“Sure,” I said, starting to get depressed. I’d wait until Ivy came home, then ask her. What did Jenks know? He was a pixy, for God’s sake.

I elbowed the rocker switch as I entered the kitchen, all but tripping on Rex when she darted between my feet. The ungraceful motion turned into a sneeze. I felt it coming but didn’t have time to warn Jenks. He was catapulted off, and, swearing, he went to the window.

“Sorry,” I said when he lit next to his sea monkeys. According to my mother, it was bad luck to sneeze between rooms, but it was Jenks’s questioning look that had me worried.

Wincing, I looked at Rex, her cute little kitten face turned up as she sat before the sink and gazed lovingly up at her four-inch master. Jenks followed my attention to her, and when I set the bags down to wipe my nose, his wings stilled in understanding. I had been sneezing off and on since yesterday. Crap, there are charms for it, but I don’t want to be allergic to cats.

“I’m not allergic to cats,” I said, wrapping one arm around my middle. “Rex has been here for the past two months, and this is the first time it’s been a problem.”

“Okay,” he said softly, but his wings weren’t moving when he turned his back on me to wrestle with the vial of sea-monkey food.

It was too quiet in here. I wanted to turn on some music, but the stereo was in the sanctuary, and to crank it loud enough to be able to enjoy it in the kitchen would bother the neighbors. Working up a really good pity party, I pulled out one of my newest spell books and set it thumping on the center island counter. Sneezing, I thought, hunched as I thumbed through the index. I wasn’t allergic to cats. My dad had been, but I wasn’t.

The only spell in the book that had to do with sneezing was one for cat allergies, and as I debated trying it, I felt a tickle start. Eyes watering, I held my breath. It didn’t do any good. I sneezed, accidentally tearing the page.

“Damn it!” I swore, looking up to see that I had startled Jenks into the air. “I’m not allergic to cats! It’s a summer cold. That’s all.”

I felt the urge again. Exasperated, I closed my eyes and tried to stop it, making an ugly noise when I couldn’t. I knew I had seen a spell for sneezing that didn’t revolve around cats. Where the devil was it?

“Oh, yeah,” I said softly, crouching down to get my old ley line textbook out from between The Big Cookie Cookbook and my copy of Real Witches Eat Quiche.

“Rache?” Jenks said, coming to stand on the counter when I opened it up to the index.