Cackles and Cauldrons Read online

  Cackles and Cauldrons

  WOMBY’S SCHOOL FOR WAYWARD WITCHES

  SARINA DORIE

  Copyright © 2018 Sarina Dorie

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN: 1790326273

  ISBN-13: 978-1790326273

  NOT-SO-COZY MYSTERIES

  IN THE womby’s school

  for wayward witches SERIES

  listed in order

  Tardy Bells and Witches’ Spells

  Hex-Ed

  Witches Gone Wicked

  A Handful of Hexes

  Hexes and Exes

  Reading, Writing and Necromancy

  Budget Cuts for the Dark Arts and Crafts

  My Crazy Hex-Boyfriend

  Spell It Out for Me

  Hex Crimes

  Of Curse You Will

  Cackles and Cauldrons

  Hex and the City

  Other Titles to Be Announced.

  CONTENTS

  Chapter One

  3

  Chapter Two

  8

  Chapter Three

  11

  Chapter Four

  15

  Chapter Five

  22

  Chapter Six

  33

  Chapter Seven

  43

  Chapter Eight

  60

  Chapter Nine

  63

  Chapter Ten

  69

  Chapter Eleven

  89

  Chapter Twelve

  95

  Chapter Thirteen

  101

  Chapter Fourteen

  105

  Chapter Fifteen

  114

  Chapter Sixteen

  118

  Chapter Seventeen

  130

  Chapter Eighteen

  132

  Chapter Nineteen

  136

  Chapter Twenty

  144

  Chapter Twenty-One

  147

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  158

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  164

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  169

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  182

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  187

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  191

  Bonus and Contest

  200

  About the Author

  204

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  If you are reading this far in the Womby’s School for Wayward Witches series, I’m guessing you have read the other books as well. Whether you have stuck with the series because you love the quirky characters, you want to know if Clarissa will turn into a wicked witch like her mother, or you are waiting to see what happens with the potential love interests, I appreciate your enthusiasm.

  If you haven’t already signed up for my newsletter, I want to encourage you to do so. This helps me as an author connect to my readers, lets you know when books are being released, and gives me a way to gift you with free books and short stories.

  You can find the newsletter sign-up on my website: sarinadorie.com or you can go to: https://mailchi.mp/sarinadorie/authornewsletter

  Also, be sure to check out the fun bonus and contest at the end of the book!

  Happy reading!

  CHAPTER ONE

  Snuggle Buddies

  I lay in a canopy bed, red velvet curtains letting in just enough candlelight to read by. Felix Thatch spooned up against my back. He swept a loose strand of pink hair out of my face and rested his chin in the crook of my neck. I turned a page of the book I’d propped up on a pillow.

  As far as recuperation went after an out-of-body experience, this was pretty nice. Thatch had even said he loved me. We were only about seven pages into The Agony and the Ecstasy—a book that sounded exactly like something a dungeon master would read. I soon discovered it wasn’t a book by the Marquis de Sade or about torture; it was about the life of Michelangelo, which was far more my preference, being the art teacher at Womby’s School for Wayward Witches.

  This was about the time I noticed a pattern in our reading. Thatch finished reading in half the time it took me to complete a page. I knew he was done again because he kissed a line down my neck and across my shoulder. He nibbled under the collar of the T-shirt he’d loaned me to wear as pajamas. He was precise in where he kissed me, skipping over the amulet I couldn’t remove, which Prince Elric of the Silver Court had given me.

  Two stones still glowed with magic, signaling I had two favors left—if I wanted to use them and owe Elric a little more of my soul. As if I didn’t owe him enough already. My current bargain insinuated I owed him an heir—not something I was currently up for while in a relationship with another man.

  Thatch bit my shoulder, the sensation just hard enough to make me gasp. I elbowed him, and he chuckled.

  “Are you trying to distract me?” I asked.

  “Not trying. Succeeding.” He spoke slowly, clearly enunciating each word with his crisp British accent. I could hear the smile in his voice without even seeing him.

  I turned the page and held up the book to get a better view of page eight. He stopped kissing me long enough to read before diving back into the hot-pink mess of my hair. His breath was warm against my ear. I closed my eyes as he bit my earlobe.

  “I’ll never finish this chapter, let alone this book, at this rate,” I said.

  “Resist temptation, Miss Lawrence,” he said in his serious-teacher tone. “Don’t allow physical distractions to lead you astray from—”

  “What is this? A magic lesson?” I turned and tickled him in the ribs. “Let’s see how much you can resist physical distractions.”

  He laughed and squirmed back. His voice was deep and resonant, the kind of melody that sank into me. It was a pleasant change to see a smile on his usually austere face. It brightened the gloom in his gray eyes and cast away the troubled frown I’d thought might be permanently set into the line of his mouth. Even in bed, his shoulder-length hair was rakishly styled, waves of midnight cascading behind him into the shadows of the canopy bed.

