Single Witch's Survival Guide by Mindy Klasky Page B

an exterminator. “I’m sure you would have come up with something.”
    “It’s not right,” Gran said. “If our David antagonized that man, there has to be a reason. The Court should be rewarding David, not antagonizing him like that.” She stared morosely at her side order of tea cured salmon. Or maybe she was studying her chicken sausage. It was hard to tell with the array of dishes on her side of the table. “If your mother and I had any real powers, we’d take a stand on his behalf. The three of us together, we could make the Court see reason.”
    “You do have powers,” I said loyally. Although, truth be told, my grandmother’s abilities were rather limited. Clara on the other hand… Her magic ebbed and flowed, but she usually managed to tap into her strong potential.
    As if on cue, my mother stopped pushing her fork around on her plate of scrambled tempeh. Kale, tomato, and cilantro gave the dish plenty of color, but Clara was eyeing Gran’s sausage with longing. “I think we should consult with Sister Moonsilver. See what the spirit world has to say about this Norville Pitt.”
    I forced my lips to curve into a smile as I tested my response inside my head before speaking aloud. I needed to sound like I thought my mother’s suggestion could possibly have merit. In some other world where astrology was actually real magic. “Sister Moonsilver isn’t really a psychic, Clara. Her only magical ability is using enough vague words to lure her patrons into completing her sentences.” She’s a fraud , I wanted to add, but Gran had long-since forbidden the F-word.
    Clara drew herself up very straight. “Sister Moonsilver correctly predicted my power animal. If she isn’t a psychic, how did she know I’d dream of a mountain lion the first night I slept in her tent?”
    Maybe because she fed you copious amounts of a very suspicious tea before you fell asleep. And because she never stopped talking about mountain lions, even while you were dreaming.
    But this was Mother Daughter Brunch. There was nothing to be gained by challenging Clara on some of her most closely held beliefs. Instead, I took a generous bite of apple gingerbread and watched the koi swim in the stone-lined pond that filled the center of the dining room. I had almost achieved perfect Zen peace when Gran launched a new, supposedly-safe topic of conversation. “Tell us, dear. How are your students settling in?”
    “Raven and Emma?” I took a sip of Golden Monkey tea as I considered my answer. “Fine, I guess. Things were a little chaotic when they showed up Friday night, but I think David and I covered pretty well.”
    Gran buttered a ginger scone and smeared it with marmalade. “I’m sure you’re getting excellent advice from Neko. This must be right up his alley, the social aspects of welcoming students to your magicarium.”
    I leaned back in my chair. “Actually,” I said to the oversize goldfish, “he’s barely talking to me.”
    Gran was shocked enough that she put down her scone without taking a bite. “What have you done now, Jane?”
    What had I done? Why did she assume I had done anything? Oh. Maybe because I had.
    “This all happened so fast! David and I never expected witches to appear on our doorstep, complete with warders and familiars!”
    “You never expected your mother to help you out, you mean.”
    Well, that was one way to look at it, even if Gran’s correction was tarter than I expected. I glanced at Clara, who was mercifully intent on adding thick slices of sausage to her tempeh. “That’s not what I meant at all,” I said.
    But Gran hadn’t lost sight of the real problem. She asked, “What did you do to Neko?”
    And so I told them both about asking my familiar to give up his apartment to Raven and Emma. They listened to my justifications without interrupting, even when my voice rose to a notably shriller register. “Under the circumstances,” I concluded defensively, “it was the best thing for