What the hell was the matter with her?

She hadn’t even done her job yet, but she’d run like hell out of that room because she couldn’t stand another second around that man.

It wasn’t even that she found him obnoxious or repulsive. No, on the contrary, her body had responded in an entirely unwelcome way. The way he looked at her, like he wanted her… she still felt overheated, even as she ran to the break room, grabbed a paper cup, poured herself some ice water, and chugged it. The cold liquid did nothing but make her throat hurt.

The second she’d taken his shirt off, she’d thought… Hot damn. It was obvious Mr. Smith had taken very good care of his physique. A landscape of hardened muscles had met her hungry gaze, and she’d found it incredibly difficult to look away from him. She couldn’t get the image of his body out of her head. Worse yet, she could feel how slick her panties had gotten on the way to the break room.

It had been a long time since she’d wanted to have sex with a man. She simply didn’t have time for dating and the drama that usually went with it.

Or, at least, that’s the excuse she kept feeding herself. Deep down, she knew it was because she was scared of getting her heart snapped in half again. Leaving Nik had been the hardest thing she’d ever had to do. But when it became clear that he was never going to mark her, she couldn’t think of a way that this could end well for either of them. In the end, she’d ultimately had to cut him loose, for both their sakes.

Verika poured herself another cup of water and gulped it down.

“Feeling all hot and bothered by Mr. Sexy Werewolf?” Emilia asked, coming up from behind her with a steaming cup of coffee.

Verika’s teeth grated. This was so not how she pictured her morning going. “No. I’m just thirsty.” She tried going around Emilia, but she cut her off.

Verika hated that they worked in the same department. It also didn’t help that Emilia was so damned skinny. Verika was comfortable with her weight, which was a little on the plush and curvy side, but she never could quite shake the desire to wear skin-tight clothes without feeling self-conscious. And Emilia liked to show off.

Verika swore that as soon as the witch mafia case was through, she was so going to move. No more Emilia, no more bullshit. A fresh start was in order.

Emilia flashed a malicious smile at her. “Any luck cracking those cloaking spells?”

Verika raised a brow. “Why are you so interested in this? This isn’t even your case.”

“It is now. The chief called me in to help you out.”

Great. That stung a little. Verika made a mental note to talk to her boss once she was done with Mr. Smith. If he was losing his faith in her abilities, then she might as well pack up and transfer to a different department in another city now.

Determined not to let Emilia see how shaken up she was, Verika said smoothly, “Good. We’ll get finished in half the time. I’ll meet you back there in five.”

Emilia’s eyes flashed with anger at the dismissal. “You should be thankful a real witch is going to be there to supervise you, in case something goes wrong.”

“Obviously, I don’t require supervision, seeing as I’m a pay grade above you.”

Emilia’s face turned red. “For now.” With that, she whirled about and marched out of the room, nearly knocking over a petite blond witch—Rosie—standing near the door.

Rosie turned a worried look toward Verika. “That must be Emilia.”

“Yep.” The “p” made a popping noise.

“She’s… charming.”

“I could think of a few other descriptions,” Verika muttered darkly.

Rosie shifted her weight. “Is she giving you a hard time again?”

Verika sighed and rubbed her temples. “Yes and no. It’s nothing outside of the ordinary. It’s just been a tough morning.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s not your fault.” Verika smiled at her friend. “Are you enjoying your first day at the job?”

The younger girl smiled and vigorously nodded her head. “Oh, yes! It’s amazing! I mean, I know I’m only a secretary for now, but I’m hoping I can move into the lab department soon.”

“I’m sure you will. You always know the most at our meetings. More than our illustrious leader, sometimes.”

Verika had met Rosie at her weekly spellbook club meetings. The girl was new to the area, and although she was only twenty, she was a skilled Blue Witch. Though her affinity lay with water magic, she was knowledgeable about every other kind of magic, as well as being a living and breathing grimoire. The two had started talking and soon couldn’t shut up about their love for witchcraft.

Rosie blushed at Verika’s compliment. “I really appreciate you getting me this job.”

Verika waved away her thanks. “Don’t think anything of it. We could use more people like you around here.”

Rosie beamed. “Are you coming to the meeting tonight?”

“Wouldn’t miss it.” She really wouldn’t, either. She hadn’t missed a single meeting since she’d joined this past January. She’d tried online forums and stopping by local coven meetings, but most of the people she’d come across online were just humans screwing around or crackpots. As for the covens she’d visited, some were fine and others weren’t. Like the one where they all practiced magic while naked. No way was she letting a bunch of strangers see her goods.

She had about given up on finding a place to fit in when a coworker referred her to the spellbook club. Finally, here were people who loved magic and loved talking about it and sharing new spells. It was different from the covens she’d visited. The club felt more academic, something her inner nerd craved. There, she didn’t feel like an outcast.

Verika bid her friend goodbye and headed back up to the de-spelling rooms with a sigh.

She thought about what Emilia had said, about how thankful she should be that a “real” witch was helping her.

If there was one thing Verika had learned, it was that no matter where you went or what you did, you were always going to run into an asshole. Emilia was one of those elitist witches who thought just because a dabbler like Verika hadn’t found an affinity for a certain type of magic yet, it somehow made her scum.

So what if none of the elements had ever chosen her? Her knacks so far had been in more practical magic, such as breaking spells, tracking spells, finding the loopholes other people couldn’t see… It was something she’d prided herself on. She’d turned her “disability” into her greatest asset, and by doing so, had become nearly indispensable to this department. Verika knew the peers who teased her were just jealous because she outranked them. Most people respected her, though. She had to work twice as hard to compensate for her lack of a magical categorization.

The different affinities—Blue Magic, Red Magic, Green Magic, and so on—felt a lot like cliques. She swore this place was just like high school, sometimes.

Verika braced herself as she rounded the corner. Not only would her worst enemy be in there, but she’d have to deal with Mr. Sexy again. Or more likely, her body’s reaction to Mr. Sexy.

She sighed as she gripped the doorknob. Here goes.

She twisted.

It was locked. And the window shades had been drawn.

Verika’s eyes narrowed. That bitch would try to lock her out.

Having a feeling she already knew what would happen, Verika tried swiping her badge and punching in her authorization key on the panel beside the door.

Nothing happened. It must be bewitched.

Too bad that wasn’t going to work, no matter what type of spell Emilia had cast upon the security panel.

Closing her eyes, Verika held her hand up over the panel. Heat started to build below her palm as she chanted, searching for the loophole that would allow her to rip this spell apart.

The lights hummed and then began to flicker, but she ignored it. The electricity had been really weird all over the city lately. It seemed anywhere she went, lights were acting up.

Her brows furrowed in concentration as she searched the spell. She could see it in the darkness of her mind, a rainbow of multi-colored threads.

Almost… there…

Her eyes spotted the hole and she reached out with her own magic and pulled.

Her ears popped as pressure swelled in the air, and sparks sizzled beneath her palm. She gritted her teeth and jerked back her hand. Some spells didn’t like to be broken, and they bit back.

Feeling cranky, she grabbed the knob without hesitation and opened the door.

“You know, Emilia, I look past a lot of your bullshit, but I’m getting really sick and tired of…”

Her voice trailed off as she took in the scene before her, and her eyes widened.

“What the hell is going on?”