Hallowed Circle Read Free

into my palm, reached out, and grabbed Hunter’s hand with that same amount of high school glee.
    Nothing happened.
    She squinted again. The corner of my mouth crooked up. The nothing that happened meant we were even. Or, at least, that my new stain nullified her jolt.
    The phone buzzed and the receptionist answered with, “Yes?”
    “I didn’t catch your name,” Hunter Hopewell said, releasing my hand.
    “I didn’t drop it.”
    The receptionist placed the receiver in its cradle and turned her seat toward us. “Lydia will see you now.”
    Hunter moved to go around the desk.
    “Oh, not you, Ms. Hopewell. I meant Ms. Alcmedi.”
    That the girl knew my name and pronounced it correctly surprised me. I thanked her and then it hit me where I knew her from. “Mandy, right? From Vivian’s coffee shop in Cleveland?”
    A sheepish smile flashed across her round face and disappeared.
    “You changed your hair.” It had been an indistinct pale brown.
    She petted the unhealthy length of platinum blond hair stretching over her shoulder. “Yeah. Vivian’s idea.”
    I wondered if Vivian helped her make any other bad choices. Poor girl. A compliment should’ve sprung to mind, but it just didn’t. The overprocessed frizz she was stuck with couldn’t flatter anyone and I couldn’t just lie .
    She appeared as if she might cry. “Are you okay?” I asked.
    “I just miss her so much.”
    “Oh.” What was I supposed to say? If I tried to console Mandy after I’d helped the vampire get Vivian, the words would taste ashy.
    “I’ve been Vivian’s intern-slash-protégé for almost two years. You’d think that, of all people, she’d give me a hint before she split.” She rolled her eyes again even as she wiped at the corners. At least someone had thought well of Vivian. “I didn’t think you’d remember me,” she said.
    I did. The coffee she’d made me had been terrible. Of course that had been the day I found out about Lorrie’smurder, so maybe it was my mood souring my palate more than the beverage. Shrugging, I said, “I didn’t at first. The new color threw me. I’m surprised you knew me.”
    “Vivian didn’t often talk to people in her office at the shop. …” Mandy paused. “How’s the kid?”
    “Adjusting well,” I said and started around the desk. “Thanks for asking.”
    “I was here first,” Hunter protested.
    “Yeah, I know,” Mandy said through gritting teeth. “You’ve been here exactly thirty-three minutes and”—she glanced at the wall clock—“fourteen seconds.”
    “So the local contender is getting preferential treatment already,” Hunter declared. “Why do you people bother having an Eximium if you’re just going to hand it to your local contestant?”
    From the office doorway, I looked over my shoulder at her quizzically.
    She said, “I was here first and I should be seen first.”
    “Wah. Get over it,” Mandy said.
    Hunter made a derisive sound and ratcheted her chin up.
    “You know,” I said to Hunter, “a high priestess ought to know the difference between pride and conceit.” I shut Lydia’s door.
    Sitting meekly in an oversize chair behind a massive mahogany desk, Lydia gave the impression of frailty but I knew better. She stood to greet me. Her usual summertime gingham dress had been replaced with a white turtleneck under a wide-collared forest green sweater, paired with a long, tan corduroy skirt. It was obvious the changing season had left her cold.
    After a quick hug, I sank into the seat across from her and asked, “Are they all like that?”
    “No, thank the Goddess, but she is the worst.”
    “Good.”
    “No, Seph. Actually, that’s bad.”
    “Why?”
    “Because, dear, she’ll take the Eximium and become high priestess … with you opting out of it and all.”
    A hard frown tightened my face. I suspected I was about to be inveigled. I’d have bet that she knew I’d protest the nomination. She likely waited to call me about it until Hunter walked