“Yes, but again, how exactly are we supposed to accomplish that?” Tivali asked.

  “Well, in the case of witches, subtlety is never the way to go.”

  Pippa had no idea how a simple trip to the diner for dessert had turned into the hours-long ordeal that it was, but it had and she was stuck.

  It had become pretty obvious within a few moments of arriving that Pippa’s presence was an absolute necessity if she wanted to keep her coven out of trouble.

  She had no idea how she hadn’t noticed the problem previously. She’d just been so startled by H.P.’s behavior when she’d walked into the diner the first time that she hadn’t really noticed anything else.

  Now, however, there was nothing to distract her from the way her sisters managed to snare the attention of every single human and paranormal inside the diner the moment they entered it.

  From the human waitress, who introduced herself as Starlight, to the paranormal and human diners scattered throughout the restaurant, everyone’s attention was on Pippa’s coven.

  “What did you guys do?” Pippa hissed as they sat at a table in the middle of the room.

  “What are you talking about?” Natalie asked dismissively.

  “Everyone is staring at us.” How could she not notice?

  Amaryllis let out a soft whimper from where she was hunched at Pippa’s side.

  Pippa reached over and rubbed her shoulder, “Sorry, Amari.”

  Amari just shook her head and whispered, “No. It’s my fault. I’m sorry.”

  Pippa’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean it’s your fault? What did you do?”

  “I lost control of my magic,” Amari whispered.

  “When?” Pippa exclaimed.

  “When didn’t she?” Natalie asked dryly.

  Amari hunched down further and Pippa glared at Natalie, who rolled her eyes, then said gently, “It’s okay, Amari. The effects will wear off soon enough.”

  “Yeah, in about seventeen hours,” Tempest muttered.

  Pippa sighed and looked around. “Did you lose control in here?”

  Amari nodded.

  “Plus the grocery store, the bookstore and the clothing store,” Jo said cheerfully.

  Pippa closed her eyes. Dear goddess.

  “Sorry,” Amaryllis whispered again.

  “It’s all right, Amari,” Pippa reassured her. “There’s nothing we can do about it now, just try and ride out the side effects. Did any of you guys get hit with the whammy?” She glanced around at the others.

  Natalie shook her head. “No, my casting seems to have held and made us immune to each other’s magic, or at least to Amari’s. Fingers crossed it works for the rest.”

  “So, ladies.”

  Pippa looked up to find a vampire towering over them, an inquisitive look on his face.

  “You’re witches, right?” He snagged a chair from the next table over and shoved his way in between Amaryllis and Pippa.

  Amari instantly shrank back from his form, which towered over both of them even sitting down.

  The vampire was huge.

  “I’m Lassiter.” He held out his hand to Amaryllis.

  Silence fell as everyone waited to see whether Amaryllis would acknowledge him or not.

  For a long moment, Pippa thought she would ignore him, but the vampire clearly had infinite patience because he just waited until finally, Amaryllis lifted her hand and set it in his.

  “Amari,” she whispered, stunning Pippa and the others.

  Amaryllis rarely spoke to strangers and when she did, she always introduced herself as Amaryllis.

  “Amari,” the vampire rumbled, holding her hand between both of his and staring down at her bent head. “It’s a true pleasure to meet you. Would you introduce me to the rest of your coven?”

  Silence, then Amari shifted a little and without raising her eyes once, went around the table and said each of their names.

  Lassiter didn’t bother to look away from her to acknowledge any of the others as they were introduced. He simply repeated each name, then waited for the next.

  Great.

  Amari’s magic must have been particularly strong today.

  Pippa sighed, trying to figure out the best way to get the vampire to move along.

  Except it soon became apparent that he was the least of their problems.

  As if Lassiter’s approach had signaled the witches’ table was open for business, they became swamped with visitors.

  Vampires.

  Chameleons.

  Wolves.

  Even humans.

  They all approached to introduce themselves and to flirt or request a date or on one memorable occasion, to propose marriage.