  He was lean and beautiful, reminding me of a vampire with his fair skin, though I suspected his pallor was more from not leaving the dungeon enough, rather than from being undead and having a proclivity to imbibe blood.

  He caught my wrists and pressed them against my sides. “No more tickling. It’s a new school rule.”

  “Oh really? Should I confirm that one with Principal Khaba first? Should I check to see if I’m going to be given a detention if I tickle Mr. Thatch?”

  The smile melted away on his face. “You know you can’t tell Khaba about us. You’re my subordinate, and it would be considered unprofessional.”

  The dean of discipline serving as our temporary principal would be the last person I intended to share anything about our relationship with. Still, I couldn’t help a snarky reply. “Well, maybe we should change that school rule.”

  “I wish it were so simple.” He looped his arms around my waist, his hug tight enough I couldn’t resume tickling him.

  “Why can’t it be that simple? We’re both adults and teachers. Khaba is reasonable.” About most things. “I could talk to him. I bet he’ll just suggest Vega Bloodmire serves as my mentor instead. She owes me a favor from saving her life.” More like four favors. All things being considered, Vega was my last ch
oice to supervise my magical education. It was bad enough having her as a roommate. I wanted to assume she wasn’t going to ever try to kill me again, but I didn’t know that for certain.

  Even so, I was willing to risk it if I didn’t have to live in secrecy. I didn’t want to keep lying to my friends and pretending I hated Felix Thatch. If my best friend, Josie, found out, she would be hurt I had kept another secret from her. I wanted to be a good friend. Thatch and I had even compromised on this one. In a couple of weeks I would be able to tell her. We needed to start planning our life together.

  “I am quite aware of how well it went the last time Vega Bloodmire acted as your mentor,” Thatch said. “I will be in charge of your education from now on. And my decree as your mentor is that you aren’t going to bring more attention to yourself by asking to change the rules for yourself, which will lead to questions.” He said the last word like it tasted foul in his mouth.

  “Yeah, because curiosity killed the cat. We can’t have anyone asking questions.” I tried to squirm back from him, wanting to see his expression.

  He didn’t laugh at my attempt at a joke. “I do not trust Mr. Khaba.” His expression remained somber. “It was one thing for him to be a djinn tied to the school, his powers guided by strict rules to help keep him in check. Now that he is a free djinn, he is a demon.”

  I balled up my fists at my sides. “He was a slave! Alouette Loraline bound him to the school, and he wasn’t free. Then Jeb used him for years and never paid him. That doesn’t make him a demon.”

  He drew back. “No, Mr. Khaba has always been a demon. All that kept his Fae sensibilities and lack of morals in check was being bound. You saw what he did to the school when you set him free. Perhaps you forget that he tried to kill me. He would have killed you as well. He cannot be trusted.”

  “He was grieving over his boyfriend’s death. All that suppressed magic went crazy in him when he was released from the bonds. He wanted revenge.” I understood that desire to explode with wickedness. I suspected I had seen it in myself at times.

  “You are making excuses for him because he was your friend. Don’t mistake the person he was for what he is now. I told Jeb we should never have hired him back. Watch him. Notice the change in him. I don’t trust him. He could be in cahoots with any house of Fae, including the Raven Court.”

  Dread settled in my stomach like a lead ice cube. “He wouldn’t do that.” At least, I didn’t think he would.

  Thatch didn’t say it, but there was the Silver Court to consider as well. Elric was more likely to try to make a deal with Khaba to get rid of Thatch than the Raven Queen was. That way, I would more likely become his mistress and give him heirs. Hopefully I had found a way around that by solving the Fae Fertility Paradox. There was more than one way to skin a Fae contract.

  “Worst-case scenario is that I’m correct.” Thatch’s lips settled into a frown. “Best-case scenario is that I’m wrong. Mr. Khaba won’t report our relationship to the Raven Queen and inform her you are my weakness to be used against me.”

  I wondered if that was what she had done to him with his sisters. He had tried to protect them, and he’d sold his soul to her in exchange for their safety. Half his soul.

  His attempts to keep those he cared about safe had been wasted. The Raven Queen had permanently turned Priscilla into a bird, and she’d convinced Odette to join her flock and become one of her minions.

  “Best-case scenario,” Thatch said. “Mr. Khaba has complete sovereignty over himself, and he has gained control of his magic. He isn’t evil; he only holds a grudge against me because he’s still convinced I had something to do with Derrick’s curse and Brogan’s demise.”

  Goosebumps covered my bare arms. “But you did have something to do with Derrick’s death. You were the one who killed him.” I was the one who had resurrected him. I couldn’t meet his eyes when I thought about what I’d done and how it had all gone wrong.

  “I didn’t kill him precisely. I permanently immobilized him with an enchantment that your magic disrupted. Additionally, I only did so because he was possessed by the Raven Queen, and he would have made another attempt on your life.” He smoothed his hands up and down my back and held me closer. “I’m sorry. I never wanted to hurt him. I never wanted him to hurt you.” He tucked my head under his chin. “It’s almost time to go back. Let’s not argue.”

