Witching There's Another Way: A Cozy Mystery (The Witchy Women of Coven Grove Book 4) Read Online Free Page B

defied the laws of physics and incorporated a staggering hundred and forty four dimensions that each had a unique name and function…
    He was bursting with the need to talk about it with Thomas, who was an engineering student and would almost certainly grasp at least some of it.
    And yet, just a few words of that and even if Avery could prove it was all true—and he could; even without a wand he knew a few cantrips by heart—it would create an uncrossable distance between them to reveal any of it. It was torture, not being able to share this part of himself when all he wanted was to share everything with this man.
    “So, you helped with the Gloria Olson case,” Thomas prompted. They’d been talking about it a bit just before they arrived at the restaurant. “That must have been exciting. She pled insanity, right?”
    Avery nodded. “Yeah. And, she was. She… heard voices. So. I guess they talked her into killing her friend.”
    “That’s terrifying,” Thomas muttered. “To go from stable and normal to killer in the space of a few months.”
    Avery shrugged. “Well… I met her a few times. I wouldn’t go so far as to say she was stable to begin with. Something just tipped her over. It’s sad, really. For her and for Professor Turner.” His phone buzzed again, and then a fourth time.
    Thomas cleared his throat and raised a thick, dark eyebrow.
    When it buzzed again, Avery sighed. “I… just let me check this. I have to use the restroom anyway.”
    Thomas gave him a nod of permission or approval, and Avery scooted his chair away from the table with a barely suppressed sigh to make his way toward the bathroom.
    When he was in a stall with the door closed, he took his phone out and looked at the messages. When he saw them, his heart dropped. They were from Bailey. There was a little girl missing. Probably it was all over town by now, but he’d been wrapped up in Thomas since they’d met that morning. He sent her a message back.
    “Out with Thomas. Want to help. Should I bring him?”
    Just seconds later, Bailey responded. “Probably not. Magic stuff possibly. Meeting Ryan at library for details. Can go without you.”
    Of course they could. It would probably be fine, too, except… picking a date over a missing kid? What kind of person would do that? Avery groaned quietly and rubbed his face, and then sent back, “I’ll meet you there.”
    He stuffed the phone back in his pocket and stared at the wall of the stall in the direction where Thomas was. Thomas’ aunt was a witch. One of the mysterious elders of the coven, Rita Hope. Technically, she was a great aunt, Thomas’ mother’s aunt. As far as Avery knew, Thomas and Rita had been close since he was a child, when his mother passed. Surely he had some idea of what she was? Surely, if he told Thomas about this new part of his life, he could accept it.
    But then, maybe he wouldn’t.
    Maybe this was what Bailey had gone through. Why it had taken her time to come around and tell Avery and Piper about herself. He felt sorry for her, if it was anything like what he felt now.
    He left the stall, and went back out into the restaurant, which was only just beginning to get busy for the dinner rush. Plenty of couples, local and visiting, were seated at tables and engaged in conversation, smiling and laughing quietly together. Probably, they all had secrets between them. It was unlikely they were like the secrets between Avery and Thomas, but everyone had them, right? Did any two people know one another totally?
    He smiled apologetically as he rounded the table he and Thomas were seated at.
    Thomas took the cue and closed his menu. “Something came up,” he said.
    Avery bit his lip, wincing as he nodded. “Pretty important. There’s a… kid missing, so… they’ll be organizing a search.”
    “Oh, God,” Thomas said, eyes widening. He took his napkin out of his lap and put it on the table. “I should come with you. The more help—”
    “You just had a