  To Jo.

  She glared at the wolf and snapped, “Uses your senses, for goddess’ sake, and notice that I’m much more interested in the beauty standing behind you.” She winked at the blushing vampiress who had shyly approached and was patiently waiting her turn to introduce herself.

  The poor wolf who had proposed gulped and darted a look over his shoulder. He glanced back at Jo with wide eyes and exclaimed, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize. I’ll just go now.”

  He fled to laughter.

  The only ones not laughing, Pippa noticed, were Jo and the shy vampiress she was now chatting quietly with.

  A few moments later, the two of them wandered off to grab their own table and that was the last they saw of Jo for a while.

  Pippa nodded.

  That was how it was supposed to work!

  A little bit of fun, some sexy times, a see you later and that was all.

  No worries about finding one’s true mate or falling in love.

  Unless the vampiress was Jo’s mate.

  Hadn’t she said her mate was there in the diner somewhere? And hadn’t she cast the spell specifically for their mates to arrive?

  What if Jo’s spell worked and she’d just wandered off with her fated mate?

  Pippa winced at the thought, making eye contact with Rowan, who sat across from her and looked as spooked as she felt.

  What if Jo’s spell had called all of their mates? It could happen to any one of them at any time!

  Pippa glanced around at the chameleons, vampires, wolves and humans who were still hanging out, flirting with the rest of her coven.

  After a few moments of panic, she realized she wasn’t feeling an overwhelming sense of attraction toward any of the people in the diner, so she figured she was safe.

  Not that everyone else could say the same.

  Poor Amaryllis was still very much the center of Lassiter’s attention and another vampire named Blade was focused on Morana.

  Thankfully, though, Natalie, Rowan, Tempest and Pippa had so far been immune.

  Of course, that didn’t bode well for Pippa finding a bedmate anytime soon.

  A huge crash erupted behind them, making everyone, including Hocus Purrcus, jump in surprise.

  The cat leapt to his feet, all his fur standing on end and then for some inexplicable reason, started hissing at Blade, who was seated at the end of the table, leaning awfully close to Morana.

  Blade just raised an eyebrow and grinned.

  H.P. skittered across the table sideways, knocked a glass over, spilling water everywhere, then leapt straight into the air with a yowl when the water hit his paws.

  Of course, when he landed, he did so in a puddle of water, which sent him scrambling across the table toward Pippa, who caught him when he launched himself into her arms.

  “It’s okay, H.P.,” Pippa murmured, stroking his fur down and trying not to wince as his claws dug into her shoulders.

  Poor thing was shaking like crazy.

  “Oh, dear,” Morana said. “Sorry about that.”

  Pippa froze and slowly raised her eyes to Morana.

  “Why is she sorry?” Amaryllis asked, leaning around Lassiter who was still sitting between them, trying to charm his way into a date with her. “Pippa, why is she apologizing? I don’t like it when she apologizes.”

  “What’s wrong?” Lassiter stretched out his arm, caught Amari around her waist and lifted her onto his lap. “You’re safe here, Amari. Why are you so upset?”

  “I don’t know,” she wailed, “but I know there’s a good reason for it. Pippa?” She looked toward Pippa again, as if she could somehow reverse time and undo whatever disaster Morana had caused.

  Amari began wringing her hands.

  Dear goddess, could things get any worse?

  “Okay, Amari. Everything’s going to be fine,” Pippa said, “Just try to stay calm, all right?” Damn it was getting hot in here.

  She couldn’t decide if that was her magic or Amari’s heating things up.

  “But she’s apologizing, Pippa. Morana, why are you doing that? I don’t like it when you apologize.”

  “It was just a few spiders,” Morana said. “And a beetle. And a mouse or two.”

  “What’s that?” Starlight demanded, hands on hips. “There aren’t any mice in the diner.”

  “He was in the walls, died there quite some time ago,” Morana said. “I’m not quite sure where he’s at now.”

  “Oh, my goddess.” Pippa groaned.

