Blonde With a Wand by Vicki Lewis Thompson

message?”
    “Jasper. While I was sleeping.”
    Lily scanned the words Jasper had painstakingly typed. Then she turned and her gaze met Jasper’s. “Well done. I wouldn’t have used the litter box, either.”
    “You see why I had to contact you. He’s gone to a lot of work to make sure we get started nice and early.” Anica closed a cupboard door and the espresso machine began to rumble and hiss. “He also pulled up a Google site on magic.”
    Lily inclined her head in Jasper’s direction. “I can see we’re dealing with a resourceful guy.”
    “Yep,” Anica called from the kitchen.
    Lily sat in the desk chair. “I hope you realize that transforming him back could mean a whole lot of trouble for you.”
    “I’m well aware of that.”
    “Have you considered not changing him back?”
    In the silence that followed, Jasper’s blood ran cold.

Chapter 6
    Because Anica wasn’t stupid she realized that Jasper couldn’t take his revenge on her if she left the spell in place. She wouldn’t get her magic back, but most of the world operated without magic, so she should be able to.
    But keeping Jasper in his present state would be immoral and she wouldn’t consider it, no matter what consequences she had to suffer. Still, every time she thought about how miserable he could make her life once he’d returned to human form, she shuddered.
    Lily was engrossed in whatever she’d found on the Internet when Anica came in with the espresso. A demitasse hadn’t seemed adequate to what they were dealing with this morning, so she’d given them each a mug full.
    She set one down on the desk next to Lily. “That should set your tonsils to vibrating.”
    “Thanks. Got any doughnuts?”
    “Day old.”
    “Don’t care.”
    Anica returned to the kitchen and came back with a box she’d brought home from Wicked Brew yesterday. She opened it and put it on the other side of the keyboard. Normally she’d be worried about crumbs in her keyboard, but at this point, needing Lily’s help the way she did, she wasn’t going to fret about a few crumbs.
    She peered over Lily’s shoulder. “Anything?”
    “This is my favorite site. I should have thought of going to it last night.” Lily highlighted a recipe. “Do you have these ingredients?”
    “I picked up some mugwort the other day, so yeah, I have everything.”
    “Think you could get him to drink it?”
    “This is a guy who pecked out a message with his paws and went online using the mouse. I think he’d drink anteater pee if he thought it would work.”
    Lily grinned. “Anteater pee?”
    “Just an illustration. I think he’s desperate.”
    “Notice that it takes at least eight hours to work.”
    “I did.” Anica read through the instructions again. “But I like the way this is presented.”
    “He should be watched all day.”
    Anica glanced at her. “If you’d take the first part of this morning . . .”
    “I was afraid you’d ask me that.”
    “Once I get Wicked Brew up and running, I can leave again, but I need to be there first thing. In fact, I should be there in about forty-five minutes.”
    Lily blew out a breath. “Can you be home by eleven?”
    “I should be. It’s not like I’ll get caught up in traffic or anything. That’s why I rented this apartment, so I could walk to work and back.”
    “Okay, I’ll just stay jacked up on espresso until you get home. But leave the shop earlier if you can. I need my beauty sleep before I head off to work at five.”
    “Deal. Ready to try making the potion?”
    “Something’s better than nothing.” Lily hit the PRINT button and the small unit under the desk started squeaking.
    Before Anica realized that Jasper had moved, he was under the desk, trying to grab the paper out of the printer.
    “Hey!” Anica picked him up. “We need that.”
    “So does he.” Lily gave the cat a speculative look. “Do you suppose he was trying to get the recipe for himself?”
    Anica scratched behind Jasper’s ears.