The Sorceress Screams by Anya Breton Page B

wait until I could do it in
person?
    He’d claimed
there’d been an outcry among the coalition. It had something to my ability to
tap Water magic. Veronika had spilled the beans when
she’d explained how I’d gotten them away from Nadir.
    The coalition
now knew I had access to at least three schools of magic. In a disgustingly
casual tone, Desmond had mentioned he’d had to take responsibility for me in
order to calm the group. And that I now owed him four favors.
    He’d taken away
my right to choose who took responsibility for me. I was furious. That decision
could have been made at a later date. But if I complained, he’d point out that
I could have spoken for myself if I’d been present at the meeting.
    The final
message was another frantic call from Nell about the party. By the time I’d
finished listening to it, I’d received a text message back from her with a
frowning face and a demand I get my ass to the shop.
    Jacqueline and
I grabbed two cookies each out of the package atop my breakfast bar as a
makeshift meal. My leather wristband told me they weren’t traps from the
Underworld and thus were safe to eat—or at least as safe as processed cookies
could be. We piled into my Nissan to make the short trip to my shop. Jacqueline
remained quiet beside me as she had all day.
    Nell’s Mazda
was already in the lot when I pulled in. Beside it was a black BMW.
    “Fuck me,” I
said under my breath.
    Jacqueline’s
frame went stiff as a board. Her gaze darted around the lot. “What? Is he
here?”
    “No, but
Desmond Marino is.”
    I forced
myself out of the car. And then gave into a minor tantrum by slamming the door
and stomping toward the building. I could already see him and Veronika seated on folding chairs inside.
    Nell beat me
to the lock simply so she could glare at me. She snapped a question as soon as
the glass was wide enough to allow it. “What is he doing here?”
    “I was going
to ask you the same thing.”
    “He claims he
was invited,” Nell said. “I didn’t invite him.”
    “I didn’t
either.”
    Desmond
cleared his throat. “Alina invited me.”
    I shot Nell a
smug “Ah-hah!” look because Alina was her mother.
    The Water
priest settled back in his most arrogant of leans as if he owned the damn
place. “I thought Veronika would like to meet people
her own age during her unfortunate stay here.”
    The pretty
blonde jerked toward him and then focused on us. I couldn’t tell what her
neutral expression meant without an empathic link. But Desmond’s statement
implied he wasn’t her age. I supposed
he was correct. He had to be in his mid thirties. Veronika couldn’t be any older than me.
    I gestured at
my guest. “This is Jacqueline Washington.” Waving at Nell for Jacqueline’s
benefit, I went on. “This is Nell Kranz . She works
with me here at the shop. And that’s Desmond Marino, the head of Neptune’s
Fellowship.”
    Desmond
inclined his cropped head of blue-black hair. She nodded a greeting in return.
    “Go ahead and
have a seat. I need to get some things out of storage.” I didn’t wait for their
permission before heading down the stairs.
    Nell and I had
created some gift bags and door prize packages using inexpensive items that had
plenty of bang . Each bag had a special incense stick,
a good luck charm, and a coupon for twenty percent off one item. Nell joined me
up the stairs, I assumed so she could help haul them to shop floor. Her
favorite CD already piped through the space.
    I smelled
pizza on my second trip up. My stomach growled like Cerberus during an invasion
when I spotted the delivery witch heading out to her car with empty hands.
Jacqueline and I dove into one of the large cheese pizzas to quiet our rumbling
tummies.
    Veronika refused a piece, citing that
Dr. Marino had fed her a large dinner. My shoulders drooped. I’d been a
horrible host for Jacqueline. But the reminder of the large dinner “Dr. Marino”
had fed me a week ago sent me
downstairs until