“Daria, a moment, please?”

My boss, Angie, was leaning out the door of her office, gesturing for me to join her. I was sitting at my own desk, which was in the corner of a large conference room the hotel only used occasionally. The conference room was connected Angie’s office, giving her easy access to come out and find me. It was an odd setup, very clearly tossed together when I was hired, but it worked just fine for me.

I stood up and walked over. Angie was in her late forties, with gray-black hair that flowed down over the shoulders of the knee-length dress she wore. Some people thought Angie was intimidating, but I’d never seen it for myself. Or, I’d seen it, but wasn’t concerned. Instead, she was kind of what I wanted to be when I grew up, even now at twenty-eight years old.

“What’s up?” I asked as she ushered me inside the small, cozy office, closing the door behind us.

She sat down behind her desk and I took one of the squashy conference chairs next to it. Angie steepled her hands, closed her eyes, and sighed.

“The caterer dropped out.”

“I know that,” I said. “I actually got Witch City Foods to take over and-”

“No, Witch City dropped out.”

My heart crashed down into my stomach. “What do you mean?” I asked, trying to keep my voice calm. “I just talked to them yesterday, Jared was all over it.”

“That’s the thing,” Angie said with a sigh. “He called me a few minutes ago and said he couldn’t do it. But he was babbling, talking so quickly I almost didn’t catch everything he was saying.”

“The bride is going to be so upset,” I muttered.

“He said it’s because of the bride,” Angie said, her slate-gray eyes darting toward the door to make sure we were alone. “He said he dreamed about her and his mother insisted it was an omen.”

“Frigging Bianca Loretti,” I muttered. “Of course this happened.”

“He said it’s magic,” Angie said, distaste dripping from the word as she said it.

Like most people in Salem, Angie was aware of magic. Even more than many, since she understood what real magic was. But, like me, she had no interest in it. Especially when it interfered with her work.

“The bride’s eyes,” I said, wishing desperately that this conversation didn’t need to happen. “You saw that too, didn’t you?”

I expected Angie to deny it, but then she nodded with a groan. “Yes, I saw it. Do you think she’s aware of it?”

“I doubt it,” I replied. “Not if it’s messing with her wedding day so badly.”

“There’s no way that Loretti is going to take this wedding now,” Angie said, tapping her pen on the top of her desk. “So, who’s next?”

I mentally ran through the list. “Loretti was my third option,” I said. “The other two I called were already booked. I can maybe talk to Reg over at The Scarecrow Grille, I know they offer catering. And it’s not like he’s going to be chased off by a little magic.”

“Is he capable of catering a wedding?” Angie asked. “I don’t have him in my files. Would it be a wedding of buffalo wings and cheeseburger sliders?”

That sounded like my kind of wedding, but the bride might not agree. “Let me talk to the bride first,” I said. “Break the bad news gently. Then I’ll give Reg a call.”

“You do that,” Angie said. “Then, don’t forget the insurance conference is here tomorrow. So we need to make sure their rooms are set up.”

Come spring in Salem, the crowds of tourists aren’t as dense as they are around Halloween. So we end up making a lot of our money on completely mundane conferences and weddings. But this insurance convention was already planned down to the complimentary pencils at the entrance, so I just nodded and gave Angie a thumbs up.

“Anything else?” I asked.

“No,” Angie said. “Just, good luck with the bride. What’s her name again?”

“Cherise.”

“And where’s the groom in all of this?”

I shrugged, and Angie snorted. “Typical,” she said. “Alright, off you go.”

I returned to my desk and took a moment to dig out both Cherise’s information and The Scarecrow Grille’s menu. That place was fine for a game or a date night, as well as a haven for local magic users. A lot of places were wary about hosting any kinds of magical events. Despite Salem’s reputation, no one was going to be thrilled when a firebolt took out their pizza oven for a week. So The Scarecrow Grille was one of the few places where people who had magical abilities could feel completely at ease.

It could use a good sweep from time to time though. Or Reg could snap his fingers and get the brooms to go all Sorcerer’s Apprentice on the place and save himself some time.

Right, first things first. Time to break the bad news. I dialed Cherise’s number and waited as the phone rang.

“Hello?”

Her voice was smoky-sweet as she answered. “Hi,” I said. “This is Daria over at the Landmark Hotel. Is this Cherise?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Cherise, I’m sorry, but your replacement caterer just dropped out of the wedding.”

I waited for the wail, for the anger coming in my direction. And in fact, the phone felt a little warmer in my hand as Cherise’s silence carried on. “Cherise?” I prompted after a moment.

“Yeah,” she said, voice less sweet, but not as angry as I expected. “Yeah. Did they say why?”

“Other commitments,” I lied.

The phone was too hot for me to be imagining it. I shifted it in my hand, trying without success to keep it from stinging my flesh. “Listen,” I said. “There are other options. I can call around and see if someone else can take it. Would that work for you?”

