Accidental Familiar

A familiar is a life-long companion. Choose wisely. It's hard being the youngest in a family of witches known for their power. It's even harder when that magical power has all but passed you by. Still, I was doing okay for myself. I like to think I was proving to the rest of my family that magic wasn't a requirement to living. Then Aunt Opal became the prime suspect in a murder investigation. Wouldn't you know it would happen right when everyone else in the family but me was out of town. Now it's up to me to prove her innocence, and a little magic could go a long way in helping me do that. My aunt's been after me to get a familiar for quite a while now. They are known for helping a witch channel her power and even strengthen it. So, want to or not, allergies or not, I did it. I went to an animal shelter and found my familiar. A cute little black kitty. The allergy medicine companies were going to love me. But for some reason, this little guy didn't make me sneeze. Kind of weird, actually. Not that I was complaining. I just really wish I'd known more about him before I did the binding spell . . .

A man is innocent until proven guilty. Why isn't that true for witches and their familiars too? Arc kept his end of our bargain and helped me with my family's problem. Now it was time to return the favor. He's been on the run ever since waking up next to his dead on again/off again girlfriend. He swears he didn't kill her. I believe him. He also says she wasn't in his bed when he went to sleep. That's a harder pill to swallow. Arc is a very powerful witch in his own right. And from what I've seen, when he sets a ward, it sticks. So how did the killer not only get through his wards, but plant poor Sonya's body right next to him without him knowing it? If that's the way it really went down, then some top-level witches must be involved. Possibly even council witches. The very thought scares the crap out of me. Council witches are scary. I should know. My aunt Opal is one of them. And, yes, she scares me too. On pretty much a daily basis. Unfortunately, that isn't where the bad news ended. Arc and I had another shock in store for us when we reached out to his family for help. This one would change our lives forever.

I spent my whole life thinking that magic had passed me by. Boy, was I wrong. Becoming an uber-powerful witch overnight isn't nearly as much fun as it sounds. Controlling unfamiliar magic is hard. Really, really hard. Adding to the level of difficulty is the fact that dead bodies keep showing up. Okay, so there's only been two so far, but in a small town like Wind's Crossing, that's a lot. Our town doesn't have all that many living people either. At least this time it isn't my family the police have in their crosshairs. Unfortunately, that isn't the good news you'd think it was. This time the prime suspects were my good friends Mabel Morgan and Tommy Hill. And no way was I letting them take the fall.