“Excellent. And don’t forget about…” The mayor listed a bunch of stuff that technically didn’t fall within her purview. Hopefully, Leanne’s successor would do better at enforcing boundaries. She tuned him out for a while and only started paying attention when he added, “You know…Dan’s wife, Molly, is just invaluable. You’re divorced, aren’t you?”

You son of a bitch.

“Good luck with the interview later today,” she said.

They’d recently sent her a list of amended questions, but right then and there, she decided not to share them. Passive-aggressive? Absolutely. Listening to Mayor Anderson flounder should prove an excellent distraction. She whirled and stepped smartly out, returning to her own office with a spike of rage so profound that she could feel the magic gathering, just itching for her to turn it on him.

I shouldn’t. Dammit, I don’t care.

After locking her office door, Leanne checked her schedule, and yeah, she had time for this. This hex didn’t require too much preparation, and she could cast it in her sleep. She pulled a few herb pouches from her briefcase and arranged them on the desk. Candles would help strengthen the spell, but she didn’t have any, so her resentment had to do the job.

She swirled the herbs around and fed the working with the certainty of her intent. “When a man can’t tell truth from lies, there should be an awful prize. Whenever he attempts to deceive, a terrible itch he shall receive.” The spell itself sounded like a nursery rhyme, but it popped off with the force of a cork launched from a champagne bottle, and she sensed it arrowing directly to Mayor Anderson.

Perfect. Now when he tries to bullshit the interviewer over those new questions, he’s going to look like a lice-infested chimpanzee. She waited a few beats for the guilt to kick in, and when it didn’t, she shrugged and got to work. It’s good to be a witch.

Some assholes had it coming.

***

Am I…happy?

Trev asked himself that as he set out the ingredients to make dinner. In the past two weeks, there had been no passive-aggressive comments, nobody asking what the hell he was doing with his life. He’d even gotten a few friendly texts from Mom. There was only radio silence from the old man, and he’d never been close with Tanner, so lack of contact from his father and brother didn’t surprise him. He suspected they had a family chat that excluded him, but he’d never asked because his brother would take satisfaction in confirming it.

Happy. Yeah, I think I am.