Warlock - Book 3 - Preview Chapter 250406c

“This is the most pillows Magistra Hennessy would give me,” Sam said, dumping a half dozen pillows to the floor next to the cottage’s sunken bed. “She said we’d have to pay for any not returned at the end of the term — or if they’re ‘unusable.’ It’s like she thinks we’re going to do something perverted with them.”

“Now why would she think that?” Cassandra muttered, tucking another sheet in between the cushions that made up the giant bed.

“Let’s take a break,” I suggested.

“Good idea,” Sam said. “Remind me to order us our own sheets and pillows and stuff when we get back to the dorm? I think we should get all this stuff back to Magistra Hennessy as soon as we can.”

Sam went to what served as the cottage’s kitchen area while I flopped down on the part of the giant bed we’d managed to cover in fresh sheets that kept some of the mustiness of the cushions at bay — we’d only been at things for half a day and it would take a lot longer than that to reupholster and restuff all of them, so we’d decided to just cover them until we could get to that. None of us wanted to stay in the cramped dorm room any longer than we had to, especially with Rachel joining Thursday night, but with classes, we only had Tuesday and Thursday to make the place at least habitable.

I was a little touched that the girls were willing to move in while we still had to walk back to the residence building for a working bathroom. Peter had dropped off chamber pots for us, but none of us were particularly impressed by them.

We’d decided to move in even before the real renovations started, since Rachel would be joining us in a couple days. None of the girls wanted to sleep in a different dorm room — and I didn’t want them to, either — and even when the Murphy bed we’d ordered arrived, it wouldn’t be big enough for four.

Besides, the girls — mostly Sam and Cassandra, but Rachel was chiming in with opinions, as well — were arguing about colors, materials, paint, and just about everything else someone could have an opinion on.

So far we’d managed to get most of the dust and dirt out of the first floor room. We’d used a little magic for that, but none of us were that great with the air magic we’d need to really blow it all out the door and Cassandra’s telly wouldn’t work either — she didn’t have the focus or control necessary to interact with all the little particles spread around the room. Probably no witch did, since it would require her to concentrate on every dust mote individually. Once we had a pile, though, she could get most of it out the door with little effort.

Peter had already cleaned the fireplace and chimney for us — I think the Prima allowed someone else to do that for us so we wouldn’t wind up burning down one of her cottages — and we had a nice little fire warming the room against the late-March chill.

Now it was nice to lean back against the cushions with the fire warming my right side. The rest of me was a little chilly, still — at least until Cassandra cuddled up against my left side and Sam returned with three sodas and did the same on my right.

Peter had been right, if we had a TV on the wall we were facing, it would make for perfect viewing.

“This is nice,” Sam said. “A lot nicer than our room.”

Cassandra nodded.

I had to agree — I just wasn’t sure how it was going to work with eleven more girls.

Or even one more, I thought as Rachel came through the front door. I’m out of arms as it is.

“Join us, sweetie?” Sam asked, holding up the arm that wasn’t trapped next to me.

Rachel grinned and started toward us, then stopped and bit her lip. “Um … maybe … after.” She glanced at the door. “We’re taking a break? I’ll, ah, be back in thirty minutes? Okay?”

“Sure,” I said, but she was already out the door and I chuckled. “Workroom?” I asked Sam.

“Workroom,” she agreed, nodding.

“What was that?” Cassandra asked.

“Rachel gets a little worked up,” I explained. “She’ll vent some mana in a workroom and be back.”

“She gets full that easy? Must have a tiny resonant.”

I shrugged. I didn’t know how big Rachel’s resonant was — maybe it was tiny and that was why it got full so easily. It was a little hard to think she could fill it after half a day’s working on cleaning the cottage — on the other hand, most of our efforts had been on preparing the giant bed she’d soon be joining us in.

“You might be surprised,” Sam said, then got up to crawl across the giant bed to the other side. She pulled one of the cushioned ottomans that made it up out of place and began running her hands over the sides and underneath.

“What are you doing?” Cassandra asked.

“Finding good attachment points,” Sam explained.

Cassandra frowned. “Attachment of what … oh, ew! Seriously?”

Sam shrugged. “I don’t want to break anything and it’ll be easier to add some while we’re reupholstering them anyway.”

Cassandra looked at me but I just nodded. “She’s stronger than she looks … and she likes to try and —”

“Stop!” Cassandra covered her ears. “Just, please, stop.”

“Yeah, stop complaining about it,” Sam said.

“No,” Cassandra said. “Not here — this is where we’ll be hanging out all the time. This is where we’ll sleep.”

“Yeah,” Sam said, “perfect place.”

“It is not!”

“It is unless you’re going to help him carry my noodle-legged, limp-ass down those stairs every night — or you’re okay with Noah sleeping up there all private with me.”

“No!”

Carrying Sam wasn't a chore, given my Strength affinity, but I guess the girls weren't thinking about that.

Sam shrugged and went back to studying the ottoman’s structure. “Here it is, then.”

“Pervert,” Cassandra muttered.

“Girls,” I said, thinking it was time to cut this off. In general, I’d decided not to intervene in their disagreements unless things got serious, but we did have a lot of work to do. “Sam, it’s probably not fair to the other girls to take up the main room for our … stuff.”

“I don’t mind if they watch.”

“Ew!”

“Girls. Sam, we’ll set up one of the other rooms for … that. Maybe part of the basement.” Most of the basement was a sort of workroom and circle, almost like Mel had at her brownstone, but there was quite a bit of free space still. “And I’ll carry you back here if you can’t walk.”

“Gross,” Cassandra muttered.

“Witch — if you think him taking your breath away is good, wait until he takes your legs.”

“Deal?” I asked, trying to head off any more.

“You’re giving me a dungeon and princess-carrying me to bed every night? Damn right it’s a deal.”

“Be sure you hose her off before bringing her back up here.”

We spent the rest of the day cleaning as best we could, stopping as it started to get dark, since there were no electric lights in the cottage and Magistra Hennessy would only give us enough lamp oil for one of the lamps attached to the cottage’s walls. That and the firelight would be enough for us overnight, but it certainly wasn’t enough to continue working.

Sam took my hand and Cassandra latched onto my other arm as we returned to the residence building — Rachel had gone on ahead earlier to get ready, which I assumed meant visiting a workroom for the second time in one day.

“It must suck to have such a tiny resonant,” Cassandra said after Rachel left.

Sam snorted, but I was too nervous to really comment. I was also worried about Cassandra and how she might take the coming binding in the Grove.

As the day had gone on, my nervousness was understandable — we were two nights away from brining Rachel into our coven and it would be the first time I’d entered a Grove to do anything other than watch, and my first time binding a witch in any sort of ceremony. Sam and Rachel just got happier and happier as the day went on, but Cassandra … she put on a decent front, and I was proud of her for not wanting to dim the … event for Rachel, but I could tell she was also sad about it. A couple times I thought she was starting to say she wasn’t going, but then she’d look at Rachel and hurriedly move on to something about the cottage and all the work we had to do.

I really hoped she could hold it together and not ruin things for Rachel.