Free Witches of East End by Melissa de La Cruz Page A

August, as part of the library gala that usually closed the summer season. The fund-raiser would be the library’s last hurrah, and all the proceeds would help offset the costs of moving, if it came down to that.
    Caitlin Parker, who had a desk next to Hudson’s, pretended not to hear their conversation. Unlike the others, Caitlin did not have a particular affinity for books or design and had fallen into the job almost by accident. She was pleasant and amiable enough, and never gossiped about anybody. Pretty and sweet, like a kindergarten teacher. Ingrid wanted to like Caitlin, there was nothing not to like, but she found her dull and insipid. Honestly, the girl was almost too nice; she always let patrons take out the rare books that were not allowed out of the reserve room and she never, ever collected late fees. It drove Ingrid crazy.
    The three librarians worked in silence for a while, until Hudson piped up. “So, have you seen her yet?”
    “Who?” Ingrid asked.
    “Stevie Nicks.”
    “What do you mean?”
    Right at that moment, Tabitha walked in. Her hair was long and loose. She was wearing a long T-shirt, a skirt that swept the floor, and some kind of drapey caftan-like cardigan. The entire effect was not unlike a seventies hippie chick at the beach.
    Hudson began humming “Landslide” under his breath.
    “What’s so funny?” Caitlin asked, looking up from her computer as Hudson stifled a giggle and Ingrid smiled broadly. “I don’t get it.”
    “I feel weird,” Tabitha admitted, looking self-conscious as she took her seat by the doorway.
    “No, you look great. Really,” Ingrid told her. She didn’t need a pentagram to see that there were no more traces of the silvery menace anywhere around Tabitha; her friend projected health and happiness. Unloosening the knots had done the trick. Already she could see the magic working its way through Tabitha’s body, weaving an invisible glow around her, opening her chakras, letting in the air, freeing the spirit, preparing her body and soul to create new life and bring it to the world. She would conceive by midweek.

chapter nine
    Love the One You’re With
     
    B ran was back from his trip abroad and would arrive in North Hampton by ten o’clock that evening. Freya asked Kristy Hannagan, a bartender Sal had hired over the summer to pick up the slack, to cover her shift; otherwise she would have to work until last call as usual. Kristy’s family had worked the shore for generations, her father and brothers on the lobster trawlers, while her boyfriend fished for bigeye tuna they sold at auction to Japanese food vendors. She was a flint-eyed dame, with a sharp tongue and an easy smile, and had fast become one of Freya’s closest friends in town.
    “You don’t mind, do you, Kris?” Freya asked.
    Kristy shook her head and gave her a broad smile. “Not at all. If I had a guy like that I’d take off for the night, too. Go on, now.” Kristy was twice divorced and had four kids under the age of five. She likened her work at the bar to wrangling a bunch of toddlers. “I’ll man the ship.”
    “I owe you one,” Freya promised, bumping Kristy’s hip affectionately on the way to the ladies’ room so she could freshen up. Bran was going to walk into the bar at any minute. Freya splashed water on her face, to try to rub the guilt out of it. She was dreading seeing him but couldn’t put it off any longer. This was the first time they would see each other since celebrating their engagement. (And, boy, did she ever celebrate, she thought, thinking of Killian and kicking herself again.)
    He was waiting for her when she returned to the bar, sitting at his usual barstool, a newspaper spread in front of him, looking crisp and manly in his dark suit and red tie. “There you are,” he said, pulling her close and squeezing her waist. “Remind me never to leave you ever again,” he said as he ducked his head under her chin.
    She laughed and squeezed back. “I’m