Second Time's A Curse

by Laura Greenwood

  Contents

  Blurb

  Foreword

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Author’s Note

  Excerpt: Third Time’s A Crime

  Also by Laura Greenwood

  About the Author

  © 2019 Laura Greenwood

  All rights reserved. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise – without prior written permission of the published, except as provided by United States of America copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher at “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the email address; lauragreenwood@authorlauragreenwood.co.uk.

  Visit Laura Greenwood’s website at:

  www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk

  Cover Design by Vampari Designs

  Formatting by Gina Writes Words

  Second Time’s A Curse is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Blurb

  I never wanted a cat, but the ever-kittens don't seem to care, and now I have more than ever.

  The last thing I expected when I came to Grimalkin was to learn I'd been cursed. And yet, now I am. I have no choice but to find a way to break it. But first, I need to work out who cast it in the first place.

  At least I have some warlocks by my side to lend a helping hand.

  Foreword

  What Happened Before - An essay By Arizona Tape (10 points)

  Mona arrives at Grimalkin Academy, having made friends with the pink-haired nerd, Daphne who happens to have a yummy twin-brother, Ryan. But no fear, Caspian is here! He’s yummy, he’s broody, and Ryan is not impressed.

  When Mona gets cursed doing an animal-prank spell, she thinks it’s all fine. But surprise, it’s not!

  Poof.

  Hello, Rhubarb, you little stripy friend. While Rhubarb might be the cutest cat on the cover, he’s not the only wobbly fuzzball that meows for Mona’s attention. Ginger, Felix, Isla, and Thomas can’t leave Mona alone.

  Hang on, Thomas is not a kitten. He’s a warlock and a teaching-assistant. After he takes her to a secret library, sparks fly. (Literally and then, tadaaa, more kittens.)

  While reading books, she runs into Ivy, the little twerpy witch that also happens to be Caspian’s step-sister. And she might’ve been the one that put the curse on Mona in the first place. Maybe… Perhaps… Or has she?

  Let’s find out!

  (Thank you, Ari! You did a much better job than me - Laura)

  Chapter One

  I try not to look over at Ivy too often, but I can't help myself. It's hard to tell if she's the one who cursed me just from looking. She has the ability. She's not as high up the class ranks as Daphne is, but she's also not an idiot.

  More importantly, she has a motive. Kind of.

  "Eurgh." I run my hands over my face, tangling them in my hair.

  "You okay?" Ryan asks.

  "Sorry, where were we?" I'm not going to manage much tutoring if I'm fixating on my potential worst enemy. Plus, I don't want to have to explain to him all I've found out about my curse. That's for me, Daphne, and Thomas only, we don't need to bring anyone else into the mix.

  "You were telling me about the uses of frog spawn in potions," he prompts.

  "Are you really doing so badly that you need my help, or is this Daphne's way of matchmaking?" I blurt out. The thought's been going through my mind for days, especially with the way she looks at the two of us when we're together. The witch is up to something, and I meant that in the nicest possible way.

  Ryan blinks a couple of times before setting down his pen and turning to me. "I'm doing badly in potions," he promises. "But you think Daphne is matchmaking?" His smirk tells me more than he thinks it does. This isn't a worried man thinking his sister is overstepping, this is someone who...

  I gasp. "You really do like me like that." I don't mean to say the words aloud, and yet they're out in the open. What do I even do now?

  "Was that ever in question?"

  I almost want to slap the smug look off his face, but instead, I open and close my mouth, not sure how to respond. "It was in my head," I say eventually.

  He waves away my concern. "It hardly matters now. You're seeing that guy, and I'm not enough of a dick to want to break you up."

  "Caspian and I haven't spoken in weeks," I admit sheepishly. I never intended to leave it that long, but I'm still not over the fact he's Ivy's step-brother. I can't reconcile that fact and the way I feel about him in my head. Especially because he didn't tell me. This whole situation could have been avoided if he'd just outright told me.

  Though we need to sort it out for both of our sakes.

  "Is that so?" he wiggles his eyebrows, reminding me of Daphne.

  Oh ick. That's weird. Don't think about Daphne and Ryan at the same time. It's weird. She's my best friend, and he's...I'm not sure what he is. But he could mean a lot to me, if I let him.

  "Yes." I don't elaborate on that. I'm not falling into Ryan's arms just because I'm on the outs with Caspian.

  "So, if I ask you on a date..."

  "I'll say no." I tap my notepad. "We should get back to work."

  He starts to argue, but I hold up my hand.

  "I'm not ready," I tell him. "Maybe in a couple of months, I'll consider dating you." Daphne will have a field day if I tell her about this. Not that I will. I don't think.

  "A couple of..."

  "You need to respect that, Ryan." I half-slam my hand on the desk.

  "I'm sorry." He hangs his head, clearly meaning the word even if I don't want to make him feel bad about the situation.

