Stormy Spells (Ebook)

CHAPTER 1

Not so long ago, in the magical town of Blisswood, two elderly witches sat down to tea. One was Violet Atherington, matriarch of the largest and most powerful coven of witches in town, and the other was Nana Trix… possibly the most formidable witch in town—nobody knew for sure… though it was widely acknowledged that she was definitely the most terrifying witch in Blisswood.

“Tea in the middle of the day?” Nana snorted. “Something’s obviously up, Violet.” She stared over her teacup at her sister-in-law and took a sip. Ugh. The tea was dishwater-weak, as usual. Well, at least the wisteria from the garden outside smelled nice.

“Nothing’s up,” Violet replied. “Aside from my term as matriarch. I’m getting old, Beatrix. It’s time for you to step up and take over.”

Nana glanced up from where she’d begun experimenting with magicking the sugar into margarita cubes. “Take over? Take over what? One of your gardens?”

That was an idea. In fact, she had an entire field of ideas just waiting to be sown. Nana grinned, imagining having free rein with a plot of Atherington land. 

“Why… take over my position as matriarch, of course.” Violet shook her head at Nana, as if perplexed that she’d needed to spell it out. 

Nana’s eyes narrowed. Just as she’d thought. Violet was harping about this again. “No. No way. I told you, I’m not a real Atherington.”

“Of course, you are. You’re family—”

“Only by marriage,” Nana snorted.

“—and the strongest and most suitable witch I know.”

“All that tea’s gone to your head, Vi.” Nana scowled. She leaned forward, grabbed a margarita cube, and popped it into her mouth. Hmm. Not bad for insta-margarita.

“It hasn’t, and don’t think I didn’t notice what you did just there.” Violet shook a reprimanding finger at Nana, who sniffed, then waved hers and conjured up a little frog in Violet’s cup. 

Well. She hadn’t really conjured it. But it had looked chilly where it sat on the patio outside, so it was probably glad to be relocated to Violet’s lukewarm tea.

Unfortunately, Violet didn’t miss a beat either. 

Instead of taking a mouthful of frog-tea, she sighed and set her cup aside. “Please, Nana. You’re the only one who’s qualified for this. And besides, your talents are wasted at Jorge’s. I suspect that’s why you can’t resist pulling such childish tricks. Being matriarch would be a much better use of your time and energy.”

“That’s a matter of opinion, I think,” Nana pursed her lips.

Violet opened her mouth once more. And that was it. 

It was either leave, or conjure up an entire pondful of frogs to shower onto Violet. “I’m not doing it and you can’t make me,” Nana growled. “So you’d better find somebody else.”

With that, she got up and stormed out. But not before Violet called after her, “There IS nobody else, Beatrix!”

* * *

“Nobody else, my foot,” Nana huffed later that evening at the Jorge and Dragon. 

The pub was filling up as usual. It was a local hub in Blisswood, and everyone passed through its doors eventually. Which meant that almost everyone in town knew to keep a low profile today, given Nana’s mood.

Everyone but the pub’s owner, that is.

Jorge sat at the bar—well, as best he could, given he lacked the necessary body parts. It wasn’t easy being a bodiless head, but he managed better than most. Especially considering most were no longer animate and usually buried six feet under.

“It is indeed a fine foot,” he offered amiably, giving the appendage in mind a long, approving look. Though he was the last person to judge, Nana did indeed have a pair of strong, fine feet.

Nana swiped her rag across the bartop savagely, nearly batting Jorge into the air, but otherwise ignored him. “She must be going senile in her old age. She’s completely forgotten Temmie.”

“Temmie?” Jorge asked, bouncing easily in place to escape Nana’s scrubbing. “Who’s that?” he called after her as she grumbled, then moved to attend to a waiting customer.

“Only her long-lost granddaughter,” Catalina whispered to Felix as the two cats canoodled under the bar. “Trix is always moaning about her when she thinks nobody’s close enough to hear her.”

“Hmm?” Felix’s ears perked up.

“My granddaughter, who’s a powerful witch,” Nana Trix grumbled to Jorge when she came back. “Or she would be if she only knew she had magic. Her mother completely lost her way falling off the family tree. Not a rotten apple, just a completely clueless one who convinced herself she was an orange. Or a grape. Something equally squishy with no crunch.”

Jorge laughed. “Sounds like your daughter’s a lovely young woman who escaped inheriting your bite.”

Nana scowled. “Her loss.”

Jorge shrugged. Or tried to. It was hard having no shoulders. “So why not get Temmie to be matriarch, then?”

“I would if I could, but I can’t find her. My ninny of a daughter banned me from getting in touch with them both.” Nana rolled her eyes.

“Oh, so she’s nice and smart.” Jorge hooted with laughter. 

Nana slapped her rag down so quickly Jorge barely had time to evade it.

“You DO know I’m your boss, Trix!” Jorge yelped as he bounced in place on the bar.

