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do Neko’s bidding.

CHAPTER 3
     
    I HOPED EVERYTHING would somehow be perfect in the morning. I would awake with a flawless understanding of my role as magistrix of the Madison Academy. A perfect class schedule would have appeared out of thin air, transcribing itself on my calendar. My witches and I would thrum with energy, ready to work all sorts of powerful spells in dedication to the glory of Hecate.
    Alas, I spent a restless night jerking awake from an endless series of bad dreams. Three separate times, I startled David out of a sound sleep, and it took him longer to settle back each time. When I finally crawled out of bed at dawn, my boyfriend had abandoned me. I had a crick in my neck, a fog over my thoughts, and a nasty taste in my mouth.
    At least toothpaste solved the last problem.
    I tried to convince myself that a long shower would banish my other woes, but I started sweating even as I tried to towel myself dry. The farmhouse’s air conditioning simply could not compete with the heavy blanket of June humidity.
    When I opened the bedroom door, Spot was lying in the hallway. He raised his massive head from his front paws and pounded his tail against the floor. I assured him he was a good boy, and he pranced as he accompanied me down the stairs. Leading the way into the kitchen, he kept himself between me and the witches who were seated at the table.
    Raven had exchanged her tight blouse for an even more body-skimming black T. Her skinny jeans made me wonder if she actually had room inside her body for all her organs. She’d wrapped a deep purple scarf around her waist, and the fabric matched the streak in her long, wavy hair. She looked more like a sexy pirate queen than an up-and-coming student of witchcraft.
    Emma, on the other hand, looked cool and composed and utterly, completely ordinary in denim shorts and a loose-fitting pink blouse. The guys—both warders and familiars—were lounging around the living room, keeping conversation down to a dull roar.
    Raven lifted her phone as soon as I set foot in the kitchen. “Okay if I film?” She was already moving her fingers over the control buttons.
    “Absolutely not.” I needed caffeine in my bloodstream before I could even consider being ready for my close-up. I could just make out the ghosts of bruises around Raven’s wrists, evidence of where David had gripped her the night before.
    As my cinematographer pouted, Emma spoke up. “We helped ourselves to brekkie. David said you’d want a cuppa.”
    And that explained Spot’s watchful presence upstairs. The dog must have been under strict orders to guard me. After all, it was decidedly un-warderlike for David to leave me alone, sleeping, while half a dozen visitors took over the downstairs of our home.
    Emma pressed a mug into my hand. “David said to remind you he had some sort of confab in the village? A meeting with an estate agent?”
    I ran a rapid English-to-American translator over her words. David was meeting with a realtor in Parkersville? First I’d heard of it. A twist of anxiety rippled through my gut.
    To disguise my concern, I took a sip of tea. Emma had brewed it to her English standards—strong enough to melt a spoon. I stumbled to the refrigerator and fished out the cream. Or, rather, I excavated an empty cardboard carton. I dropped it into the trash, silently cursing Neko.
    “Oh,” Raven said, looking up from her own mug of some delectable ecru beverage. “I guess we finished off the cream.”
    I cast a silent apology toward my familiar and fortified myself with a slug of bitter tea. When I looked up, Raven and Emma were staring at me with curious eyes. I tried to put myself in their shoes. They’d traveled halfway across the country, on Clara’s word that they’d find a magicarium waiting for them in Maryland. Whether they were paying their own tuition or not, they’d made sacrifices to be here. At the very least, they’d left behind their home. Probably family. Friends.
    And