Enchanted Affairs Co.

‘Magic and danger go hand in hand—like me and terrible choices.’

That pretty much summed up my life, especially as of late. With no money to my name, no friends or ‘family’ that didn’t want to kill or lock me up, I was—for the lack of a better word—fucked.

Why else would I be considering meddling with the supernatural when I had no magical abilities myself? Well, except for the shapeshifting thing, but that was the root of all my other problems, so it was out of the question. Not to mention, I was pretty sure that if my new employers found out what I was, I’d be kicked out before I could turn in my two-week notice.

The wind picked up, cutting right through my best skirt and the matching blouse I was wearing to impress them. It was the only decent outfit I owned that wasn’t yoga pants or a sports set, and with the four dollars and thirty-five cents in my pocket, it would be for a while…

My eyes darted to the sign above the door and I scoffed as I read it again.

‘Enchanted Affairs Co. - Your magical mess, our enchanted solution!’

Well, at least they had some sense of humor, so it wouldn’t be too bad. A fresh start was exactly what I needed, even though, with my luck, I was about to walk into a curse with benefits.

I glanced at the paper with the address I was holding in one hand, then at the small buzzing sphere I was cradling in the other. When I was approved for the interview, they had sent me this thing along with instructions to ‘carry it on my person’ when I entered the headquarters or risk ‘excruciating and/or possibly permanent repercussions’. I didn’t need magic to tell me what that meant. Don’t fuck this up.

The bell above the door rang loudly as I entered, looking around the room. The place was small, full of shelves and tables overflowing with strange contraptions and magical ingredients—herbs, crystals, candles, and all sorts of trifle trinkets. Not at all what I expected to see at the storefront of a renowned magical agency.

I did a quick round around the room but didn’t find a soul. There were no cameras or other doors aside from the front one. In fact, there wasn’t even a register. What the hell was this display all about, then?

“Um, hello?”

The air behind me rippled, and the subtle tickle of magic touched my skin. Before I could think about it, I spun in the direction of the disturbance, almost sending the crystal ball flying into the head of the woman who had appeared there.

If my swift reaction startled her, it didn’t show on her smiling face.

She was beautiful, with short brown hair that almost reached her chin and cheekbones sharp enough to cut diamonds. Her dark eyes flashed silver as she studied me with keen focus, but it happened so fast that I was pretty sure I had imagined it.

“Hello,” she greeted in a voice as sweet as honey. “You must be Lauren! I’m sorry for making you wait. My name’s Patricia, and I’ll be conducting our meeting today.”

“Hi.” I cleared my throat, quickly lowering the ball before she asked me what I was planning to do with that. She held her fingers intertwined over her hips, a picture of tranquility and confidence that made me feel like some street beggar who broke into her house to steal bread. I shook my head—Focus, Lauren! “Um, nice to meet you. I’m Lauren.”

The edges of her lips twitched, and I realized I had introduced myself after she had already used my name. Geez, I was already blowing this! I couldn’t mess up! I needed this!

“Um, don’t get this the wrong way, but how did you get here? There are no other doors and you definitely didn’t use the front one.”

“Oh,” she chuckled, turning to the shelf behind and running her fingers over its smooth surface. “You shouldn’t believe everything you see, dear. Come on, this way.”

She flattened her palm over the top and motioned for me to join her. I hurried to her side, eyeing suspiciously the very thick, very solid furniture that covered half of the wall. Patricia offered me her hand and despite the voice in my mind screaming for me to run, I took it.

The moment my fingers touched hers, the shelf, the wall, the whole room melted before our eyes like heated wax. Darkness shimmered around for a second, then that fell away too, leaving us standing in a spacious, brightly lit vestibule.

My jaw dropped as I took in the intricate marble work beneath our feet and the sheer size of this one room. Arched doorways stood at least eight feet tall on each of our sides and I had to crane my neck up to see the end of the double staircase curving to the upper floor.

Was this place made for giants? There was nooo way we were in the same shabby building I entered minutes ago!

“Did you just… teleport us?” I turned to Patricia. She was standing by one of the archways, removing a piece of lint from her shoulder while seemingly waiting for me to finish ogling her home. Shit, I wasn’t winning any points here, but how was I supposed to keep a straight face with all the stuff that was happening?

“Mhm.” She nodded like it wasn’t a big deal at all. And for a witch, I supposed it wasn’t. “The shop was an optical illusion I set up for curious eyes. We can’t really have our secret headquarters in such a public location, can we?”

“Secret?” I repeated, but she just gave me a tight-lipped smile and motioned for me to follow her.

I did, of course, what else could I do after she teleported me who-knows-where? For all I knew, we could be halfway across the globe, and I wouldn’t be able to tell until I stepped outside. I really hoped she planned to teleport me back if I didn’t get the job. I chased the thought away—I was going to ace this interview! I had to!

Patricia continued to walk with the grace of a gazelle—or maybe a gentle lioness, because there was something inherently dangerous about her that made my skin prickle even though she looked perfectly harmless. I couldn’t tell what her specialty was so soon after meeting her, but the sweet, calm, and polite act was making me think maybe healing. She looked like she would enjoy helping people and taking care of them.

“I apologize if I’m overstepping, but I’ve arranged for your belongings to be brought here while we talk. It will save time,” she said as we moved through what looked to be a gym-sized living room with so many couches, tables, and cushioned corners that I had to wonder how many people actually lived in this place.

Her words finally sank in and I hurried to catch up to her.

“Wait, my belongings?” I frowned, thinking of the backpack I had stashed in my dead-beat car that just so happened to break on my way to this place. “How do you know where I left them?”