  Against my better judgement, I place my hand on top of his and give it a squeeze. "There's just so much going on at the moment. I don't think it's fair to either of us if we start something now." My words come out low, almost sultry, even though I don't mean them to. If I'm not careful, I'm going to end up leading him on.

  He looks away, probably to hide the frown I've already caught on his face.

  "Besides, we can't start anything until we know for sure. If we do, and it ends badly, it's not just you I'll lose, and I need to be sure I'm ready for that." Daphne means far too much to me to risk having something with her brother and it not working out.

  He sighs. "I know you're right, but part of me still hopes you'll change your mind."

  "I'd be worried if you didn't." Though a little part of me doesn't get it. Why on earth would he be interested in someone like me? Why would anyone? I'm so close to becoming a crazy cat lady that I have four kittens in my room. And I'm only eighteen. Things have been weirder for me.

  "Mona?"

  I look up and away from Ryan, already knowing what I'll find when I do. My blood turns to ice in my veins as I meet Caspian's pained eyes. I may not be on the best terms with him, but that doesn't mean I want to hurt him.

  "I-I can explain," I stutter, already pushing my chair back and getting to my feet. The scraping sound gains attention from people around the library, but I don't even care. Most of them dislike me already for the not-being-able-to-do-magic-and-making-kittens thing anyway, they can think wh
at they want about the complications of my love life.

  He glances away. "No need. I get it."

  "Caspian..." My heart feels like it's snapping in two. How much of our exchange did he hear?

  His pained expression says it all as he turns to walk away.

  "Excuse me," I mutter to Ryan.

  The need to talk to Caspian and explain fills me. It even overpowers the anger I have over the situation with his step-sister. I don't think I even realised how much I like him until this moment.

  Right now, only one thing is certain. I have to make Caspian mine. Though technically, I do believe we're still dating.

  I rush out of the library, hot on his heels. Reaching out, my hand brushes over the rough fabric of his jacket.

  "Caspian, please talk to me..."

  Much to my surprise, he freezes. That's better than just going on his own way and not giving me the time of day, at least. Though I'm not sure what to say next. Now he's here at listening to me, I'm not sure what to say.

  "He's my best friend's brother," I whisper. "He's one of the only people that's been nice to me since the beginning," I say quietly. Well, him and his buddy, Cade. Though he seems to have eyes for Daphne.

  "And that makes you want to date him?" There's a harshness in his tone that I don't expect, and he doesn't turn around to look at me. I won't lie to myself, that hurts. A lot.

  "No. Yes. Maybe, I don't know." I sigh and let my hand fall away from him. "I feel all torn up in knots. How I feel about you, how I feel about Ryan, what's going on with my magic..."

  He shifts in front of me, turning so I can see his face and the thunder that lies there. "Have you ever wondered whether the problem with all of those things is you?" His words pierce through my heart.

  "What?" I snap.

  "You're the one who chose not to speak to me..."

  "You didn't even try to explain," I shout. "After I found out and..."

  "And what? Walked away? What was I supposed to do, Mona? Force something you didn't want?"

  "I don't not want it. I do want you." But a little part of me wants Ryan too in some ways. Though I don't say that bit out loud. I don't think it will help my cause.

  "Then you need to start acting like it," he insists.

  "With Ryan it..."

  "I don't mean when it comes to other guys, Mona. I don't need all your attention, just for you to treat me right."

  The lump in my throat makes it hard to swallow.

  Caspian rubs a hand over his face and sighs loudly. "Work it out, Mona. You know where I am if you do."

  He doesn't wait for a response and walks off, leaving me dazed and confused in the middle of the hall outside the library.

  Chapter Two

  I slump down on my bed, fed up with the way things were going.

  "Did you have to put Ryan up for today?" I ask Daphne.

  She raises an eyebrow and takes another bite of her apple. "Put him up to what?" she asks once she swallows. I'm not sure why she's using my desk and not her own, but I don't question it. My room has kittens, that's enough of an explanation.

  "Trying to ask me out in the library," I mutter.

  "He asked you out? Good for him. I didn't think he had it in him."

  "We are both talking about your brother, right?"

  Rhubarb decides that he wants some kind of fuss and uses Daphne to climb up the chair and jump on the bed next to me.

  Without even thinking about it, I reach out and scratch him behind his ears. He purrs loudly. At least I have a happy kitten. Well, four happy kittens. The others are scattered around the room doing cat-like things. Other than Ginger, who has decided that Daphne's lap is perfect for sleeping.

  "You need to hurry up and conjure a mama-cat to keep them all in line," she muses.

  "I'm not trying to summon a cat. I have my hands full with the ones I've made by accident." Even as I speak, I hear my own voice soften. It's nice to have the kittens here, even if I didn't plan for them.

  "Just an idea." She shrugs.

  "Are you purposefully avoiding talking about your brother asking me out?"