Nana raised an eyebrow. “Of course,” she said. Then she flicked her rag again. And again.

“Wait,” Felix said slowly as Jorge rolled desperately across the bartop to escape Nana. “So Trix’s granddaughter is a powerful but untaught witch… without a familiar.”

“And you’re a powerful familiar without a witch,” Catalina smiled lazily. “Aren’t you glad I asked you over tonight?”

“Hmm, yes, for more reasons than one,” Felix said before he jumped Catalina.

The two cats were so engrossed with each other, they barely noticed when Nana Trix sent Jorge flying out the window and into the river.

* * *

Much later that night, when most of the customers had gone and the bar was quiet, Felix seized the opportunity and leaped onto the bartop for a little chat with Nana.

“Hey,” he called out as she polished shot glasses. “Why don’t you use blood magic to find your granddaughter?”

“I don’t speak cat,” she retorted, shooing him away.

Felix scowled, then reluctantly used magic to speak directly into her mind.

“Ah, a puss of many talents, I see,” Nana replied. “To answer your question, I can’t. I’ve been forbidden from performing blood magic ever since that Unfortunate Incident in 1996.”

Felix shuddered. He hadn’t been born then. But he’d heard of the Unfortunate Incident in 1996. “So get another witch to do it.”

Nana peered down at him. “And risk letting them handle my blood? That’s just plain stupid. And before you ask, Violet would skin me alive before she allowed me to use hers.”

“Maybe… but maybe not. I mean, if she’s desperate enough to ask you to take over.” It was Felix’s turn to jump when Nana swiped her rag at him. Thankfully, he was nimbler on his feet than Jorge was. Well, so to speak.

“What’s it to you, anyway?” Nana asked suspiciously. “Don’t think I didn’t notice you and the little white cat eavesdropping.”

Felix cocked his head. “We weren’t trying to hide. Anyway, it’s about time I bonded a witch. Your daughter sounds like she might be a good candidate if she really is as powerful as you think she is.”

“She is,” Nana said sternly. “But that doesn’t mean she needs a familiar. I don’t have one. Now, shoo.”

“She will if she doesn’t know she has magic.” Felix pointed out as he jumped almost lazily to avoid the rag. “Most witches do, even if they’ve learned magic from the cradle. You’re an atypical case.” 

Or rather, a real headcase. 

Felix hadn’t really had any close encounters with Nana before now, but he’d heard all about her from Catalina and a myriad other would-be familiars who’d shown interest in bonding her. Word on the street was that Nana was best left alone unless you wanted to end up afraid of your own tail. The only person Nana had failed to intimidate so far was Jorge—who was beyond caring, having lost everything but his pub and his head—and… Violet Atherington, apparently.

Which, conversely enough, made Felix even more curious about this great-niece of the Atherington matriarch. If she was even a fraction as powerful as Nana, she’d be worth bonding, he decided.

“Atypical?” Nana snorted. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Felix executed a dignified nod. “You should. Anyway, back to your granddaughter… wait. How old is she anyway?”

Nana shrugged. Twenty-five? Twenty-eight? Probably not older than thirty, since I’ve barely hit fifty.

Felix tried not to react to that. He was a cat, but he could do math.

“Right. So she’s had all that magic bottled up in her for all that time,” he said slowly, “don’t you think it’s bound to get loose at some point?” 

Probably at the worse possible moment, like magic tended to do.

“Of course I do!” Nana slapped her rag onto the counter so hard, customers all around the bar flinched. “But what am I supposed to do? I can’t approach her, not while she still hasn’t got her magic. I have to wait till it goes boom. Only then will my promise to my daughter be void. Now scat!”

Felix growled, then bared his teeth as Nana’s rag-wielding hand approached. 

Nana narrowed her eyes and paused, lowering her rag slightly. “Those teeth are too long for a cat. What exactly are you?”

“A familiar that’s strong enough to help your granddaughter.” Felix smirked, then hastily continued while he had Nana’s attention. “There’s someone else you can go to, by the way. Someone who’s an expert on blood but who won’t be able to use it for bad magic.”

Nana Trix raised her eyebrows skeptically. “Oh? And who might that be?”

“Sir Victor Reynolds, vampire.”

“What?” Nana scoffed. “That pretty boy’s all bark and no bite.”

“Exactly,” Felix grinned. “He’s precisely who you need to find… what’s her name again?”

“I didn’t tell it to you before,” Nana grumbled. “But I think you have a point. Victor’s old enough to have a few tricks up his sleeve. It’s possible he’ll be able to locate Temmie.”

Temmie. Felix liked the sound of that.

Nana’s rag slapped down onto the bartop an inch away from his tail. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten about you, though. You’re not all cat, are you?”

“What I am is none of your business—eeek!”

Felix leaped off the bartop when Nana reached for him, then streaked towards the door leading out of the Jorge and Dragon. 

“See you at Victor’s, lady!” he called back over his shoulder.