Patricia gave me an amused look, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear and making her impeccable bone structure stand out even more. I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to wear her face, to look so striking and unique that people would turn to stare after me.

Unlike her, the face I currently wore was as common as it could be—brown hair, brown eyes, and skin that wasn’t too light nor too dark. It served me well in avoiding attention. Maybe even a bit too well, considering nobody ever noticed me except for troublesome individuals.

“You can’t hide much from a psychic, dear. But don’t worry, I promise to fully respect your privacy from now on. In our field of work, trust is of paramount importance, so I won’t risk jeopardizing it again.”

My blood ran cold. A psychic? Her? Holy shit! Had I known, I would have raised my mental shields already! Psychics were possibly the most dangerous witches out there, especially for people with secrets like me… Wait, what if she saw more than just the location of my goddamn underwear? I was soooo fucked if she did!

I wanted to ask, but at the same time, I didn’t want to sound like I had something to hide. Maybe she just took a peek into my mind to find my stuff, and that was it. Maybe she is a decent person. Not all psychics were mind-invading assholes who knew no boundaries.

“Erm, okay, but I thought this was just an interview?” I changed the subject instead, trying my best to imagine an invisible shield around my mind like I had been taught. The witch that instructed me had cost a pretty penny, but she had been good. Still, I doubted anything could stop a high-level psychic if they wanted to bulldoze into your brain.

“Nonsense!” Patricia laughed like I had just said something extremely funny. “You were hired the moment you stepped inside. There is a spell there, you know, that determines if you’re trustworthy or not.” She paused in front of a door, her hand wrapping around the handle, but instead of opening it, she turned to face me. “If you hadn’t passed, you would have never made it past the threshold.”

She winked, then stepped into the room, leaving me to follow.

I clenched my teeth before my jaw dropped again. The place she led me to was twice the size of my old apartment, with star maps and charts hanging from every wall that wasn’t covered with bookshelves. There were several tables neatly stacked with books and scrolls, and I swear I saw a divination ball with mist swirling inside before Patricia cleared her throat and pointed at the empty chair across from the ones she’d taken.

I hurried to it, sinking awkwardly into the cushions.

“Once we’ve gone over the contract and you’ve signed it, your internship will officially start. As explained in the job description, this is a live-in position, so you’d be expected to stay on the premises the entire time. Any issues with that?”

She raised an eyebrow, and even though her gentle smile stayed on, her gaze hardened. I had a feeling this was a very important question, but luckily for me, this was the exact part of the job that made me click ‘apply’ faster than a speeding bullet.

“Nope, none,” I replied, trying not to show too much of my excitement. With the location kept secret and magical protections likely in place, I had the inkling my past would have a very hard time catching up to me here.

“Lovely,” she beamed, and the warmth returned to her eyes. “You’ll be on a trial period for one month, during which you’ll get to know the place, what we do, and the people you’ll be working beside so you can decide if this is the right fit for you. After that, your real job begins—and your salary, of course.”

“Okay.” I nodded, licking my lips nervously. I didn’t mind it all that much, but one month was a long time to go without food money. As if reading my mind, she continued.

“You’ll be provided with your own room, including all basic amenities and if you need anything in particular, you can put in a request through Julia and she will make it happen. There are food and beverages in the kitchen at all times, so you are free to help yourself, but it’s up to you to prepare your own meals. I like to cook for everyone when I’m not busy, but we don’t have any servants.”

“I can manage.” I shrugged. Free food and free rent? And to think I almost chickened out! “Anything else I need to know?”

Patricia patted her lip thoughtfully as if thinking about it, then said, “In case you wish to terminate your employment with us at any point, you’ll be signing a waiver in which you give up the rights to any memories you’ve created here.” I blinked in confusion, but her expression never changed. “So the moment you leave this place, you’ll forget it ever existed. You’ll also forget everyone and anything that happened here, good or bad.”

I laughed, but she seemed completely serious about it.

“So nobody who comes here can leave?” I gasped, wondering how long she had been stuck in this place.

“Oh, of course not! This applies to our newest employees at the lowest level. Once you’ve earned your place—and our trust—the binding spell will be removed and you’ll be free to come and go like the rest of our field members.”

“Just how many—” I started asking when a knock came on the door. Before Patricia could answer, the door swung open, and a woman stepped in with a huff.

Tall, pale, and flushed from head to toe, she looked like she had been in a marathon, possibly through the woods, judging by the leaves in her short pink hair and the tear in her jeans. She was wearing a black T-shirt with the word ‘Thundermother’ on it, and a bunch of bracelets and necklaces that clicked together while she walked. A pair of bright carrot earrings swung from her ears, clashing rather harshly with her dark, pretty badass attire.

I couldn’t stop looking at them when Patricia’s voice made me realize I was staring. “Just in time, Julia.” The newcomer straightened her shoulders, shooting me a curious glance and striding toward us. “Having a bad day again?”

“The worst,” Julia spat, smoothening the papers in her arms only for two of them to slip out and fly in opposite directions. “For fuck’s sake, not again!”

I hurried to my feet and grabbed one while she went for the other. When I offered her the page, she recoiled with a grimace, so I stood there awkwardly with my hand outstretched.

“Better put it down,” she said, nodding toward the coffee table. “I don’t see any lucky charms on you. If I touch you in this state, you might end up having the shittiest week of your life.”

I did as I was told, my confusion intensifying while I watched her kneel by the table and rearrange the pile of papers. Patricia turned back to me like nothing out of the ordinary had just happened.

“Julia was cursed with bad luck a few decades ago,” she explained, and my eyes widened in horror. Cursed? Decades ago? I’d seen people with little bad luck hexes ruin their lives in days, even hours! How was she even alive? “She’s the most talented fortune witch in the past hundred years. Her amulets are of the highest quality—and with her affliction in place, she is able to craft both lucky and unlucky objects like very few can in the world. The waiting list for her charms is months long.”

