Read Hex on the Beach (The Magic & Mixology Mystery Series Book 1) for Free Online

shook her head. “This little marketing job is nothing. It doesn’t love you back.”
    Mimsey burst in. “It doesn’t reward you with hugs or kisses. Not like a child, not like a grandmother, not like the family you have waiting for you on The Isle.”
    “Family?” I asked. That idea had always been an elusive one to me.
    “ We are your family,” Mimsey said. “We have children, your cousins. The Isle has all sorts of your kind. Consider our proposal, dear.”
    I breathed deeply and debated.
    “Jesse, what should I—” Glancing at the bartender, I stopped at his surprised gaze.
    “Who is Jesse?” Pointing at me, Jesse pursed his lips. “And who are you ?”
    “What did you do to him?” I asked.
    “The confusion fades in a few minutes.” Mimsey shifted from one foot to the other. “And we need to be out of here before Jesse comes back to himself, or we’ll have to redo the procedure, and if you do it too many times—”
    “They start to go a little crazy,” Trinket finished. “So?”
    “Two questions.” I crossed my arms. “If I don’t like it on The Isle, may I come back?”
    “Yes, but—”
    Trinket held up her hand and cut off her sister. “Enough. We can’t spill our secrets until she’s one of us, Mimsey. We’ve already said enough. Yes , that’s the short answer. You can return.”
    I briefly wondered about the long answer, but as Trinket didn’t seem inclined to elaborate, I moved on. “Do I have time to say good-bye to my father? What about Ainsley?”
    The sisters looked uncomfortably at one another.
    “No,” Trinket said. “Not now.”
    “But what if he worries?” I asked.
    “We’ve taken care of that.” Mimsey’s lips parted as if she looked surprised at herself. “We used a Writing Replicator charm to mimic your handwriting and sent him a note. It says you aren’t working for Lions Marketing any longer and mentions that you’re taking a few months off to travel and will write to him when you return. As for Ainsley… you’ll see her again. This isn’t good-bye for you two.”
    “But why would you do that?”
    “We can’t risk you coming into contact with another human at the moment. You’re aware of our world now, but you don’t yet understand why we keep ourselves secret. That’s a dangerous combination.” Mimsey wrung her hands. “Of course after some training and orientation, you’ll be able to come and go between The Isle and the rest of the world as you see fit.”
    I blinked. “That doesn’t sound so bad.”
    Mimsey shook her head. “It’s not. Not in the slightest.”
    I had a zillion reasons not to go with Mimsey and Trinket. Things like finding a new job, paying rent, figuring out how to afford my grocery bill. Things like not wanting to leave my friends or the one family member I had left.
    But I couldn’t push away the nagging feeling in my stomach that asked What’s the point? of unfulfilling work. Sure, I could go get another marketing gig. But how many people would I be helping?
    I wondered what the sisters meant when they said I’d have the potential to help others improve their lives. Even more than that, I wondered what they meant about having a family. Because the thought of having someone to love me back sounded incredible. A dream come true. After years of being on my own, living with my dad, a man with fewer emotions than a turtle, I wanted relationships that lived and breathed. I wanted to feel things that made me cry with joy and weep with sadness. I wanted it all.
    And for that reason and that reason alone, I nodded.
    “I’ll go.” My voice, somewhat resigned, belied the tiny spark of excitement leaping to life in my stomach. “I’ll go with you, assuming it’s understood that I can come and go from The Isle in time.”
    Mimsey nodded furiously. “Of course. Of course, dear.”
    Trinket let out a rattling breath. “ Thank you. We need your services more than you know.”
    The three of us stood in a bit of an awkward