by Amy Casey
Thomas’ face dropped, like he was surprised, somehow. Like he’d been expecting me to accept without a hitch. “You can’t? You’ve worked through your ability hitch, haven’t you?”
Thomas was right. My abilities felt stronger than ever. Or perhaps they themselves felt the same, and it was more my relationship to them which had changed. “It’s not that,” I said.
“Then what is it?”
“Everything I care about is here. My dog. My cat. My friends.”
“You can bring your pets with you. And your friends… well, have you heard about the NMIS?”
“Obviously not,” I said.
“The ‘Non-Magic Integration Scheme’. It allows any magic person moving to Nightthistle or another magic town to apply to bring up to three non-magic people with them in order to help them integrate. Besides, there are skills we can teach your friends. Not full blown magic, but enough to get by.”
I smirked. The idea of Mary and Annabelle fighting over their powers was amusing and tempting.
But as I looked Thomas back in the eye, I knew I had my answer for him. “But it isn’t Goosridge. And besides. I think somebody needs to keep an eye on this little town, don’t you?”
Thomas sighed. Shook his head. But there was a smile on his face. “You really do love this place, don’t you?”
I took a deep breath and I found myself nodding. “I suppose I do.”
“Well, hey. I know Aunt Hilda said your cakes were rubbish, but I disagree. There’s something to them.”
“Thank you.”
“Oh, no wait. That was a muffin from Costa. My bad.”
“Get out.”
Thomas smiled. But there was still a look to his face. Like he was still withholding something from me.
I thought about trying to reach into his mind. My magic was strong again now. I didn’t know how it ranked compared to his, but it was strong, and I figured I’d have a fair shot considering how much more energised I felt.
But then again… did I really want to risk it?
“You should know you’re welcome anytime,” Thomas said.
“Really? I didn’t really get that impression from your sisters.”
“Ignore my sisters. They’re like that with everyone. It’s just kind of their way. But they like you.”
“Really? They told you that?”
“Well. Not exactly. They said you were a stuck-up normie clown.”
“Charming.”
“But it’s progress from their first judgement of you.”
“Really?”
“Trust me,” Thomas said. “You don’t want to hear it.”
Thomas walked away then. He headed over towards the staff room door. And as he moved away, I wanted to ask him something. A question that was on my mind. Just… just something I had to get off my chest, now I had the rare chance.
“Thomas?” I said.
He turned around. “Yeah?”
I thought about my mum. I wanted to ask if he knew her. I wanted to ask if he knew anything about her.
But then I found myself smiling and exhaling. “It’s okay. I—”
“Stella,” Thomas said.
He was looking right into my eyes. Seriousness on his face.
“What’s got into you?”
Thomas looked down at the floor.
“Thomas? What is it?”
“There’s… there’s something else you should know. Something I came here to tell you.”
And then he looked up into my eyes and he said the words that changed everything.
“It’s your mother,” he said, his voice cracking with emotion. “She’s alive, Stella. She’s alive.”
Want More from Amy Casey?
Hexes & Hot Chocolate, the third book in the Stella Storm witch mystery series, is now available to pre-order here: http://smarturl.it/HexesHotChoc
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