A Kind of Magic by Shanna Swendson Page A

of enchantresses. Athena and Amelia themselves weren’t entirely comfortable with it.
    “It’s mostly ceremonial these days,” Josephine said with a casually dismissive flick of the wrist. “I suppose it’s more interesting than being in a book club. At least, until recently.”
    “Recently?” Sophie asked, fighting to convey a tone of casual interest rather than alarm.
    “That’s why I’m here. Surely you’ve noticed.”
    Sophie was spared having to answer—and lie—by Athena and Amelia bustling into the room to announce that dinner was served. Josephine didn’t wait too long past the “oh, this is delicious” niceties before she launched into the business that had apparently brought her to the New York enchantresses. “You must have noticed the danger signs.”
    Sophie had a sinking suspicion she knew what signs Josephine meant, but she fought to keep her expression blank and neutral. Amelia surprised her by saying, “Oh, you mean the awakening Realm? Yes, we were aware of that. Our sources tell us that a new queen is on the throne.”
    It was even harder for Sophie not to react to that. Upon further thought, though, she realized that pretending ignorance would only have given Josephine the upper hand. As it was, Josephine seemed somewhat taken aback. “So you did know.”
    “It was rather hard to miss,” Athena said with a smile. “And we have very good sources.” Sophie thought she sounded like a schoolgirl campaigning to be the teacher’s pet, eager for Josephine’s approval.
    “Then we have failed in our mandate,” Josephine said. “And now we must deal with the consequences in the aftermath.”
    “What do you propose we do?” Sophie asked. “Depose the new queen? Perhaps we should wait to see how her reign goes. There’s always the possibility that someone worse might take the throne.” If Josephine had any idea how close the human world had come to disaster at Halloween, she’d know that a few magical incidents were nothing. The current queen was Sophie’s grandmother, who was more human than fae.
    Josephine turned a steely glare on Sophie. “Wait and see? How many more deaths are you willing to tolerate? How many more missing children? How much more pain and suffering? Due to our work, there has been no queen on the throne in centuries. Now, we’re back to the days when the fae had great influence over the human world, and mankind no longer knows what to do about it. No one knows how to protect themselves, how to get their children back, what to do if they get taken to the Realm. What do you think will happen if the queen shows herself and demands tribute?”
    Sophie knew that was highly unlikely, since the queen would revert to a frail old woman in the final stages of Alzheimer’s disease the moment she set foot outside the Realm, but she wasn’t sure this was a fact to be shared with Josephine. She waited to let Amelia or Athena respond.
    “You’re seeing these things, too?” Amelia asked. “The missing people, strange sightings?”
    “Everyone’s seeing them. That is, enchantresses are, all over the world. Where we still have enchantresses.”
    “You’re certain this activity is fae?” Sophie asked. She wasn’t so sure, herself, and she was part fae. There was something about all of it that didn’t ring quite right to her, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. “Everything I’ve seen has been ambiguous, at best.”
    “Didn’t you just tell me you were new to this?” Josephine asked in the kind of tone that implied the “bless your heart” would have been understood if she’d had a southern accent. “How would you know to judge?”
    “We have yet to find definitive proof,” Athena said hastily. “None of our sources have been able to verify anything more than a few creature sightings, and only then among those who have been touched by the fae. Even the tabloids haven’t picked up on any unusual activity, and you’d think they’d put this on the