“You make it sound like I’m winning in life here,” Julia grumbled, glaring at the other witch half-heartedly.

Patricia shrugged with a grin. “I’m trying to turn the negative into positive. We’ll find a way to break the curse, eventually. Scarlett is on it, so you have nothing to worry about.”

“I’m not so sure,” Julia scoffed, putting the neatly gathered pages down. “She might have already found a solution, but decided to keep it a secret just to mess with me.”

“Oh, come on. She wouldn’t do that!” the psychic laughed, but even I could tell she didn’t sound a hundred percent sure. Pushing her hair behind one ear, Patricia turned back to me, patting the seat I had emptied. “In any case, once Julia gives you your lucky charm, you should wear it at all times. It will lower the chances of something bad happening to you.”

“Got it.” I nodded, looking down at the documents. “Where do I sign?”

Julia snorted loudly, and I raised an eyebrow in question.

“We’ve got a ballsy one, huh? Read the contract before you sign, stupid.”

Patricia cleared her throat pointedly, and Julia rolled her eyes.

“You’ve been spending way too much time with Scarlett lately. Lauren is just excited.” The psychic gave me another of her warm smiles and added. “She is not wrong, though. Never sign anything before you read the fine print.”

“Sure,” I replied, holding back a sigh. There was no way I was missing an opportunity like that, even if it meant signing away my soul. Well, that might be a tad too much for an internship, but anything else, I was willing to consider.

Patricia continued to stare at me, so I raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to say something, when I realized she was actually staring through me. Before I could ask if she was okay, she got to her feet.

“I’ll be right back. Stay with her until she signs,” she said, then left without waiting for an answer from either of us. I lowered my gaze to the first page, reading through the legal jargon with a grimace while Julia bounced on the balls of her feet. I tried to ignore the awkward silence and focus on the papers when my eyes caught on a particular line of the contract.

“The Employer shall not be held responsible for any dismemberment, loss of cognitive abilities, or similar mishaps that occur during employment, should the Employee fail to adhere to the guidelines outlined in the welcoming package.” I read out loud, looking at her with my eyebrows raised. “Seriously?”

“We had to add that one after the last two interns. You have the guidelines attached at the end of the contract.” Julia shrugged. “It’s perfectly normal when you work with dragons, curses, and the occasional escaped corpse.” I gaped, wondering which one should I ask about first. “Keep reading. I don’t have all day.”

I returned to the contract with a sigh, making sure to pay attention this time, and holy shit! There were two more pages listing particular things the Employer wasn’t liable about, like the Employee getting infected by bad luck, getting hit by a stray curse when in close proximity to a caster, getting poisoned from ingesting a potion without supervision and my favorite—getting turned into stone by a basilisk while not wearing safety goggles.

After I had read every single line and memorized all the safety instructions at the back, I finally put my signature down. The page glowed for a moment and I felt a slight tingle in my chest, but in the next instant, everything faded away.

When I looked at Julia again, her face split up in a smile.

“Welcome aboard! I hope you stick around! I’d hate to waste my time getting to know you only for you to leave like the others…” She winced as if she had said something she shouldn’t have, then the smile returned to her lips. “Anyway, just remember these three unwritten rules.” I straightened up in my seat, hanging on each word. “Don’t piss Patricia off if you don’t want your brain scrambled. Don’t hurt Ivana’s animals, even if they try to eat you.” I was just about to ask what else I was supposed to do when Julia’s voice dropped an octave, and she spoke the third rule in a quiet, ominous tone. “And last, but definitely not least… don’t talk to Scarlett before she’s had her first coffee.”

I grinned, waiting for her to say she was kidding, but she kept staring at me in all seriousness. Was everyone here insane? Or did they have a weird sense of humor that included a lot of dying jokes? I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.

“Who is Scarlett?” I asked instead, and Julia scoffed just as the door opened and Patricia strode back in.

“You’ll find out soon enough,” was all Julia said before gathering my contract and heading toward the door. “She’s all yours—well, ours,” she chuckled when she passed the psychic witch. “I’ll go grab another lucky charm and meet you in the living room later if she survives her welcome tour.”

“Don’t forget your daily positive affirmations or I’ll make you say them in front of everyone!” Patricia called after her. “Especially with your luck today!”

Julia groaned loudly, but nodded as she slipped out the door.

Patricia turned to me, clapping hands excitedly. “Shall we?”

I nodded, trying not to look too eager, but her energy was infectious. Or I hope it was that, because otherwise she was messing with my brain despite my shields and I couldn’t even tell.

We left the divination room, or whatever that was, and took another long corridor. Her pace was slow, as if allowing me to look around, but there were so many things hanging on the walls or resting on tables that I wasn’t sure I’d ever have enough time to study them all.

“We’ll start with this part of the headquarters, since it’s safer. We’ll swing by the library on the way to the kitchen and once we have some nice hot coffee, I’ll take you to meet the others.” I nodded, my mouth already watering at the idea of coffee. I had run out of my last supply three days ago, so I was desperate for a fix. “The room we just left—that’s my office, as you have probably guessed. I’m the Head of The Psychic Affairs Division and we deal with any job that requires divination touch or mind work.”

“Mind work?” I repeated with uncertainty.

“Yes, such as altering memories, interrogation, illusions, and the like,” she explained nonchalantly. “While humans might know about us, the Magical Government isn’t too keen on them butting into our business. So aside from private requests, we do government assignments on occasions. Mainly for the tax relief.”

