“Trust me, he’s more of a pain in the ass than you know.” She perched at Katie’s scarred butcher-block kitchen bar. Katie bustled around the kitchen bristling with low-tech culinary items: wooden spoons, glass decanters, copper pots, wire whisks. Katie was an old-school chef and proud of it. Above the sink, a kitchen witch figurine spun slowly, keeping watch over the herbs growing on the windowsill. As Katie ladled the soup into the bowls, Anya told her about Sparky’s adventures in the hospital.
Katie grinned. “You know, witches have been known to keep nearly any kind of creature—seen and unseen—as familiars. I’ve met witches who have parakeets and witches who have naiads.”
“What are naiads?”
“Water spirits. But there’s a reason a witch won’t take a salamander as a familiar.”
“That reason being?” Anya was pretty sure she already knew the answer.
“They’re entirely unpredictable and uncontrollable. . . destructive, like fire.” Katie shrugged, placing a steaming bowl of soup and slices of fresh-baked bread before her.
“They’re also said to have very little in common with humans, so their goals and our goals don’t intersect much.”
A crash echoed from down the hall. Anya covered her eyes with her hand. “Sorry.” There were few electronic items in the witch’s house that Sparky could destroy. Katie kept the number of electronic gadgets in her house to a minimum, as electrical fields interfered with her magick work. But Sparky and the cats could still find many breakable nonelectronic objects.
“No worries.” Katie perched on a bar stool beside her, her bare toes splayed on the wooden rails of the stool. “Elementals will be elementals.”
“I wish mine were a bit less elemental. Can you cook up some magickal sedatives for him or something? Something to chill him out?”
Katie shook her head. “Nope. Sparky is what he is. You’re stuck with him, until and unless he decides to serve someone else. And since he seems pretty attached to you, I don’t see that happening.”
“I just wish that he came with an off switch.”
“Didn’t you get a user manual when you summoned him?”
Anya snorted. “I never summoned him. My mom gave him to me before she died.”
An aggrieved yowl sounded from the bedroom. Fay trotted into the kitchen and parked herself under Katie’s chair. The cat mewed plaintively. Katie stared down at her. “Well, if he plays too rough, bite him back.”
The cat slunk back across the kitchen linoleum to the hallway, tail kinked.
Katie smiled over her soup spoon. “It’s a good thing I don’t have kids. I’d let them eat each other and the victor would be one badass homicidal freak. There would be no point in summoning a salamander to protect the winner.”
“Sparky’s a very good protector, I’ll hand him that. Better than any Rottweiler.”
Katie gave her an arch look. “He protects you from all the things that go bump in the night, does he? Even the things you want to bump you in the night?”
Anya made a face. “Something like that.” She stuffed her mouth with a hot matzo ball to keep from having to elaborate.
Katie plunged in anyway. “Look, Brian knows about Sparky, right? What’s the big deal?”
“Issss complimifacated,” Anya muttered around the matzo ball scalding her tongue.
Katie rolled her eyes. “It’s only as complicated as you make it, you know. Brian’s a good guy. And he cares about you.”
Anya continued to chew.
“And he’s hot, in a geeky sort of way,” Katie continued.
Anya kept chewing. “Gnnnew subject, pllllshhh.”
“Okay.” Katie lifted her hands and backed away from the topic, silver bracelets jingling.
“Let’s talk about your symbol.”
Anya swallowed her matzo ball. “Did you find something?”
“Check this out.” Katie pulled a book across the counter, bookmarked with Anya’s arson scene photograph. The title was Eqyptian Divination , and
Katie grinned. “You know, witches have been known to keep nearly any kind of creature—seen and unseen—as familiars. I’ve met witches who have parakeets and witches who have naiads.”
“What are naiads?”
“Water spirits. But there’s a reason a witch won’t take a salamander as a familiar.”
“That reason being?” Anya was pretty sure she already knew the answer.
“They’re entirely unpredictable and uncontrollable. . . destructive, like fire.” Katie shrugged, placing a steaming bowl of soup and slices of fresh-baked bread before her.
“They’re also said to have very little in common with humans, so their goals and our goals don’t intersect much.”
A crash echoed from down the hall. Anya covered her eyes with her hand. “Sorry.” There were few electronic items in the witch’s house that Sparky could destroy. Katie kept the number of electronic gadgets in her house to a minimum, as electrical fields interfered with her magick work. But Sparky and the cats could still find many breakable nonelectronic objects.
“No worries.” Katie perched on a bar stool beside her, her bare toes splayed on the wooden rails of the stool. “Elementals will be elementals.”
“I wish mine were a bit less elemental. Can you cook up some magickal sedatives for him or something? Something to chill him out?”
Katie shook her head. “Nope. Sparky is what he is. You’re stuck with him, until and unless he decides to serve someone else. And since he seems pretty attached to you, I don’t see that happening.”
“I just wish that he came with an off switch.”
“Didn’t you get a user manual when you summoned him?”
Anya snorted. “I never summoned him. My mom gave him to me before she died.”
An aggrieved yowl sounded from the bedroom. Fay trotted into the kitchen and parked herself under Katie’s chair. The cat mewed plaintively. Katie stared down at her. “Well, if he plays too rough, bite him back.”
The cat slunk back across the kitchen linoleum to the hallway, tail kinked.
Katie smiled over her soup spoon. “It’s a good thing I don’t have kids. I’d let them eat each other and the victor would be one badass homicidal freak. There would be no point in summoning a salamander to protect the winner.”
“Sparky’s a very good protector, I’ll hand him that. Better than any Rottweiler.”
Katie gave her an arch look. “He protects you from all the things that go bump in the night, does he? Even the things you want to bump you in the night?”
Anya made a face. “Something like that.” She stuffed her mouth with a hot matzo ball to keep from having to elaborate.
Katie plunged in anyway. “Look, Brian knows about Sparky, right? What’s the big deal?”
“Issss complimifacated,” Anya muttered around the matzo ball scalding her tongue.
Katie rolled her eyes. “It’s only as complicated as you make it, you know. Brian’s a good guy. And he cares about you.”
Anya continued to chew.
“And he’s hot, in a geeky sort of way,” Katie continued.
Anya kept chewing. “Gnnnew subject, pllllshhh.”
“Okay.” Katie lifted her hands and backed away from the topic, silver bracelets jingling.
“Let’s talk about your symbol.”
Anya swallowed her matzo ball. “Did you find something?”
“Check this out.” Katie pulled a book across the counter, bookmarked with Anya’s arson scene photograph. The title was Eqyptian Divination , and
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