A Cauldron of Hot Coffee: Enchanted Enclave Mysteries Books 1-3

by Samantha Silver

  “The most common coffee we make with the machine is a latte,” Leanne explained. “That’s essentially stretched milk on the bottom, with about a quarter inch of foam on top.”

  “Ok,” I said, as Leanne showed me how to pour the stretched milk from the bottom of the jug first, and then slow down the pour to allow the foam to come out on top.

  “If you decide to get artistic with it you can do some pretty cool latte art. Don’t tell Kaillie I said this, but I bet you could figure out some spells to make some pretty amazing stuff. Of course, you’re probably a few years away from being able to do that. You’d have to come up with the spells yourself, since I don’t think the family knows any now.”

  “Can witches invent spells?” I asked, and Leanne nodded.

  “I think so, yeah. If anyone would know about that it’s Aunt Lucy, and not me, the one person in the family with no magical powers,” she replied bitterly. “I’m pretty sure Aunt Lucy has done it a few times. I’ve seen her use spells that were so strange I can’t imagine they were passed down through the generations.”

  “That sounds like her,” I said with a smile.

  “Now, another order we get a decent amount of is a macchiato. You pour those into the espresso cups, and then you add just a little bit of foam to the espresso, about a tablespoon’s worth. When you’re making a macchiato, you really can’t mess up the coffee. It’s basically an espresso shot with a tiny bit of milk, so if you’ve burned the beans at all, the customer will be able to taste it.”

  “What do I do if I’ve messed it up?” I asked.

  “You can always just throw out that shot,” Leanne replied. “We’re a coffee company, and that’s the one thing we do. The most important thing for customers is that they get a good coffee every time. My goal every time I pull a shot is to make sure the customer is getting the best experience they can. If that means throwing out a few here and there because I overtamped the beans or forgot to clean out the portafilter before making it, then so be it. Aunt Debbie and Dad will never get mad at you for doing that. We’d all rather you err on the side of caution rather than serve someone a bad coffee.”

  “That’s a really good attitude,” I said with a smile. “I’m glad to know I’m not expected to get it right every time.”

  “We all mess up sometimes,” Leanne said with a wink as the front door opened and we turned to greet our first customer of the day.

  I gasped slightly when I saw him; he was tall, with dark brown hair and eyes like ice. His pointed ears betrayed the fact that he wasn’t human: it was Kyran, an elf I had met and the only paranormal I knew outside of our family.

  “Hey, Kyran,” Leanne greeted him with a smile. “Want a coffee?”

  “I might, actually,” he said.

  “Mind if Eliza makes it? She’s just learning, so it’ll be free if she does.”

  Kyran laughed. “Sounds good. I’m sure she’ll be fine.”

  “Thanks,” I said quietly as I made my way to the machine. I had to admit, it was a lot more nerve-wracking than I thought it would be to make coffee for someone else, even if they weren’t paying for it. Last night, the stakes were low: the only person who was going to suffer if I messed it up really badly was me.

  I took a deep breath and mentally went through all the steps Leanne had taught me the night before while she had a chat with Kyran.

  “So what brings you to town today?”

  “There were reports that someone in this area used magic to generate three hundred frogs yesterday,” Kyran replied. “Naturally, I thought of Lucy. Is she around?”

  “She’s not here,” Leanne said. “That doesn’t sound like her, though.”

  “That sounds exactly like her, that’s why she was the first person I thought of,” Kyran replied, laughing.

  “Don’t tell Kaillie you found out about it,” Leanne warned. “She’s so sensitive about Aunt Lucy doing things that prove we still deserve our banishment.”

  “Fair enough,” Kyran replied as I finished making the coffee and placed the to-go cup in front of him.

  “Can you let me know if that’s alright?” I asked cautiously, and Kyran nodded with a smile.

  “Sure.” He took a long sip, then nodded and looked at me approvingly. “This is really good. Nice job.”

  A smile of satisfaction spread across my face. I had done it! I had made coffee for someone else, and it hadn’t been completely disgusting.

