Free Anna's Hope Episode One by Odette C. Bell Page B

have
this.”
    She took it from him. “Thanks. Now where
the heck is that dill?”
    “I wouldn’t eat anything growing in this
garden. Hell, I wouldn’t eat anything left in the house for too
long, either – it’s likely to get infected by some rare and exotic
magical disease.”
    Anna flashed the torch around, following
the sporadic weed-infested patches of garden bed, looking for some
sodding dill. Dawn would soon break, and she’d spent all night
being chased by or chasing evil wizards. And now she was out here
looking for garnish.
    Life wasn’t fair.
    “So how did you come across
that … cat?” Scott appeared to control himself. It was clear cat wasn’t the term he
wanted to use to describe Luminaria. Curse was probably more like
it.
    “Ah, she’s a family heirloom.”
    “… Sorry?”
    Realizing that probably sounded pretty
weird, she gave an awkward smile that accentuated her dimples, even
in the dark. It could have been cute, if Anna wasn’t the most
awkward witch in the world. It made her look like she was trying to
escape from her own teeth. “Oh, sorry. Um, she has a magical
contract with my family. We’re indebted to look after
her.”
    “An heirloom contract?” Scott sounded
mildly interested. “Are you sure it’s binding?”
    She gave another seriously tired but
awkward smile. “Oh yeah, pretty sure. If I stop looking after her,
terrible things start happening to me. One time when I tried to ah
… get rid of her,” she said warily, “I fell down a set of stairs
and broke my wrist. Another time when I kind of deliberately lost
her, I broke my nose and my leg. It’s a binding contract
alright.”
    “Amongst us wizards, those kinda contracts
are illegal.”
    “Yep, well, not amongst witches. Believe
me, my grandmother looked into it. The Summersville family is stuck
with Luminaria von Tippit until we die out as a bloodline. Which
might be sooner rather than later if I don’t find this bloody
dill.”
    “Hey,” Scott pointed to the fence, “there
it is.” He ran over and picked her a few sprigs. “Here you
go.”
    “Thanks.”
    “So, I should probably be going. As much
as you owe me a coffee for walking you all the way home, I’m going
to pass on account of your seriously crazy cat.”
    She managed a subdued laugh.
    “Look after yourself, Anna. And I’ll see
you tomorrow.”
    “… Ah, you
will?”
    “Hell yes. Tomorrow we have to debrief
with the MEC HQ. We gave them the shortened version of events
tonight, but tomorrow we’ll have to march back into their offices
to give them a proper briefing. We’ll also have to ensure they do
the right thing,” Scott’s voice dropped darkly.
    She was too tired to ask what he meant.
Instead she walked with him back to the front door.
    He nodded his head low. “Get some rest.
And ah,” he looked down at her clothes and coughed, “you might want
to change your clothes.”
    Though she’d been smiling, it disappeared
as she looked crestfallen. “Oh, yeah, I know they’re not very
attractive—”
    “They’re ripped, Anna, and they kinda
wreak of bad magic.”
    “Oh.”
    “See you tomorrow.” Scott waved, turned
over his shoulder, smiled, and walked off, hands in his
pockets.
    She waved at him, her hand hovering in the
air for entirely too long.
    When she heard her front gate creak closed,
she tucked her hair behind her ears and bit her lip.
    Before she could pause to think about the
curious Scott, Luminaria screamed at her.
    Racing back inside, Anna garnished the
tuna, set it before her possessed cat, and gave the door one last
look.
    Closing it, she finally went to bed.
    Tomorrow would no doubt be a big day,
and if given half a chance, it would be bigger than
today.

     
     
     

Chapter 7
    She woke in a strangely good mood for
someone who’d spent the night like she had.
    With an arm pressing sleepily into her head,
she blinked at the ceiling.
    She let her lips curl into a soft smile.
    Then, with a bang that was