Blonde With a Wand by Vicki Lewis Thompson Read Free Book Online Page B

her bookshelf and pulled out three different volumes. She’d bought them on sale and hadn’t used them much, but something was better than nothing.
    “I’d feel better if we had an experienced witch or wizard on the premises,” Lily said. “Not Mom and Dad, of course. I know you wouldn’t want either of them to see this cock-up, but—”
    “I don’t want anybody to see this except you and me.” Anica walked over to the sofa and set the books on the coffee table in front of her. If she consulted anyone besides her sister her transgression would be spread all over the wizard world by tomorrow morning. Lily might have the impulse to blab, but Anica had dirt on Lily. Lily could be contained.
    “Okay, but this really cool witch and wizard came into the Bubbling Cauldron the other day. He’s a little flaky, but she seemed pretty sharp. We talked magic a little, and she knows her stuff. They live in Southern Indiana, and I have their number. They could be here in a few hours.”
    Anica picked up the first book and turned to the table of contents. “I’d need more information on them than that. For all I know, they’d report me to the Wizard Council the minute they heard what I’ve done.”
    “Actually, I think they’re on the Wizard Council.”
    “Lily!” Anica stared at her in horror. “I can’t consult somebody on the council! They’d be obligated to turn in a report on me. I’m sure we can fix this ourselves and nobody will be the wiser.”
    “Whatever you think—you’re the one with no magic powers.”
    Gritting her teeth at the thought of being powerless, Anica turned to the chapter on transformation. Unless she solved this problem, she would have to depend on Lily for any little magic chore she had. And she had a bunch of them.
    But that wasn’t the most important consideration. She had to solve it because otherwise she had ruined Jasper’s life. Why, oh, why had she allowed herself to be carried away on a tide of negative emotion?
    She knew better. She’d built up a successful business because she always thought things through, weighed the odds, acted only when she was ready. She wasn’t impulsive. Jasper’s behavior had caused her to overreact, just as he’d accused her of doing. That wasn’t like her at all. He must have gotten under her skin even more than she’d realized.
    “Finding anything?” Lily walked over to stand beside the sofa.
    “Not yet.” She kept searching through the book. “There’s information about transforming, but it’s all similar to what’s in your book. I’m hoping to find a reference to that old spell. I think that’s our only chance.”
    “I think so, too. Maybe—” From inside Lily’s backpack, her cell phone played “Born to Be Wild.” “Excuse me a minute. That’s probably work.”
    While Lily took her call, Anica picked up the second book, but each reference turned out to have no more information than what they’d already tried.
    “Still nothing?” Lily came back over to the sofa.
    “Nothing.”
    “Hey, I have to go back to work. I got Chad to cover for me, but his girlfriend’s sick and he has to go take care of her.”
    “You’re leaving?” Anica tried to keep the apprehension out of her voice.
    “Yeah, if I want to keep my job. The Bubbling Cauldron is the only wizard-owned bar in town and I prefer working for magical people.” She put on her leather jacket and hooked her backpack over one shoulder.
    “Surely someone else could tend bar tonight.”
    “I could already be in trouble for calling Chad. Devon, the owner, doesn’t like us to switch places without his okay, but he was unreachable, so I just did it. If I bring in yet another bartender and he finds out, he’ll go ape shit. He knows his magic, but he’s also a control freak.”
    “I didn’t realize. But if you ever get fed up with him, you know you always have a job with me at Wicked Brew.” Anica wasn’t sure how that would work, but as a sister she should