  “How are you settling in with your family?” Kyran continued. “Are you getting used to being able to use magic?”

  “A little bit,” I said. “It’s hard, though. I’ve been trying some more advanced spells, like changing the weather, which while it’s advanced, should be an easy thing for an air coven witch like myself to do, but I just can’t do it right. The other day I tried to make the sunny day turn cloudy, and all that happened was a single cloud shaped like Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes appeared, and he made it rain, just like on those bumper stickers you see. Aunt Lucy fixed it for me, but not before the whole thing went viral on the internet.”

  Kyran bit back a smile. “I heard about that, too. I kind of figured it might have been you, although the image also made me think of Aunt Lucy. If you don’t mind, I might come by with Tina sometime. She’ll be able to help.”

  “That would be great,” I replied gratefully. “I’m sorry I used magic and ended up all over the internet. I swear I didn’t mean it.”

  “I know,” Kyran said. “I’ve reported your situation back to the people I know in the paranormal world, and they’re aware that there’s going to be a learning curve for you. However, they also think it’s important that you embrace your magical powers, and so if it results in a few mishaps that need to be cleaned up here and there, they’re alright with that.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief. I knew Kaillie wasn’t mad at me about the whole Calvin cloud situation – she understood that I was trying a more difficult spell than I was used to – but I still felt bad knowing that she was so intent on one day proving our family deserved access to the paranormal world once more, and doing something that garnered so much attention. It was really the number one no-no for witches in the regular human world.

  I was going to have to tell Kaillie what Kyran just told me. Hopefully it would put her mind at ease.

  “Alright, I’m going to go find your Aunt and tell her it’s not subtle when she conjures up a bunch of frogs just because she’s mad at Ariadne.”

  I smiled. “It sounds like this isn’t the first time you’ve had to come pay Aunt Lucy a visit for that exact reason.”

  “You’d be right there,” Kyran replied with a good-natured laugh. “Ah, well. I prefer dealing with your aunt than hunting down vampires who murder humans for the underground blood market.”

  I gasped. “That’s a real thing?”

  “Absolutely,” Kyran replied. “I do my best to stop it, but I can’t be everywhere at once.”

  “Well, that’s not a nice thought,” I said.

  “Don’t worry. It’s actually quite rare. A few hundred years ago when I started it was much more common, but the paranormal world has passed some strict laws regarding the use of human blood, and now the vampires know that I’m out looking for them, and that I will come after them. They know it’s not worth it anymore, for the most part.”

  “Good to know,” I said.

  “Alright, I’ll see you when I see you,” Kyran said. “Thanks again for the coffee.”

  He lifted his cup to me as if to toast me, and headed out the door to continue his search for Aunt Lucy.

  Chapter 10

  I wasn’t really expecting to see Kyran’s girlfriend anytime soon. I mean, what did time even mean to an elf? I was told they were immortal, and Kyran had confirmed himself that he was at least hundreds of years old. For all I knew he might tell her a year from now, and that would feel like a day to him.

  That was why I was incredibly surprised when she walked into the coffee shop that afternoon, ab
out an hour before we were set to close.

  The coffee shop was practically empty by then, with just a couple of customers sitting at their tables enjoying a late-afternoon caffeine hit before heading home for the evening. A woman with long, brown hair and blue eyes walked into the coffee shop, followed closely by two other women – one with wavy brown hair who looked around at everything like it was the first time she’d ever seen a coffee shop, and another with red hair, green eyes, and more freckles than I’d ever seen on a person.

  “Hi,” I greeted the three of them, assuming they were tourists. “What can I get for you?”

  “I’ll have a vanilla latte please,” the woman replied. “What do you guys want?”

  “How do you order coffee in the human world?” the second one asked.

  “I’m guessing you can’t add potions to these ones?” the third said. “I’ll just have a hot chocolate. It’s too late in the day for coffee and I have to train early tomorrow.”

  “You order it like any other coffee, Ellie,” the first woman replied.

