Magic and Mayhem: Witch and Were (Kindle Worlds Novella) Read Free Page B

this."
    She shook her head. "Don't look at me. That's what hair dressers and magic are for."
    I turned around and shoved my hands on my hips. "Are you kidding me? Why are you making me go through this if you can fix it?"
    She lifted her hand and buffed at her perfectly polished nails. "You didn't ask."
    "Oh for Pete's sake and all that is holy. Why do you have to be so difficult over every little thing?"
    "Stop being so melodramatic. Honestly, it's just hair and Mick is right, it does look kind of cute."
    I looked back at the mirror and wondered what the heck was wrong with these people. These shocking white streaks threaded through my hair were absolutely not cute.
    "Fine. If you're not going to help me out you might as well wait out there with Mick. I'll fix my hair and then I'll be on my way."
    Charlene frowned at me. "What about this shifting thing? That's far more troublesome. I think you should go and see that whisperer whatever and see if she can help you."
    I pulled on the thin plastic gloves and read through the directions. "Jeez, I have to test these chemicals on my skin. I shudder to think of what goes into this crap. Nothing organic I'm sure."
    My mother sighed and stood, then she brushed her fingers through my hair, changing the color of the white strands with her calming green magic. It reminded me of when I was little and my mother would soothe me to sleep with different relaxing magic spells that would glow green when she chanted them. It had been a long time since those days.
    Now I often took on the mother role when it came to keeping Charlene out of trouble. Her massive appetite for men led to one catastrophe after another. Any day now I expected a phone call from the manager asking me to come pick her up and take her home for good.
    "Why does this bother you so much," my mother whispered. Probably so the Shifter God in the hallway couldn't hear. "Is this about your birthday? Turning fifty is nothing for us. One hundred I could see. That one was rough. But you," she paused. "You're way too young and beautiful to worry about your age."
    I stared at her mirrored reflection. "I don't know, Momma. But it does worry me. I'm trying to take my business nationwide and what I look like when selling it has everything to do with whether my investors will continue to fund me."
    "You worry too much. A couple of white streaks do not make you old. Now, before you leave town with Mick I think you should stop by Francine's for a reading. Set your mind at ease about the future."
    "I'm not going anywhere with your boyfriend. We need to get that straight." No matter how hot he made me burn after that initial contact, I. Would. NOT. Succumb.
    "Sure you are, sugar. It's written all over your body language."
    Said body tensed, every muscle going on lockdown. If my mother noticed then that must mean the Shifter man would too.
    "Where is this whisperer woman anyway? I have meetings scheduled and product to get out to my regular customers. I'm a busy woman."
    She shrugged. "Somewhere in West Virginia I think. Ass something or other."
    I had to think about where that actually was. I had hated school and geography and math most of all.
    "Assjacket actually," Mick said, still hovering too close for comfort.
    "What?" I turned and opened the door to find him standing just on the other side. Did he not understand the concept of personal space?
    "The Shifter whisperer. She's in Assjacket, West Virginia."
    I turned and met my mother's gaze. Both our eyebrows raised. "You're not serious, right? This is all some sort of birthday joke after all, isn't it?"
    When Charlene shook her head without cracking a smile, I knew this was not a joke. Or at least they weren't in on it.
    They actually expected me to drive halfway across the country to some place called Assjacket, West Virginia?
    They were crazy.
    No way. Not happening. Not until hell freezes over.

3
    A pparently hell froze over when I wasn't looking.
    The next morning I stood next to my