I opened my mouth to say something, but no words came. I had no idea they were working with the Magical Government! Holy shit!

“You’ll meet Prithvi in a minute. She is the Head of our Arcane Affairs Division. She’s responsible for the requisition of all manners of magical and non-magical books, as well as the study and development of magical artifacts, including our own personnel’s weapons.” At this point, I was pretty sure I was getting a lockjaw by the end of the tour. Weapons? Why would they need weapons?? “You probably won’t see much of her since she spends most of the time in her lab and none of us is allowed in because apparently we mess up her energies. When she’s not there, she usually goes home to her family. She’s the only one that doesn’t live on site.”

“She has a family?” I asked curiously.

“Well, of course. We all do.” Patricia gave me an incredulous look like it should have been obvious. “Julia can’t go home often because her bad luck starts affecting her kids, so she lives here and… Ah, here we are!”

We stopped by a grand double door with massive handles and the letter A engraved in each wing. She led me inside with a spring in her step, motioning her fingers toward one of the spheres hanging in sconces on the wall. The moment the object fell into her hand, it started to emit a strong glow, spreading its light to the shelves ahead. They rose at least ten feet high and stretched left and right in neat, even lines before disappearing into the darkness.

“You should always carry one of those when you come here,” Patricia explained while I retrieved one of the glowing orbs for myself. “There is no electricity because it could cause fire and no liquids are allowed. Pri will kill you if you damage her books.”

“Got it.” I nodded, raising the ball higher so I could see the ceiling, but the light couldn’t reach it. “How do you even get to the books up there?”

“There’s a retrieval spell.” The psychic witch stepped between two of the shelves and started walking. I hurried after her.

“I don’t have magic of my own,” I informed her, but she just shrugged without even missing a step. Part of me was relieved that it wouldn’t be a problem, but another part couldn’t help but wonder why they would hire someone without their own magic to work at this obviously very magical place. “The spell is tied to the room itself so anyone can use it. You just have to go over the catalog and find what you’re looking for.” She took a turn and slipped between another two book racks, then again and again until I was utterly lost. “Pri!” she called all of a sudden and her voice echoed through the space. How huge was this damn place?

There was no answer, even after she called the name several more times.

Patricia sighed, moving the glowing ball in her other hand.

“So this is something you mustn’t do unless it’s an absolute emergency. Like a life or death situation, but worse,” she said. I raised an eyebrow, wondering what could be worse than death. Her magic pricked my skin before wrapping us in a protective bubble just when a ball of fire appeared in her free palm. “Stay close to me or she might mistake you for an intruder.”

She didn’t offer any explanation, just threw the fire toward the nearest shelf. I yelped in horror as the flames flew across the space, but right before they could hit any book, a gust of wind blew through the place, almost knocking me to the ground. By the time the tornado settled, a woman was standing before us and huffing like an enraged bull.

“I see you’ve come to court death,” she said in a voice that sent shivers down my spine. Under any other circumstances, I would have laughed at the threat because her soft, pretty face, curly hair, and round glasses definitely didn’t inspire fear. She wore a black sari with silver embroidery on the edges, and there was a glowing necklace with an open book hanging around her neck. “Patricia? What in the gods’ name is wrong with you? I could have killed you!”

“Oh, come on, you’d never!” Patricia chuckled, but the look on Prithvi’s face said that oh, she most certainly would have tried. No fire in the library—got it! “I tried to get your attention, but you wouldn’t come. There is someone I’d like you to meet. This is Lauren. She’s the new intern.”

“Nice to meet you.” I waved my free hand so she could see I had no fire whatsoever on me.

Prithvi’s eyes narrowed as she stepped closer, circling me like I was some museum piece she wanted to determine the worth of.

“Tell me, Lauren.” She stopped in front of me and had to look up to meet my gaze. I almost laughed again because I had never been the taller person in any situation. “Do you read?” I nodded, my throat suddenly feeling too dry to speak. “Do you dogear your books?” I shook my head. “Drink or eat while you read?” Another shake of the head, although that was partially a lie. “Good, then you’re welcome to my library.” She turned away from me, facing Patricia with a scowl. “You’re supposed to be the wisest one here. Don’t teach the newbies stupid shit.” Without another word, the Head of the Arcane Affairs Division spun on her heel and walked away. “Give her a medallion so she could call on me when necessary! I will have no more pranks in here!”

Heavy wind swirled around her again and by the time it settled, Prithvi was gone. My guide chuckled, placing a hand on my shoulder and urging me to follow her.

“A medallion?” I asked curiously.

“Yes, she makes them herself. They’re like a beacon you use when you need her help around the library,” she explained, striding confidently through this godsdamn labyrinth.

“Why didn’t you just do that instead of using the fire to lure her out?”

Patricia looked at me with a mischievous smile. “Because it’s more fun? Also, she sleeps like the dead, so sometimes she doesn’t answer the call. I’m pretty sure she has other protective spells set up in this place, though, because she always appears when her precious books are in danger.”

I nodded, making a mental note not to test Prithvi’s tolerance of jokes.

We reached the door and put the glowing spheres back in their places. Patricia was silent on the way to our next destination and I was thankful for that because I was getting a little overwhelmed by everything that was happening around me.

A few hours ago, my biggest problem was running away from my human parents and avoiding certain supernatural assholes hunting me. Now, I was in the middle of a place with moving pictures, crawling objects, and I was pretty sure I saw a goat walking on two legs when we turned the corner two seconds ago.

As we finally stepped into the kitchen, I was just about to ask if I could get a map of the place when Patricia’s hand covered my mouth. I blinked in confusion, not sure what to do, until I finally noticed what she was looking at. Another woman was already standing next to the counter across the room and stirring something in a cup with slow, unhurried movements.