  “Fine, I’ll have a latte, but I also want to try one of these muffins. Has anything been added to them?” the second woman asked, peering closely at one of the two lemon poppyseed muffins we had left.

  “Well, they’re made with fresh lemon zest,” I offered, but Ellie shook her head.

  “No, silly. I mean potions. Have these muffins been magically enhanced?”

  My mouth dropped open, and the first witch smiled. “I’m sorry, we should have introduced ourselves. I’m Tina, Kyran’s fiancé. Wow, it feels awesome to say that,” she added, a blush rising up her face as she lightly fingered the small, but elegant diamond ring on her finger.

  “Aww, congratulations,” I gushed, and while the red shade of Tina’s face grew deeper, at the same time a smile of pure joy spread across it.

  “Thanks. He proposed to me just the other night and I couldn’t be happier. This is Ellie, by the way,” she said, motioning to the woman who had asked about the muffins. “And Sara.”

  “Isn’t that ring gorgeous?” Ellie said, looking proudly on at her friend. “It’s so elegant and strong, just like Tina.”

  “We all knew it was just a matter of time before he proposed to her,” Sara said. “They’re just perfect for one another.”

  “They really are. I’m thinking a summer wedding would be perfect. I’m trying to convince them a destination wedding would be fantastic. Maybe Mexico.”

  Tina laughed. “Yeah, I’m sure Kyran with his super pale elf skin would just love Mexico. Honestly, I don’t care where we get married. I just want to spend the rest of my life with Kyran, and I want you guys to be there when we celebrate our love.”

  “Stop it, you’re going to make me cry,” Sara complained.

  “Alright, moving on, no one answered my question about the potion.”

  “There’s no magic in any of the baked goods. My cousin Kaillie has a hang-up about using them in food being served to people,” Leanne said. “She’s the one who does all the baking.”

  “Wow, if I were a witch in a world full of humans I’d be using magic in everything,” Ellie said, looking closely at the food. “Can I try one of them anyway?”

  “Sure,” I said, grabbing one of the muffins for her and putting it in the microwave for a few seconds.

  "Kaillie doesn't like the fact that we've been banished from the paranormal world and is super conscious about doing anything that might make us seem like bad witches. She considers giving potions to people to be one of those things. Personally, I wouldn't mind, and I love taking potions that help make life easier, but I guess I'm in a rather unique situation," Leanne continued.

  "So you must be Leanne, then," Tina said with a smile. "Kyran told me about you. Your father is a wizard, so you know all about magic, but you have no powers of your own."

  "Yeah, and it sucks. You have no idea how much I wish I could use magic. I'd be using it all the time. Magic is wasted on Kaillie; of the two cousins I should have been the one to get the powers. She won't even use them to give her baked goods a bit of a boost."

  "I have to say, these are very good," Ellie said, taking a bite of the muffin I handed her a moment earlier. "Where is Kaillie? I'm going to see if I can't get that recipe off her; I think these would do really well at The Witching Flour. I can see it now: Feel Powerful Poppy seed and Lemon muffins. Great for that morning when you're going in asking your boss for a raise." Ellie lifted her arms and moved them across like there was an invisible banner announcing the muffins.

  "Kaillie is just at the back," Leanne said, motioning towards the door leading to the kitchen. "Feel free to head over there and have a chat with her."

  "And try to get her new recipe for raspberry and white chocolate cookies, too," I said. "They're absolutely divine."

  "Will do, thanks for the tip," Ellie said with a grin as she made her way towards the door leading to the kitchen. Leanne motioned to Sara and the two of them left the counter area.

  "So you're Eliza," Tina said to me, and I nodded.

  "That's right. I'm the one who grew up here and had no idea I was a witch until about a month ago. It's been quite the discovery, let me tell you."

  Tina laughed good-naturedly. "You don't have to. I've actually been through your exact same situation. Almost two years ago, I fell through a tree in downtown Seattle that was actually a portal to the paranormal world. That was how I found out I was a witch."

