“Deal,” I said cheerfully. I had already finished the short essays. Now all I had to do was make Bob my familiar and I’d be set. Piece of cake. I looked at Bob and cringed. Yeah. Piece of cake. “Thanks,” I said softly as Nick straightened my black drawing paper by tapping the ends on the counter.

“I’ll make them sloppy so she thinks you did them,” he said.

I gave him a raised eyebrow look. “Thanks a lot,” I amended dryly, and he grinned. Done with the brew, I jabbed my finger and massaged out three drops of blood. The scent of redwood blossomed as they plunked into the pot and the spell quickened. So far, so good.

“Earth witches don’t use pentagrams,” Nick said as he sharpened the chalk by rubbing it against a piece of scrap paper. “How come you know them?”

Careful to keep my bloodied finger clear, I polished my scrying mirror with a velveteen scarf borrowed from Ivy. A shudder sifted through me at the cold feel of it. I hated scrying. It gave me the willies. “From those pentagram jelly glasses,” I said. Nick looked up, the lost look on his face making me feel good for some reason. “You know. Those jelly jars you can use for juice glasses when they’re empty? These had pentagrams on the bottom and their uses written on the side. I lived on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that year.” My mood went soft at the memory of my dad quizzing me over toast.

Nick rolled his sleeves up and started sketching. “And I thought I was bad for digging to the bottom of my cereal box for the toy.”

I was done with the prep work and ready to do some serious spelling. Time to set my circle. “In or out,” I asked, and Nick looked up from my homework, blinking. Seeing his confusion, I added, “I’m ready to set my circle. Do you want to be in or out of it?”

He hesitated. “You want me to move?”

“Only if you want to be out of it.”

His look turned incredulous. “You’re going to enclose the entire island?”

“Is that a problem?”

“No-o-o-o.” Nick scooted his bar stool closer. “Witches must be able to hold more ley line power than humans. I can’t make a circle much bigger than three feet across.”

I smiled. “I don’t know. I’d ask Dr. Anders if she wouldn’t make me feel like an idiot. I think it depends. My mom can’t hold a circle bigger than three feet, either. So…in or out?”

“In?”

My breath slipped from me in relief. “Good. I was hoping you’d say that.” Leaning over the counter, I plunked my spell book down beside him. “I need your help translating this.”

“You want me to do your homework and help you bind your familiar, too?” he protested.