hands with a laugh.
“Don’t look at me like that. I’m not keeping anything from you. I don’t know what the elders are up to.”
“Not much, I’d guess,” Cara said. “That’s their favourite move. Doing nothing.”
“You sound like you’re hungry,” Jay said. “Let’s eat and your mood might improve.”
She bit back the retort. He was probably right.
She sat down and he started putting something together. There was something about sitting here, in this kitchen, watching Jay cooking and chopping and talking to himself and to her about whatever came into his head. It reminded her of back when things were simpler. They’d spent a lot of days like this over the years.
“Do you want help?”
Jay didn’t stop what he was doing. “If you touch anything, I’ll kick you out of my kitchen.”
She smiled. “It was just an offer.”
“You always offer, and I always say no. Don’t touch anything.”
She grinned and watched him bustling around, and she let herself relax.
***
After they ate, Cara cleaned up and laughed as Jay complained about eating too much.
“Every single time,” she said.
He groaned. “I’m so full.”
She finished up and started to leave the kitchen. “Thanks, Jay. I should get back to it.”
“Wait, can I ask something?”
She turned. “Sure.”
“Why are you so interested in voids all of a sudden? I know it’s Nick, but you’ve already seen him use the void power. What can a book tell you that you haven’t already seen?”
“I want to know how it works. We’re going in blind, and I’m trying to change that.” She sighed. “Not that it’s working. Everything I’ve found is just another story about evil voids killing witches. There’s nothing useful.”
“It’s a big library,” Jay said.
“I know, but I think the books I need are in the back room.”
The back area of the library was locked and restricted, sealed behind a door covered in intricate, complicated locking runes. The elders themselves had helped Jay’s mothers carve the runes and enchant the door.
“I know we can’t access it,” she said, “but I just know that the answers are in there. I have a gut feeling, you know?”