She wore dark satin pajamas and matching hairy slippers with eyes on them that seemed to be moving. I couldn’t see her face from this angle, but she was tall, with long brown hair and dangerously sharp black nails.

The stranger raised the cup to her lips and took a long, slow gulp, sighing in contentment. The psychic witch’s hand finally fell away, and the tension drained from her body.

“Good evening, Scarlett! Slept late?” she asked in the upbeat tone I was starting to get used to.

I shifted uneasily as her heavy, sleepy gaze locked on us. Her eyes were big and dark and her skin looked almost a bit too pale in contrast to the rest of her. She was pretty in the way lethal plants that eat flesh were, and despite the slack pose and the ridiculous outfit, I was kind of getting why Patricia and Julia had warned me about her.

“Yeah,” Scarlett croaked, taking another sip of coffee. “I spent most of the night trying to free an idiot from a curse that turned him into a rat. The problem was, he escaped his cage, and I had to hunt for him through the entire headquarters before Ivana’s beasties ate him.”

“Ouch,” Patricia winced. “Is he still alive?”

“Ugh, of course. I’d rather stay up all night looking for him than deal with the paperwork.” Scarlett shuddered. “He’s sleeping it off in the medical wing. When you erase his memories and send him off, let him keep his rat ones. That should teach the fucker not to touch things he shouldn’t.” Her eyes switched to me, opening a little wider as she studied me over the edge of her cup. “New Blood?”

“Yes, that’s our new intern, Lauren,” the psychic said excitedly. “Lauren, that’s Scarlett. She’s Head of the Unholy Affairs Division.”

“Unholy Affairs?” I repeated with half a smile. That sounded… ominous.

“Hexes, curses, summonings, and the occasional demonic possessions,” Scarlett smirked. “The fun stuff. Have you ever been cursed, Lauren?”

“Um, n-no.” I scratched my neck nervously. Did that woman ever blink? “I’d like to keep it that way.”

Scarlett scoffed, and her colleague gave her a pointed look.

“Well, I’d like to sleep for ten uninterrupted hours and be woken up by two well-endowed men who make me coffee and breakfast when I’m done with them,” she muttered. “But we can’t all get what we want.”

My face heated up when Patricia’s phone suddenly rang and she stepped out to take the call. Scarlett continued to stare at me with an expression that was anything but friendly, and I wondered if we should have waited to speak to her after she finished her coffee.

“Did I say something to upset you?” I asked when she kept doing it for another two minutes. I didn’t want to get on the bad side of someone who dealt with curses for a living. In fact, I didn’t want to get on anyone’s bad side on my first day at a new job.

“Not yet.” She shrugged. “I just don’t see the point of being nice to people who are going to leave.”

“I’m not going to leave.” I frowned. “This place doesn’t scare me.”

“That’s what they all say…” Scarlett muttered, just loud enough for me to hear. I was about to protest when Patricia poked her head in and smiled sheepishly at us.

“An emergency came up, so I must run. Scar, you don’t mind showing Lauren around, do you? Thank you! I’ll see you both at the assembly!”

She disappeared before either of us could react, and my stomach filled with unease as I peered at the other woman.

“Great, just great,” Scarlett sighed, gulping the rest of her drink. I watched silently as she set out to make another, wondering if I should suggest skipping the tour altogether.

It wasn’t until she handed me a cup that I realized she had made two this time.

“T-Thank you,” I said with surprise, taking a small sip. “How did you know how I drink it?”

She grabbed hers, pushing herself off the counter and fetching a muffin from the table.

“I figured you’d like it as boring as your looks,” she smirked, moving past me. “Hurry up if you want that tour. I’m not the holding hands type.”

Bitterness filled my mouth as I followed her, but I settled for glaring at her back instead of throwing the mug at her head for obvious reasons.

“If you have something to say, say it,” Scarlett said after stuffing her face with the rest of the muffin. I bit the inside of my cheek for about five seconds before the words spilled from my mouth.

“Are you always this mean?”

The smile she gave me was all teeth.

“Oh, Lauren, you haven’t seen me being mean yet.”

She stopped in front of a big white door that seemed in odd contrast to the rest of the neat, dark exterior, and I eyed the two skulls burned into the wood warily. Scarlett raised her coffee to her lips and pushed one of the wings with her shoulder, striding inside like she owned the place.

“Is that your division?” I asked. Darkness surrounded us for a moment, then the narrow corridor opened into a spacious oval room, lit by moonlight streaming through a massive glass dome overhead. I eyed the three tables that took most of the space, studying the bubbling cauldrons, the haphazardly scattered herbs, ledgers, and ingredients, and finally, the half-rotten corpse lying unmoving on one of them.

“Nope. We’re here to find Darlene. She’s the Head of the Restorative Affairs Division.” Scarlett stopped by one of the cauldrons, peeking under its lid then quickly putting it back on with a disgusted face.

“So she’s in charge of making healing potions and stuff?” I asked, picking up one of them that looked like sage.

“Well, one man’s cure is another man’s poison, so you can say that,” Scarlett chuckled, her smile stiffening when her eyes fell on me. “Put that down unless you want your flesh to rot right off your bones!” I threw the not-sage on the table and gingerly wiped my hand on my skirt. “Why would you touch something if you don’t know what it is?” She grimaced. “You’ll stick around, my ass. You’ll be dead before the end of the week at this rate. DARLENE!”

The sudden shout made me jump, and I almost knocked over a pestle with a fizzing green paste in it. By the time I looked back at her, she was pushing through a curtain covering a hidden doorway.

