Page 35 of A Witch in Notting Hill

“You can’t change your mind now,” Lola said. “You’re just scared.”

“What could I possibly be scared of?”

“I don’t know,” Lo said. “You fancy her, she’s going to go back to America eventually, she ‘lied,’ which is problematic to you even though it wasn’t really a big one and it was kind of her prerogative anyway, and maybe you’re afraid you’re not actually going to be able to help her, which would be quite the hit to your ego—”

“We get it,” I said.

“You asked.”

“And I regret it.”

“Before we leave, I do feel like we have to address the elephant in the room,” Min said. “Or the cat, rather.”

“Please don’t,” I groaned. “I can assure you, whatever cat there is has always been a cat and will always be a cat.”

“In your world, maybe,” Lola said.

“There’s only one world.”

“Try telling that to the cat.”

“You guys are about to get yourselves banned from the quest.”

“Does that mean we’re officially allowed to be part of the quest?”

“Doesn’t seem like I could have said no if I wanted to, does it?” Even though I really, really wanted to.

“We’re going to be helpful, you know,” Lola said. “Min has just as many connections as you do around the city and I know everything there is to know about the hero’s journey. And I believe in magic. And Min doesn’t care enough one way or another. So we’ll be great for moral support. We’re trying to help you both, Oliver. We aren’t just fans of Willow or meant to be a thorn in your side.”

The softness in her voice made me feel bad for giving her such a hard time, even though she had been doing the same to me. But she was right. They were trying to help, and it seemed Willow and I both needed all the help we could get.

“I know.” I sighed, scrubbing my hands over my jaw. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank us yet,” Minho said. “We’ve got quite a bit to do first. Starting with a trip to the Charter.”

We clinked our glasses together and gulped down the rest of our pints, for liquid courage or because we were suddenly racing against the clock, I wasn’t sure.

All I was sure of was that I was on my way to a hotel to attempt to track down a celebrity to apologize and to propose we help her on her quest to complete a list of tasks to perform a spell to turn a cat back into a person. There weren’t enough pints in the world.

Chapter 15

Willow

It was nearly eleven thirty when I heard a knock on my door.

I’d gotten so used to staying in hotels alone over the many years of traveling for work that I’d more or less stopped freaking out every time I heard a sound, but a knock on the door was unusual. A knock on the door close to midnight in a hotel where no one even knew I was staying was even weirder.

I glanced over at Vera to confirm she’d heard it, too, and her little head was peeking up from the foot of the bed, her wide eyes darting back and forth from me to the door. So it wasn’t just me.

“What the hell was that?” I whispered to her, and she blinked back like my guess was as good as hers.

By the time I got back to the hotel and realized I was no longer in the right headspace to conduct the spell to get Vera to be able to speak, we’d decided we’d have to wait until morning. Or at least I’d decided, but she’d seemed to agree. Ivy had given me the confidence I needed, but I was so tired from the day, I had a feeling that if I did manage to get Vera to speak, it would be inanother language or she’d only be able to communicate in early nineties song lyrics or something equally tragic.

When I tried to explain this to her, she seemed to understand. Or at least I hoped she did. Everything I was doing was for her own good, and until I got the spell to work, I just had to hope she knew that.

So she still couldn’t say anything, but her eyes told me all I needed to know: the knock was real.

I slid off the bed and crept toward the door, straining on my tiptoes to see through the peephole. All I could see was the chest of a man in a hotel uniform. I was about to ask who it was when I heard whispering on the other side.