  "Yes," she admits. "I don't want to talk about Ryan's love life."

  I grunt in frustration. "Then why are you trying to set me up with him?" I'm not mad, I just want to know the truth about it.

  "Maybe I just want a sister." She turns back to her books.

  "Not the quickest way to get one," I mutter.

  "Less weird than encouraging my parents to have sex," she muses, not even looking at me. "Have you tried the conjuring homework yet?" she asks.

  I roll my eyes, but let the change of conversation stand. It's easier than focusing on what's going on with Ryan, which will no doubt lead to me thinking about the mess that is my relationship with Caspian too. Well, semi-relationship. I suppose we never had a proper conversation about it.

  "No. Conjuring is not something I want to do more of."

  "You should try, maybe it will sort out the kitten issue."

  I blink a couple of times. "You think it will?"

  "Better than taking a shot at black magic, don't you think?"

  I sigh. "I suppose you're right." I swing my legs around and pad over to the desk so I can look at the homework spell over her shoulder. "Here goes nothing."

  I take out my wand and hold it in front of me. All of my focus goes into the intent of my spell. I don't have to say the words to make anything happen, most of the time anyway.

  My arm tingles as magic travels through me and out through my wand. Something's happening, though a little part of me knows it isn't the apple I intend to conjure.

  Ah. That's why Daphne's eating an apple. She's already done the spell successfully and munches away as a reward.

  "Erm...Mona?"

  I open my eyes and give an exasperated sigh. "I did it again, didn't I?"

  She nods and points to the floor where a cute black kitten is looking up at me. This one is a bit different from the others, with pointier ears and a smaller face.

  "At least you made a proper breed this time?" she tries.

  "Breed?" I'm too lost in what to do with yet another kitten. At least there's still plenty of room for them, and they seem happy.

  "He's an Egyptian Siamese."

  "How do you know he's a he?" Despite owning four kittens, I'm still not very good at telling the boys and the girls apart.

  Daphne shrugs. "He looks like a he, don't you think?"

  "I suppose..."

  "What are you going to call him?" She bounces up and down on her seat. There's no containing her excitement then. At least someone is happy about the kittens.

  "Erm...Seth?" It's the only Egyptian god I can remember off the top of my head.

  "The god of chaos? Interesting choice for a kitten."

  I gulp, hoping the name doesn't turn out to be prophetic. I already have Rhubarb causing mischief, I don't want to add more to that. I like my things kept in one piece.

  "I should buy another kitten bed." It's the only thought that can process.

  "Already on it." She presses the on button of my laptop and lets the thing power up. I really should change my password rather than just letting her have a free run of it. "Where did you get the other one from?"

  "Caspian," I whisper.

  "Ah. Why don't you text him and ask?"

  I shake my head. "He's mad at me," I admit. "He overheard Ryan and me." I look away to hide the blush on my cheeks.

  "Oh. That's why you're annoyed about Ryan."

  "That's not what I said..." Except it is kind of true. "I don't know." I scoop up the kitten and sit back down on the bed.

  "Then try and reason it out?" she suggests.

  I sigh dramatically, looking at Seth and trying to work out what kind of personality he's going to have. Not that I have any say over that. It would be cool if the way the kittens act is based on the spell that conjured them, but I don't think it is. I don't even remember most of the spells.

  "I was just coming around
to talking to him about the whole Ivy thing."

  "You mean the fact you hate his step-sister?"

  "And she hates me," I point out. "But no. The problem is that he knows how I feel about her, but he didn't tell me that they were related that way."

  "Do you go around showing guys your family tree when you start dating?" She strokes along Ginger's back like a villain plotting her evil deed. The pink hair detracts from the image a little bit.

  "Well, no..."

  "Then why are you expecting them to disclose that information about themselves? It's a little bit of a double standard, don't you think?"

  "Hmm. I suppose." I hate that she's right. "He kind of implied the same thing. Though he was a bit weird about the idea of Ryan."

  "Weird weird, or just guy weird?" she asks. She searches for my bin and throws the apple core. It lands right in it, and I have to admit I'm impressed. I can never do that myself.

  "Weird weird. He said something about it not mattering if he didn't have all my attention, just that he had to know how I felt. I'm not sure, it doesn't make any sense to me." I throw my hands up, startling Seth, who then darts from my lap and makes himself comfortable on one of the many blankets piled at the end of my bed.

  I guess I've lost that one to a kitten, then.

  "Hmm."

  "Yes?" I prompt her, hoping she'll have more of an answer than she's given so far.

  "Just thinking."

  "Surprisingly, I got that," I deadpan. "But what about?"

  "Whether there's something in that."

  "Like..."

  "Polyamory," she says lightly.

  "Oh." I blink a couple of times, trying to work out if that was something I might want. I can't say I've considered it before, but then, I've not dated much. I never found guys that interested me. Now though...