I followed, struggling with the fabric that tried to swaddle me, and emerged on the other side to find Scarlett leaning over a woman sprawled on a worktable. Her stranger’s face was resting on her arms, blonde hair covering most of it, but the parts I could see were so pale, she looked positively green.

“Oh my god, is she dead?” I gasped.

“Worse,” the mean witch sighed, pushing a few strands away. “Overworked. Again.”

Stepping back, she waved her hand and the blonde woman’s body rose in the air, arms flailing lifelessly beside her. I had to do a double-take on what she was covered with because, for a second, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. Her overalls had probably been white once, but currently, they were stained with so many colors it looked like a rainbow had thrown up on her.

She seemed older than the others, especially with the dark circles under her eyes, but there was something soft in her features that made me feel bad when Scarlett deposited her rather roughly on the bed in the corner with an exasperated, ‘Oh, Darlene…’

Darlene let out a soft snore, not even stirring, while the other witch pulled off her rubber boots and tucked her in.

“Idiot.” Scarlett pressed two fingers to her forehead and light erupted from them, sinking beneath her skin. Darlene’s complexion immediately warmed up and the deep line between her brows smoothened. “That should teach you.”

The mean witch turned her back to the bed, storming off back the way we came from.

“Come on, you’ll meet her in three days.”

“Why three days?”

“Because that’s when she’ll wake up.”

We were just passing by the tables when the hand of the dead body twitched and the dead man sat up, letting out a bone-chilling gurgle. His rotting face turned to Scarlett, and he moved a thin, decomposing hand to grab her. I shouted for her to watch out, but she just casually dodged, pressing one of her black nails on his forehead.

The corpse froze like a statue and I thought that had been her intention, when its head exploded and the rest of the body fell back on the table. Blood and brains flew everywhere, but somehow not even a drop landed on her. I, on the other side, had to duck for cover to avoid the worst of it.

When I rose again, Scarlett walked past me without a look back, her slippers rustling with every step. I glanced at the gore dripping to the floor before backtracking out of the room.

“Tsk, I forgot my coffee in there,” she groaned.

“Was that a zombie?” I asked in a trembling voice.

She eyed me like I was stupid. “Zombies don’t exist. That was a reanimated corpse. Darlene must have been experimenting and forgotten about it. She’s lucky it didn’t wake before we got there.”

“Wait, she’s a necromancer??” I shouted.

“Healing potions are not all she’s good for,” Scarlett smirked. “You have some brains on your shoulder, by the way.”

Gagging at the gray matter sticking to my blouse, I quickly flicked it off. By the time I looked back at Scarlett, she was almost out of sight again.

Could she be any less obvious? Damn her!

I ran to catch up when another figure appeared from the opposite end of the corridor, blood and what appeared to be green slime sticking to her like a glove. Her skin-tight outfit was torn in several places and her hijab was plastered to her head like it was all wet, but the wide grin, perfectly framed by red lipstick, suggested she didn’t give a single damn about it.

“Oh, Mariam, you’re back!” Scarlett exclaimed excitedly, and I glanced at her in surprise. I hadn’t heard her sound so excited about anything else before, but she looked almost happy to see the woman walking toward us. “What happened to you?”

“Bitch, what didn’t?” Mariam shook her head, opening her arms as if to hug her, but the other witch stepped back, disgust obvious on her face.

“Just washed my hair so I’ll pass.” Something like concern flashed in her eyes, but it was gone almost immediately. “Are you hurt? Darlene’s out if you’re going that way.”

Mariam chuckled. “Did you curse her to sleep again? She’ll be pissed when she wakes up!”

“Well, she should learn to rest properly and I might stop doing that,” Scarlett said innocently. “Anyway, what’s up with all… this? Did you kill someone?”

My breath caught. Kill someone? I thought I’d be carrying lunch and coffee, helping with paperwork and random magical issues, not aiding and abetting murderers! That wasn’t in the damn contract!

“Nah, I was after this very stubborn new werewolf, and just as I caught him, we stumbled upon a shroud of ghouls and I had to release the puppy again so we could fight our way out!” she explained excitedly, gesticulating with her hands like she was in the midst of a battle with…. ghouls, apparently. I didn’t even know they were real; I had never seen one in person before. “The wolf got the worst of it since I was riding on his back, so I had to suffer through a lecture from Ivana about animal cruelty and the responsibility we have for big, scary monsters that don’t know what they are doing! She’s nursing his wounds now, hoping he’ll shift back to human when he calms. Poor idiot didn’t even realize he got bitten by a werewolf and wasn’t prepared for his first full moon.”

With each word, Scarlett’s smile grew until she laughed—actually laughed! Then her eyes shot to me like she just remembered I was there and the exasperated mask slipped into place.

“Talking about newbies, we have another one. Meet Lauren.”

Mariam turned to face me, cocking her head to the side and giving me an assessing look. I considered offering her my hand, but seeing how both of hers were covered in the red and green stuff, I decided to risk coming off as rude.

“I like her,” she smirked. “She has guts, I can smell it. And I’m not talking about the ones on her pants.”

Following her gaze, I stared in horror at the piece just above my knee. ‘Damn it, not again!’ I thought as I brushed it off.

“Are you coming to the assembly later?” Scarlett asked just as I returned my attention to them. The other woman was already moving away from us, walking backward while she wiped her palms over her thighs.

“Nah, I need to get back. I have two more urgent cases to deal with and a message from one of my guys that he needs a hand. We’ll be bringing you another possessed fool when we capture him.”

Scarlett groaned. “Is he cute at least?”

“As cute as a blobfish!” Mariam grinned. While the mean witch was too busy grimacing, she added. “See you next week! Don’t drink that wine without me!”