  “Seriously, Morana?” Natalie exclaimed.

  “I’m sorry, but the crash of dishes startled me.”

  Or more likely, Blade had made her so nervous, she’d panicked and lashed out.

  Dear goddess, it was hot in here. “Amari, you have to calm down.”

  Natalie looked at Pippa sharply. “Are you hot, Pippa? Because that can’t be Amari’s magic. We’re immune, remember? Maybe you should take a few deep breaths.”

  Great. Pippa wiped the sweat from her brow, closed her eyes and pictured the lake on their property, calm breezes sweeping across its surface, sending gentle droplets onto her sizzling skin.

  Calm.

  Cool.

  “You’re so beautiful,” a loud voice proclaimed, shattering the moment.

  Pippa’s eyes flew open to see several chameleons hovering around Tempest.

  “Knock it off,” one of them said, shoving a second chameleon to the side. “I saw her first.”

  “Hey, both of you knock it off,” a third chameleon snapped, shoving his way between the two and capturing Tempest’s hand in this. “Sorry about that, love.” He lifted her hand and brushed a kiss across its surface, which was when thunder rolled through the room

  Pippa glanced toward the windows just in time to see lightning streak across the sky and dark clouds begin to form.

  “Tempest,” Pippa exclaimed. “You’re not helping!”

  “Pippa, do you see any spiders?” Amari asked. “Or a mouse? Morana, where are the mice now?”

  “Why are you worried about spiders and mice, Amari?” Lassiter asked, but his words were drowned out by Blade, who let out a horrified shriek and leapt to his feet, brushing his hair and shirt and shaking his entire body as if he were being attacked by an army of insects.

  Which, now that Pippa looked closer, might actually be what was happening.

  Only it was an army of arachnids rather than insects.

  She wasn’t sure when they’d appeared or how she’d missed them until now, but there was an entire trail of spiders marching from the front door of the diner to their table, and all of them—every single one—were making a beeline for the vampire.

  It was as if they were on a mission.

  In other words, he’d definitely made Morana nervous.

  “One or two spiders?” Pippa demanded.

  “Oops,” Morana said.

  “Oops?” Blade shrieked. “Get them off me! Get them off!”

  “There’s something weird about those spiders,” Lassiter observed.

  “That’s because they’re dead,” Jo called cheerfully from her table across the room.

  “Dead?” Blade’s voice hit a decibel Pippa wasn’t sure even hers could reach. He whirled on Morana. “You raised the dead?”

  She shrugged. “Well, I am a necromancer, you know.”

  Pippa chuckled. If that didn’t scare him away, literally nothing would.

  “It could be worse,” Morana said.

  “And often has been,” Natalie observed. “Remember that Civil War battlefield?”

  Pippa shuddered. She preferred not to remember that particular event.

  Blade glared at Morana. “No wonder my powers of persuasion aren’t working on them.”

  Morana looked intrigued. “You can actually control creatures as tiny as they are?”

  He shrugged. “It’s a gift, but not when they’re dead.”

  “Holy hell,” Corwin said as Jared pulled his car into the diner’s parking lot. “That’s a lot of spiders.”

  “Are you sure they’re spiders? Because spiders don’t typically act like that. Maybe they’re ants.” Jared parked and the two of them stared through the windshield at the long line of creatures that were slowly marching down the sidewalk toward the diner.

  “Those would be outrageously large ants,” Corwin said.

  “But seriously. Have you ever seen spiders march in a line like that?”

  “That would be a no.” Corwin squinted through the windshield at them. “I can’t tell what kind of spiders they are from here, but that giant one there is definitely a daddy long legs.” He cocked his head, “Though it doesn’t appear to have eight legs anymore. Daddy two legs.”

  Jared groaned. “Maybe it’s not a spider then.”

  “Oh, I’m pretty sure it’s a spider. Creepy spider. Yeah, I’m gonna be having nightmares about Creepy Two Legs over there.”