  "What about your parents? Didn't they know?"

  Tina gave me a small smile. "My mother died, and my father... well, it's complicated. I was abandoned in Seattle and adopted by a wonderful couple that I consider to be my parents. They passed away before I found out I was a witch."

  "Oh, I'm sorry. My mom died when I was a baby, and my father only recently. It's so heart-wrenching."

  "It really is," Tina agreed. "How have you been finding your introduction to magic? Kyran tells me you've been having some trouble with more advanced spells?"

  I nodded. "Yes. It's been a lot of fun, I have to say. I am enjoying the lessons, but it's hard to try and cast spells when you're around humans and you have to hide the fact that you can do magic. And I don't quite know what to do when I get a spell wrong. How do I reverse something that's incorrect in the first place? How can I try to catch up to everyone else fast enough? Kaillie has twenty-plus years of spell casting experience on me. I don't know. I guess I just feel a little bit overwhelmed, and I'm afraid of... I guess of messing everything up somehow. I'm worried that I'm going to make a big mistake, or multiple big mistakes, which I have to be especially cautious about given how there are people all over the place who can't know about magic."

  I was expecting Tina to tell me I was just being silly, but to my surprise, she nodded in reply. "I know just how you feel. I went through a lot of those same feelings myself. Of course, I didn't have to deal with the added pressure of not being able to use magic in front of humans, so it must be even worse for you that way. How has your family been? Are they supportive?

  "They're wonderful, actually," I said. "So much more so than I could have expected. Dad never wanted me to know them, and I guess he had his reasons - apparently, he never quite liked the fact that Mom was a witch - but they've been nothing but supportive and friendly. Everyone has done whatever they can to make me feel at home."

  "That's good," Tina said. "And I'm guessing you're a little bit hesitant to let them know about everything you’re feeling?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, if I’m completely honest, I think I am. I just feel… inadequate. Everyone else knows what they’re doing, and I don’t. Plus, I’m just getting used to trusting other people. It had always been Dad and me. And it’s really cool that I have this new family and all, and I love them, but I’m not the type to bare my heart open without building up a significant amount of trust first.” It was funny; I didn’t know Tina at all, but she was easy to talk to. Maybe it was the fact that she lived in a completely different world. Or m
aybe it was because she had been through exactly the same thing I did. It might have also been the way she didn’t seem to judge me at all, but something about Tina made me want to tell her everything.

  “If I can give you one piece of advice, it would be to let go of that hesitation and try to take the leap and ask for what you need,” Tina said. “Having a supportive group of friends or family is the most important thing in the world. You need that support network, and it sounds like you have it, so use it. They’ll be happy to help you. They want to help you, and if you let them in, trust me, the results can be spectacular.”

  “Thanks,” I said with a small smile. “I appreciate it.”

  “Another thing that’s so important when you’re casting spells is confidence. If you’re not one hundred percent dedicated to the spell, it just won’t work. It takes time to build that kind of confidence, and it’s easier to build it with simpler spells. You might want to try absolutely nailing them before you move on to the others, even though I know it’s tempting. And try to focus on spells that you can do inside your home, with the blinds drawn. It’ll probably be easier for you to feel completely confident when you’re working magic with no chance of any humans being able to see you.”

  “That’s great advice,” I said. “I wish I’d thought of it. I think the others mean well, but they can’t understand what it’s like to come into these powers so late in life.”

  “You’re right, they can’t. You’re going to have to help them understand it. They probably don’t think about things like being worried about casting spells in front of humans because they’ve been avoiding doing it their whole lives. But if you let them know, I’m sure they’ll try harder for you. As for how to reverse spells – make sure someone else who can do magic is around when you’re casting spells to start with. That way, you can give it a shot, and if you mess it up, someone else can fix it before it becomes a problem. Of course, sometimes spells go wrong and they end up being a good thing. Sara trying to stop me from falling off my broom and completely messing up the spell is how we got a swimming pool in the backyard,” Tina said with a laugh.