  “Can’t I spend the night here? It’s a Saturday night. Teachers can stay out late.”

  “Your absence will be noticed.”

  “Vega completely took over my room with Elric. I have nowhere to go. Now that I know my affinity sets Josie off, I can’t stay in her room anymore.”

  I didn’t want my best friend to turn into a giant arachnid and try to mate with me and eat me again. Nor did I know how long Vega would be pretending to be dead in her coffin as she did some role-playing with Elric to resurrect her. After I’d used astral projection to cure her, accidentally killed her, and then I had revived her, she’d been eager to spend alone-time with Prince Elric of the Silver Court. I liked the idea that she might have a happy ending with a Prince Charming. And not just because it would distract her from spying and getting revenge on me for having all the things that she didn’t. I wanted her to be with someone who cared about her.

  I just didn’t know if Elric would want a relationship with Vega beyond their business relationship and alliance.

  Thatch eyed me dispassionately. “By this point, I’m sure Mr. Khaba has discovered Elric’s presence and has kicked him off school grounds.”

  “Okay. Fine. Just a few more minutes.” I inhaled the scent of his skin, traces of starlight and winter clinging to him. He smelled of oil paint, dusty books, and a hint of lavender that I’d always assumed was part of his magic until learning it was his shampoo.

  “Two minutes,” he said.

  I lifted my chin and kissed him. I was pretty sure I could convince him to spend more than two minutes with me. Ten minutes into making out and heavy petting, I grabbed onto his erection, making him forget about curfew, propriety, and all the teachers at the school he disliked, distrusted, or thought might be in league with the Raven Court.

  I enjoyed seeing him lose himself in the moment, spidery lashes closed against his cheeks. He moaned as he came, twisting away just in time to avoid hitting me with a spurt of red lightning. I hadn’t expected the crackles of electricity to catch the curtains of the canopy bed on fire, especially since he had told me he’d ensured they wouldn’t catch fire.

  “I thought you said you warded these curtains against flames,” I said, waving the smoke out of my face.

  “I did.” He doused them with a water spell.

  Apparently Celestor wards were nothing compared to the Red affinity.

  Somehow I was going to need to figure out how to sleep with the man I loved without the risk of being turned into barbeque.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Cinderella’s Glass Slipper

  Nestled in the warmth of Felix Thatch’s arms, I woke to the sound of knocking. The odor of burnt fabric assaulted my nose as I inhaled deeply. Even after using magic to clear the air after his little accident, some of the smell had remained.

  Thatch drew away, leaving me cold and naked in his bed.

  “Who’s there?” Thatch asked, his voice coming out gruffly as though he’d been sleeping.

  After he’d put out the flames, I was sure he would have turned me out, only he’d been so tired. Maybe his supposed Celestor magic couldn’t power him through post-coitus with a Red affinity. I supposed pleasant touch was his weakness. It would affect him somehow.

  Josie’s voice came through the door, sounding scared. “I need to talk to you. Vega did something horrible. Have you heard?”

  Oh God, what had Vega done now? I considered her newly acquired affinity and wondered if it had something to do with that. It hadn’t yet manifested as pain or pleasure magic. Maybe it was blood magic like Thatch’s sister, and
she’d killed someone. I was always bringing out the demonic nature in my friends. I should never have let her convince me to turn her into a Red affinity.

  I sat up in bed, hugging the sheet to me. Thatch retrieved my clothes from the floor and shoved them into my arms before turning back to the door.

  “I’ll meet you in my office,” he said. “Give me a minute to make myself decent.”

  I hurried to the bathroom to dress. Maybe the latest bad thing Vega had done was invite Elric onto school grounds, and got caught having sex in our dorm room. Hopefully all the favors Vega owed me would put an end to writing me notes with death threats and gifting me with poisonous flowers to try to scare me.

  Thatch peeked into the bathroom around the partially closed door, his voice a whisper. He had thrown on his pants and shirt. He was still buttoning it up. “I’ll leave the door unlocked so you can leave out the back hallway up to your classroom. Give me a minute to detain Miss Kimura in the privacy of my office before you leave.”

  Considering all I had achieved was undergarments so far, it would take me more than a minute. I hurriedly shimmied into my green-and-black striped leggings. Thatch handed me one of my shoes. I didn’t see the other shoe with my bundle of clothes.

  Thatch closed the bathroom door. I looked under my blouse and skirt. Still no shoe. That probably meant it had gotten kicked under his bed, and I would have to retrieve it afterward. I threw on my blouse and hurriedly pulled up my skirt. The creak beyond the bathroom signaled Thatch’s departure.

  I placed a hand on the door handle, about to exit when I heard Josie’s voice in the bedroom. I recoiled from the door.