Free Trial by Fire (Covencraft Book 1) by Margarita Gakis Page B

wing of the Covenstead.
    “And that was our head receptionist and lead coven gossip, Henri,” Callie said with a smile. “If there is anything worth knowing going on in the Coven, Henri will know. And he’ll be more than happy to tell you, your friend, your second cousin twice-removed, and anyone in earshot.”
    “I’ll remember to watch what I say,” Jade said.
    Callie smiled. “I would do that. The strange thing is, he’s really very trustworthy. If you tell him something’s a secret, or if he thinks it’s too malicious, he’ll take it to the grave. However, if you tell him you think so-and-so has a crappy wind incantation, they’ll hear it by lunch time.”
    As they walked up the staircase, Jade noticed that she was on the receiving end of just about every pair of eyes in the massive foyer. Surprisingly, they weren’t dressed in gowns and witch hats – they appeared normal. Some people openly stared at her, others watched out of the corner of their eyes. She tried to meet all the glances head on and more than one person turned away sheepishly. She also noticed that there was a general hum of whispers trailing after her as they ascended the staircase and turned off at the second floor. Jade let her eyes sweep the hallway. It was easily ten feet wide with large doors on either side that stretched up eight feet. That made the ceiling twelve feet high, she thought. She guesstimated that there were about seven doors on either side of the hallway, that made fourteen for this side of the Covenstead and presumably fourteen on the other side made a total of twenty-eight. She multiplied that by three in her head for the three floors and then added in the library beneath the ground floor.
    “Christ,” she murmured.
    “Pardon?” Paris asked, turning his head slightly.
    Jade shook her head quickly. “Nothing.” She didn’t want to seem like the country cousin. If they could all walk around in such grand surroundings without blinking, so could she.
    Paris turned into the second door on the left and she blinked twice in surprise.
    Obviously it was some kind of hospital room. Medical machinery and paraphernalia filled the room, and several cots stretched out beside each cluster of equipment. The room was sterile and Spartan, only containing what it needed, while the marble floor’s pristine sheen reflected the dying sunlight. It had that faint antiseptic smell familiar to hospitals and doctors’ offices everywhere. She wrinkled her nose. Like most people, she had a dislike of hospitals or doctors’ offices in general. They reminded her of painful bone breaks and deep cuts requiring stitches.
    “This is the Covenstead medical unit,” Paris said. “Obviously the city has its own hospital and we are more than welcome to use that. But most of our needs can be taken care of here at the coven. We generally only need to use the hospital in extreme circumstances.”
    “Like my whole ‘getting hit by a bus’ example,” Callie said.
    Paris’ lips curved in a dry grin. “Yes, that may be a little much for even Dr. Gellar to work a miracle.”
    “I could work a miracle in a ditch with only a steak knife and a bottle of scotch.”
    Jade turned to her right to see a contemporarily gorgeous woman with short red hair and dark-framed glasses emerging from an interior door which she shut tightly behind her. She wore powder blue scrubs that effectively hid most of her shape but projected an air of professionalism and sterility that most medical facilities seemed fond of.
    “You must be Jade,” she said as she extended her hand. “I’m Elsabeth Gellar.”
    Jade shook her hand and was once again impressed to find a strong grip on the other end. She had yet to meet a limp fish in the bunch.
    Dr. Gellar tucked her hands back into the pockets of her scrubs and turned to face Paris. “Did I just hear you doubting my medical skills?” she asked good-naturedly.
    “I was merely explaining to Jade that while our medical