“No promises,” Scarlett shouted, but the other woman was already gone, just a bloody trail left behind her.

It was only after she had gone that I realized I’d never asked who she was. Scarlett gave me a sign to follow her before saying, “Mariam is the Head of The Paranormal Pursuit Division. She deals with capturing supernatural creatures and neutralizing treats. She’s also responsible for training the field agents and recruiting more people. Occasionally, she pays our enemies a visit too. So if you ever wrong us, she’ll be coming for you. And believe me,” she threw me a smirk over her shoulder that was somehow scarier than anything that had happened today, “what I did to that corpse will be a mercy in comparison to what she does to those who betray us.”

I gulped, nodding quickly since I wasn’t sure I could trust my voice. We walked the rest of the way in silence until we finally reached our next destination—the Beastly Affairs Division.

When we entered the anteroom that looked more like a locker cabinet, she made me change my heels for rubber boots and my clothes for skin-tight overalls which, apparently, would ‘make it harder for any wandering animals to slide into any of my holes’ and escape through me. I didn’t like the sound of that, so I did as I was told while she waited for me in her pajamas.

“Aren’t you going to change?” I asked when she handed me a pair of gloves.

Scarlet scoffed.

“Magical creatures are much smarter than humans. They know when a bigger predator walks among them.” With that, she winked at me and dragged her feet toward the door on the opposite side of the room, the red eyes on her slippers rolling around until I was sure at least one of them was watching me.

Could it be that those were cursed objects with an actual person inside? Something was telling me that wasn’t as improbable as it sounded the first time the thought crossed my mind.

I forgot all about her shoes the moment we stepped inside. The noises hit me first—howling, hissing, mewing, chirping and so much more, mixed in a cacophony that made my temples throb. Something pressed over my ears and I sighed in relief as I touched the fluffy earmuffs that made everything turn into a distant rumble.

“You’ll get used to it eventually,” she said and, to my surprise, her voice came through loud and clear. “The stench, though, is another topic.” She scrunched her nose and I had to agree with her. It smelled like something had died in here while it was taking a dump.

She nodded for me to follow, and we made our way through the empty space between the cages. Despite her confident words earlier, I noticed she kept her distance from the animals, even flinching once when a wriggly tentacle shot out of its tank and almost wrapped around her wrist. She flicked her fingers, and it immediately retreated, but her back grew stiffer still.

I made it a point to stick very close to her side, even if it earned me a curse.

The menagerie was like nothing I had seen before. I had my run-ins with supernatural creatures over the years—vampires, shifters, goblins, and a very nasty banshee that had almost destroyed my eardrums—but this was something else.

I saw a group of imps holding a fight club in their cage with a kelpie sleeping nearby, occasionally opening one eye to peer at them like they were annoying him. Several goblins were snoring in a pile further down the line, followed by a dryad combing her hair, and a bunch of nagas watching us pass while their forked tongues slipped between their thin, red lips. There were a lot more magical creatures that I had a hard time naming, and when a mighty roar echoed through the giant room, I was pretty sure that one belonged to a dragon.

“Are there any Fae in here?” I asked out of curiosity but regretted it the moment Scarlett gave me a strange look.

“Fae are classified as high-intelligence species, so we are not allowed to keep them in cages like beasts,” she explained. “We have cells for that,” she added with a wicked smirk.

I decided not to push my luck by asking any further and changed the topic instead. “Where are we going?”

“At this time, there’s only one place where she could be,” Scarlett groaned, not even scolding me when I scurried closer to her as a fizzing green slime landed right next to my foot.

“Why do you sound so unhappy about it?” I whispered, afraid that any noise might prompt another attack.

“Because I hate spiders.”

My head snapped toward her as horror turned my limbs to stone. That’s when I realized we had already stopped in front of a giant white cage.

“What do you mean, spiders?”

She turned to look at me, her lips turning upside down.

“I mean the ones that bark and bring you the newspaper,” she snapped, every word dripping with sarcasm. “What do you think I mean, Lauren? Have you never seen an eight-foot-tall hairy spider that likes to eat fresh meat?”

“I…” I started, but she just growled, yanking away her arm—which I didn’t remember catching—and heading inside the cage. Something touched my leg, sending me sprinting after her like death was on my heels. I managed to stop right before slamming into her, but when I noticed our surroundings, I threw caution to the wind and grabbed her elbow.

“The web!” I gasped. The cage wasn’t white, it was actually covered in thick layers of spiderwebs. Holy shit! “It’s everywhere!”

“Yep,” she said in a clipped tone, trying to free her arm again. I refused to let go this time and thankfully, she didn’t throw me into one of the many sticky threads hanging around us. “Stay close and tell me if you see something move.”

“Shouldn’t we just wait for her outside?” I whimpered. Gods, I hated spiders!

“That will be the smart thing to do,” Scarlett agreed. “Unfortunately, if she didn’t greet us at the door, that means she’s probably… held up somewhere in here.”

I squirmed when Scarlett pulled me ahead, and I had to focus all of my brain cells on avoiding the netting barring our way. Luckily, we didn’t have to walk for long. Unluckily, the reason for that only made me regret some of today’s choices even more.

“Oh, hey!” a voice came from a cocoon that swung just above our heads. “What are you guys doing here?”

I screamed at the top of my lungs, and to my surprise, so did Scarlett. Then the pod did a full turn and a very human face smiled at us from beneath the web.

“For fuck’s sake, Ivana!” Scarlett hissed, shrugging me off and raising her hands. My breath turned into steam as the temperature around us dropped abruptly and the touch of magic—more like a stab this time—cut through the air. A moment later, the cocoon dropped to the ground and Ivana yelped.

