Read Magic and Mayhem: Any Witch Way (Kindle Worlds Novella) for Free Online

our meal?” Floarea asked.
    “We’d love to,” Gwen said, beaming as she looked around at the Komolvo. To her everything was an exciting new adventure, and she hadn’t bothered to see if Gideon wanted to stay or not.
    Oddly, he did. Even though he wondered if the siphoned magic had something to do with the carnival, the thought of sharing a meal with others—something he rarely did—appealed to him.
    So he made an effort to relax as they enjoyed an evening you couldn’t really experience anywhere else. Makeshift tables were gathered around an open barbecue pit in the field where the encampment had been set up. Chicken, steak, and fish crowded the grill over the open flames, surrounded wherever there was even the smallest bit of space by ears of corn still in the husks. Baked potatoes wrapped in foil sat on rocks on top of hot coals beneath the grill.
    Even though the carnival wasn’t set up, there was still the feeling of a carnival all around. Tiny lights glittered above and a group of men played on gorgeous handcrafted instruments Gideon suspected were only brought out during private moments. They likely played another set of instruments when the carnival was open to the public.
    As they sat with Harmen, Floarea, and Luca and watched dinner being prepared, Gideon scanned the group. As the Boguman, his ability to see into the hearts and minds of those causing trouble only extended to children, but he still tried to assess everyone he came in contact with, and especially those who seemed to hang back.
    It turned out the couple Wanda had told them about, Minerva and Tink, were part of the carnival. He had to give Wanda credit. She was right about the pair. They were an odd couple if he ever saw one.
    Tink was an enormous warlock, though his power was quite limited and he was a bit plain for a warlock. They learned he was called Tink because he tinkered with everything he could get his hands on. In fact, Shifters brought things to him to repair during this vacation each year. Tink seemed to want to hang back from everyone and didn’t join in the revelry much.
    Minerva, on the other hand, tugged at him to come to the front of the group as the night went on. She was a stunning witch, but she had only moderate powers, and Gideon could see the hunger Wanda had talked about in her eyes. She coveted Floarea’s quiet strength and the power of those in charge. There was an aura of greed and perpetual discontent about her.
    Tink finally succeeded in pulling Minerva back to the outskirts of the encampment to an old van.
    “They seem like an unlikely pair,” Gideon said to Luca. Maybe if he got Luca talking about those in their group who didn’t have the power to siphon the magic from Gwen, he’d get the warlock to slip up about someone who did.
    Luca snorted. “Minerva likes to get close to anyone she thinks might have power. With that one, she’s playing a long game.”
    Gideon shook his head. “I don’t get it. He’s not a very powerful warlock.”
    “No, but he’s Floarea’s cousin, which means he’s not only related to our matriarch, he’s a descendant of Guibran Mirga,” Luca said, referring to an extremely powerful, but deceased warlock. In fact, it was odd for a descendant of Guibran to be as weak as Tink was.
    “Oh stop, Luca. Gideon doesn’t care about our ancestors,” Floarea chided, as she refilled the mugs of everyone at the table.
    “Oh, but I do,” Gwen said, sitting forward. “I don’t have ancestors or family of my own. I find it fascinating. What is it like to have a history? To know where you come from?”
    This time Gideon didn’t clamp down on the urge to put his hand on Gwen’s back. He knew he was getting sucked in with her again, but he couldn’t help it. There were times she seemed so vulnerable, so lost, and he had a hard time not responding to that.
    It was Floarea who replied to Gwen, though. “Oh, but you do. You’re in all of us, Gwen.” Gideon still thought it was odd