  At that moment, a feminine shriek blasted through the air.

  Jared and Corwin looked at each other, then leapt from the car and bolted toward the diner.

  Halfway there, Jared’s brain caught up to his eyesight and he realized what he was seeing.

  “Corwin,” he barked. “Are you looking at these spiders?” He crouched down and stared at the creatures as they marched by.

  They were all sizes and species, from what he could tell.

  And Daddy Two Legs wasn’t the only spider missing some legs and other body parts.

  Every single spider marching by appeared to be in some stage of decomposition.

  “How in the hell are they even walking?” Corwin asked as they watched a spider lumber by on legs that were all twisted and tangled together.

  “Personally, I’m just happy they don’t seem too interested in consuming our brains.”

  Corwin snickered. “Zombie spiders. Now I’ve seen everything.”

  Moments later, they opened the door to the diner and walked into chaos.

  Humans, wolves and vampires were standing on chairs and tables all around the room.

  The only ones who didn’t seem bothered by the spiders were the women seated at the center table and the other wolf pack.

  How embarrassing!

  Jared’s wolves were all standing on tables while the other pack and the witches were sitting around, eating pie and chatting amongst themselves, completely unperturbed.

  “Hey, Starlight,” Corwin called to the waitress standing on the lunch counter. “What’s up with the new customers? I thought this place had a firm no-zombie-spiders policy.”

  Starlight rolled her eyes at him. “Very funny. I don’t suppose you have a solution for this situation?”

  “Burn down the building?” Corwin suggested.

  At that moment, a vampire standing in the middle of Pippa’s table, leaned over and shouted in one of the other women’s faces, “Do something!”

  That was when Pippa let out a huge sigh and slowly stretched to her feet.

  She was still holding the black kitten, Jared noticed, which reminded him.

  He’d left poor Chester in the car.

  He was contemplating whether he should bring the cat into this chaos, when Pippa swept her arm out and flung fire from her fingertips.

  The fire rained down on the spiders like tiny droplets of water, and the spiders, every single one of them, burst into flames, then crumbled to ash.

  “Dude,” Corwin muttered. “Your mate’s a firestarter.”

  Four

  “DID WE KNOW she could do that?” Tivali demanded.

  “You mean raise the dead?” Bygul asked.

  “I’m not talking about the necromancer!” Tivali exclaimed. “I’m talking about our target witch and her ability to shoot fire from her fingertips. Because I know we’re cats of the goddesses and all, but I’m not a fan of fire.”

  “Neither am I,” Muezza said. “Maybe we should rethink this whole assignment.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Bygul said. “The plan is working perfectly.”

  “Perfectly?” Soraya exclaimed. “There were zombie spiders!”

  “And fire! Let’s not forget the fire,” Tivali said.

  “Yes, but the kitten darted right to our witch and Pippa comforted him. That was really good thinking, knocking over that stack of plates, Soraya.”

  “I’d say thank you, but the zombie spiders kind of ruined the moment,” Soraya said.

  “Of course, they didn’t. They actually helped. After all, I’m pretty sure the spiders are what sealed the deal. Pippa and Hocus Purrcus are well on their way to a full-fledged bond at this point.”

  “As long as she doesn’t set the kitten on fire,” Tivali said.

  “Oh, come now. Don’t you think you guys are being a bit dramatic?” Bygul asked.

  “There were zombie spiders!” Soraya said again.

  “And they were on fire!” Tivali said.

  “Be right back,” Jared muttered to Corwin, then raced out to his car.

  Chester lifted his head and gave a half-hearted growl when Jared opened the car door and pulled out his carrier.

  “Seriously?” Corwin demanded when Jared returned. “You don’t think there have been enough beasts inside the diner today?”

  “Nope. This is my in and I’m taking it.”

  “You’re an idiot,” Corwin said even as he followed him across the room.

  Jared lifted the carrier onto an empty table right next to where his mate was seated, then plopped onto the empty chair beside her..

  She turned her head and stared at him.

 

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