Scarlett used her magic to strip the casting away and the moment Ivana was free, the air warmed up again.

“I swear, you guys make me work harder than our clients!” the mean witch growled while Ivana brushed off the crumbling webs. “What if nobody had come to save you? You’d be spider food right now!”

“Pff, stop exaggerating! He was just playing around!” Ivana rolled her eyes, brushing her fingers through her long brown hair before turning toward me with a bright smile. Her excitement withered somewhat when she realized I was still trembling and she drew closer with her hands raised, like she was nearing a frightened animal. “Oh, poor thing, there is nothing to be scared of! Merv is perfectly harmless!”

“Who’s Merv?” I whispered, just as something moved in the shadows above Scarlett’s head. Eight glowing eyes stared at me unblinkingly while a pair of giant pincers reached toward her. “Look out!”

She reacted immediately, grabbing her slipper and turning around in one swift motion. Her hairy shoe shot through the air, hitting the spider in the chest and tumbling onto one of its many legs. Teeth flashed among the red eyes, sinking into the hairy limb until the creature shrieked and scurried away through the web.

By the time its cry stopped ringing in my ears, Ivana was shouting.

“Scarlett Strange, how dare you bully him! You know he’s sensitive! Now he’ll never come out of his hiding place to meet new people!”

I gawked at the woman while Scarlett leveled her with an expressionless look.

“Get him a dating app like all the other weirdos out there,” she deadpanned, and I was so stunned that I laughed. I didn’t even mean to, but I swear the edges of her lips twitched when I did. Squaring her shoulders, she stepped between us, pointing at each. “Lauren, this is Ivana, the Head of the Beastly Division and the craziest person in this place. Ivana, this is Lauren, the new intern. My job here is done. I’m out.”

She flipped her hair over her shoulder and stomped back the way we had come from. This time, I followed her without hesitation. “N-N-Nice to meet you!” I said over my shoulder.

“Assembly in ten!” Scarlett shouted from somewhere far ahead while I quickened my pace. Ivana grumbled something about animal abuse, then proceeded to call Merv in a baby voice, her words growing more and more intelligible as if she was moving further away.

I caught up to my guide outside the spider cage, eyeing her remaining slipper with a mix of fear and amusement. We didn’t talk until I had changed and we were outside of the Beastly Division, where we sighed and shared a look that made me think she disliked me just a fraction less now.

“Let’s go get Julia and go to the assembly,” she said, much milder than before.

“We’re not going to your division?” I asked curiously.

The sharpness returned to her face. “Judging by what I just saw, you’re not ready for my division.” I wanted to point out that she screamed just as loudly as me back there, but for the sake of my uncursed ass, I decided not to. “You can see it when you learn to handle a little more chaos. Things are rarely this quiet around here.”

“Quiet?” I gawked. She just smirked at me and strode down the corridor.

The Fortune Division looked surprisingly normal when we arrived. There were no creatures trying to eat us, no corpses rising from death, nothing but trinkets and crystals, and lots and lots of handmade jewelry. Julia was bent over her latest creation—a pair of parrot earrings in so many clashing colors that it had me wondering if those were truly one of the charms people waited months for.

“Yo, let’s go!” Scarlett called from the door, and I decided to stick to her side. If she wasn’t going in, then I probably shouldn’t.

Julia looked up, grinned, then grinned some more.

“What happened to your slipper?”

“Merv.” Scarlett rolled her eyes and the other woman’s mouth formed a silent ‘O.’ “You coming or what?”

The cursed witch sighed dramatically, grabbing something from the table and heading our way. When she was just a few steps away, she tossed it to me, and I instinctively prepared to catch it. Scarlett surprised me by grabbing the bracelet out of the air right before it fell into my palms.

“Yo, don’t kill her on her first day,” she said in a mildly disapproving tone.

“I wasn’t! It’s her good luck charm!” Julia protested.

Scarlett looked at the white and gray jewelry for a moment, then dropped it in my still-waiting hands. It was simple and subtle, considering the rest of Julia’s work, but I liked it.

“I don’t know you very well, but it felt right somehow.” She muttered while a light blush crept over her cheeks. “I sometimes get this feeling about the person I’m making… oh god, this feels good!” Her eyes rolled back when Scarlett placed her hand on her shoulder and a soft glow emitted from her fingers. “Thanks,” Julia said after a minute. “I feel lucky already!”

“Only for a day or two,” Scarlett said casually as she opened the door and left us behind without another word.

Julia rolled her eyes, leaning toward me with a conspiratory smile.

“Her bark is worse than her bite.” She winked. “Let’s go or we’ll be late.”

We walked out of her division and strode side by side in the already empty corridor, with her humming under her breath and smiling from ear to ear. We soon ended up in the giant living room, and to my surprise, the place was no longer empty.

Scarlett was sitting on a sofa with her feet propped on the coffee table. Ivana was glaring at her from the couch across and Prithvi was lounging in a chair with her nose in a book. We had just made our way to them when Patricia appeared with a tray full of steaming cups. She swatted Scarlett’s bare feet away and set the tray down.

Drawn by the smell of fresh coffee, everyone gathered closer and helped themselves. Once we were all set, Patricia looked us over.

“I know you all have mixed feelings about bringing new people into the fold, but my intuition tells me that Lauren here will not only be a great addition to our team, but an important member for the days to come. So let’s drink to her. Welcome to the team, Lauren!”

My face flushed as each one of them took a sip and I almost choked in my rush to do the same. We stood in silence for a few long, awkward seconds when Scarlett finally broke it.

“I’ll serve the wine when she leaves.”

Without missing a beat, everyone turned to her and shouted in unison, “Shut up, Scar!”