Cauldrons and Cat Tails (Moonvale Matches #2)

32. Kizzi

CHAPTER 32

Kizzi

I t was strange, waking up in my own bed.

It was comfortable, of course, with my collection of fluffy pillows and the gentle pulse of familiar magic. But it was cold. And lonely.

I missed waking up with Tandor next to me.

The sprites were a flurry of activity when I returned last night while the rest of the town was asleep, and they had clearly wreaked havoc on my shop while I was away.

I couldn’t even be mad—I had expected nothing but shenanigans from them.

I was happy to be back in their presence, though. Even if they were annoying little bitches. They were my annoying little bitches.

Hex was also happy to be back, even more so than me. The larger portion of their mass was curled up in the broken cauldron, exactly where we had left it when we departed on our journey. Hex had leaped from my shoulder, absorbed into the remaining slime, and reanimated in their hefty, intimidating form.

I tried to remind myself that I had sort of bonded with my familiar over the journey. I wouldn’t call us friends, but we weren’t necessarily enemies anymore.

They still made me squirmy, though.

And they had tried to sleep curled up in my bed again.

I attempted to scoop them up, banishing them to the cracked cauldron that had become their new home base, but the effort was futile. My threats didn’t even work, nor did my curse attempts. For being my familiar, Hex didn’t follow my instructions very well.

So, there they slumbered, curled up under the covers at the bottom corner of the bed.

I did warn them that if they touched my toes during the night, I would set fire to the entire shop. I sort of meant it.

The brave blue water sprite also tried to sleep in by bed, perched on the pillow next to my head. It felt like a fucking slumber party.

A thundering knock at my door yanked me to my feet, forcing me to finally get out of bed.

“Hang on! Gods!” I called out grumpily. The suns were high in the sky, and it was probably around lunch time, but I still needed more sleep. It had been a long night.

“Open the door, bitch!” a familiar voice called out. “There’s a pile of letters out here, by the way! And a few gifts! Can I take some of these?”

A grin split my face. Fiella.

She pounded on the door, wiggling the handle relentlessly.

“Hold your unicorns, I’m coming,” I grumbled, but there was no heat to it.

I yanked the door open to find her standing there, two mugs of tea in hand, smiling devilishly. “Tell me everything.”

And I did.

Well, almost everything. I left out the juiciest bits about me and Tandor, deciding I wanted to keep some of those memories private.

The vampire leaned back, propping her feet up on the counter with a satisfied smirk on her face. “So, it sounds like you had a nice time with our friend Tandor?”

I shrugged noncommittally. “He was decent company.”

A snort escaped her. “Right. Decent company.” Her eyebrows bounced mischievously. “And was he good in bed?”

I threw a rag at her.

“Fiella! That’s none of your Gods damned business.”

“Considering the blush on your face right now, I’m going to assume he’s pretty decent .”

“Well… I’m certainly not complaining.”

“I knew it!”

“But don’t get too excited—I still don’t know what exactly is going on between us.”

Disbelief clouded her face. “What’s going on is you finally secured yourself a man, Kiz.”

Had I? Secured myself a man? “I don’t think—we didn’t talk about?—”

She interrupted me. “It’s about time. The poor orc has been crushing on you for ages.”

I snorted. “He said the same thing.”

“He admitted that? Wow. You would’ve had to waterboard that information out of me,” Fiella mused.

“Some of us are able to talk about our feelings.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Like you’re one of them? Sounds like you haven’t told Tandor about your feelings.”

I sighed in resignation. “I know. I know. I’ve been avoiding it. Everything is just so new and so fun. I don’t want to ruin it by making things serious.”

“So don’t.”

“Huh?”

She sipped her tea casually. “If you’re enjoying how things are going, just let them keep going. You don’t have to go and get mated right this instant. You should tell him how you feel, though. Just to make sure you’re on the same page.”

Her words sank in. She was right, and I knew it. I was just being a little pansy. “I will,” I mumbled.

A few folk knocked on my door, but I refused to let them in, insisting they come back later. Soon, they would be cured of the annoying love enchantment. Soon, everyone would quit bothering me. Hopefully.

After a few minutes of companionable silence watching the sprites whir around the shop while we sipped our teas and ate our pastries, Fiella sat upright. Tension tightened her frame.

“Kizzi,” she said cautiously.

“What’s up, Fi?”

“Is that… is that what I think it is?” She gestured to the corner where Hex was hanging out in their cracked cauldron, half slumped over the side in a position that looked extremely uncomfortable but they refused to shift from.

I took another sip. “Yep.”

“Holy fates.”

I nodded in agreement. “They’re my familiar. Hex.” I spoke up a little louder. “Hex, this is my best friend Fiella. Don’t mess with her or I’ll… do something bad to you.” No suitable threats came to mind, but I was sure Hex could sense my intentions.

Fiella’s gaze snapped to mine. “Are you kidding?”

I shook my head. “No,” I lowered my voice to a whisper. “I accidentally brought them to life and now they’re my magical sidekick. Forever.”

Her complexion paled. “That’s—I mean good for you, badass witch lady, but that’s horrifying.”

“You’re telling me.”

Hex hissed for a moment, but it didn’t have as much bite to it as it used to. Our love-hate (mostly hate) relationship was complicated like that.

Fiella continued her examination of the shop. When she spotted the new cauldron in the corner, filled with a pile of blankets, she jumped to her feet. “Oh! This must be the new one—wow it’s gorgeous!” She approached, gently running a finger over the cauldron’s rim. She had spent enough time around me and other witches to appreciate a well-crafted caldron.

“It sure is. You don’t even want to know how much it cost me; it’ll make you sick. Look inside.” I smiled behind the rim of my mug.

She tossed me a suspicious glance before she tentatively reached inside, removing one of the blankets. She stared blankly for a few moments.

And then she let out an ear-shattering screech. “Kizziah Cedarton! Is this what I think it is?”

I nodded smugly. “It sure is.”

Three shiny, scaled eggs sat in the cauldron, nestled snugly together.

“You smuggled dragon eggs into Moonvale! Actual dragon eggs!” she shouted.

“Yep,” I let the word pop from my lips with a flair. “And they weren’t cheap, either.”

Fiella bolted to my side, pulling me into a bone-bending hug. Her chin rested on top of my head. “You’re crazy, did you know that?”

I patted her back. “It’ll be a nightmare when Mayor Tommins finds out. And they might not even hatch. But still—you owe me one.”

She released me and wandered back to the cauldron to admire the eggs. “I always do. This is going to be so much fun.”