“Um, yeah. Yeah, sure.”

She sounded tired and I couldn’t blame her. Wedding planning took a lot of time and energy. For a little while, I’d thought Joel was about to propose. At first, I’d been sad it never happened. But then I thought about all the planning I’d be doing and wasn’t at all upset anymore.

“Don’t worry,” I said, trying to cheer her up. “These things happen, it’s just a bump in the road. Your wedding will still go great.”

The phone was hot now and an unpleasant shiver went through me as she was silent for a beat longer. “Sure,” Cherise said dully.

“I’ll call you once I have some more information for you.”

We said goodbye, and she hung up. Immediately, I dropped the phone, which was now burning my hand. Rubbing my injured palm, I let out a long sigh. This was powerful magic. The exact kind of thing I’d been avoiding as much as possible for the past four years.

But apparently some things are unavoidable. So instead of dwelling, I reached over for Reg’s business card and dialed his number.

***

Reg agreed to do it. In fact, he sounded thrilled at the idea of catering a wedding. Before I could stop him, he was already listing off different things he could make for it. They all sounded like variations on wings and burgers like Angie had feared, but I was still semi-confident that this would all work out.

“How about entrees though?” I asked. “She’s planning a buffet-style dinner, but wants to have trays of entrees like pastas and meats.”

The first caterer had offered a prime rib station, but I wasn’t sure Reg had seen a prime rib in the past decade. And the way he hummed thoughtfully over the phone confirmed it.

“Tell you what,” I said. “I need to let the bride, Cherise, know. And then you two can plan it out. But there’s something you need to know first.”

“And what’s that?” Reg asked, his gruff voice amused.

“She’s got magic,” I said, cringing as I did so. “And we think that’s what’s driven the other caterers away. Loretti had omen dreams about her and Ms. Bianca made him drop the order.”

“Miss Dar,” Reg said, the same way he had since I was seven years old. “Do you truly think I can’t handle a little magic?”

“Of course not, Reg,” I said, rolling my eyes even though he couldn’t see me. “But I just wanted you to be prepared, that’s all. I don’t know if she even knows about her power. But she nearly burned my entire hand through the phone when I told her Loretti canceled.”

“I’ll be safe, I promise,” Reg said. “Alright, love, I need to get back to my kitchen. Have the lady call me.”

He hung up without a goodbye, but that wasn’t anything unusual. Relieved, I crossed the caterer issue off of my to-do list. I had about an hour left of work and everything was going exactly to schedule.

Tonight I’d be home alone for a while. Which meant snacks and movies. Or maybe some extra time in the garden. After all, I still had the tray of seedlings that needed to be planted. So maybe I could get it done before Gretel got home from work. Then we’d have the whole evening to relax together. Maybe take a bubble bath.

If we could ever buy our apartment, I’d want to install a hot tub in the backyard. It was so perfectly private and cozy. Of course, our current landlord would never go for it and it wasn’t like we had the money, anyway. So for now, all we could do was grow our garden.

Gretel and I had moved into the apartment a little less than a year ago. By that point we’d been together for a year and she knew the whole story with Joel. It had taken some time to reach a point where I felt comfortable starting something serious again, but Gretel had been patient. She understood the strange contradiction of me loving Salem and despising magic. And when I’d said I wanted no magic in our home, since it had done nothing but ruin my life, she had quickly agreed to it. Not that she had any magic. We’d only talked about magic a few times over the years, but neither of us had any real interest in it.

The conference rooms for the insurance event were almost completely ready to go before I even got there. Patrick, one of our custodians, was pushing the last chairs into place as I walked into the room. “Daria,” he called. “Is this all of it?”

I scanned the space, then nodded. “Thanks,” I said.

“Not a problem.”

“You know the justice of the peace you usually use, Morgan, is moving,” he said.

My gut twisted at this. “How do you know?” I asked. “He never told me that. And he’s scheduled for three more weddings this season.”

“Geri told me,” he said.

Geri was Patrick’s wife, a shy woman who owned a boutique over by Derby Wharf. “He told her?” I asked.

“Not in so many words.”

Great. More magic. “Well, thanks for the heads up,” I said. “I’ll make sure to get prepared.”

Patrick nodded, then started for the door. My shift was nearly over, so I went through this room and the one next door quickly, making sure everything was set up according to plan. It was, like I said, even down to the pencils stacked on the welcome table. So, from there I headed back to the office and poked my head into Angie’s to say goodbye.

“It’s all set,” I said.

Angie smiled. “What would I do without you?”

“What indeed?”

We both laughed, and I closed the door behind me, walking toward the hotel entrance. It had been a good day, all things considered. Everything got done and now I just needed to go home and tend to my garden for a little while.

“Dar! There you are!”

The voice that greeted me as I walked out of the hotel made me freeze in my tracks. Garden forgotten, I turned in that direction.

“Joel,” I said. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

---

Continue to Chapter 3