Read The Witch Is Back for Free Online

that the two had been sitting in the far back of the van and I hadn’t had to listen to their bickering.
    â€œI did!” both girls said in unison.
    â€œOkay . . . ,” I said, thankful to be saved by the registration table that had just opened up in front of us. A man sat there and motioned for me to come to him so he wouldn’t have to yell. “Hi! I’m Hadley Bishop and I’m checking in.”
    The man in front of me had dark brown hair that was thinning on top, leaving little spots of exposed skin that the lights above would periodically reflect off. He was dressed in a faded green T-shirt that read BRIGHTON INTENSIVE, MAKING MAGIC SINCE 1864. His ’70s-style mustache made him look more like he belonged at a dude ranch than a witch cabin in the woods. As far as temperament went, his was the exact opposite of Miss Peggy’s.
    â€œGroup name,” he barked, without returning my greeting or smile.
    Rude .
    â€œUm, the Cleri?” I said, taken aback by his total lack of communication skills. It was sort of an important thing to have if you were in the business of being around actual people . But I deduced that now wasn’t the time to let him in on this little fact.
    â€œBishop. Ah, yes, here you are. You’ll be rooming with one Abby Astley and one Colette Jordan,” he said.
    â€œThere’s someone else in our room?” I asked, surprised to hear this, considering we’d requested it just be the two of us. “But we asked for a double.”
    â€œThere are only a select amount of doubles and they typically go to returning members or those who require special treatment,” he said, completely unapologetic about it.
    When the counselor didn’t offer to try to make alternate arrangements for the snafu, I took a deep breath and leaned down until we were almost eye level. With a smile on my face, I said, “Are you sure there aren’t any double rooms left?”
    I knew it was probably wrong to use my powers of persuasion on a counselor, but I couldn’t help it. I’d really been hoping that just Abby and I would be rooming together, so that we’d be able to get to know each other better. Having a stranger in with us would just make it that much more difficult.
    The counselor stared blankly into my eyes and then cleared his throat loudly, making me jump back to avoid flying spittle. “Asking me to check again isn’t going to make it magically appear,” he said, annoyed. “Here’s your key. Your triple is on the third floor. Elevators are behind me and to your right. Be sure to send the carts back down when you’re done with them.”
    My smile turned into a frown as I took the keys he was holding out to me. My powers hadn’t worked. I’d done the same thing I usually did when trying to influence someone, so it didn’t make any sense. Maybe our powers didn’t work within the walls of the cabin or something? Like when you don’t have cell service in a certain area. But that didn’t make sense either, because people were casting all over the place. Had Fallon been right? Was I totally losing it?
    I began to walk away, but Counselor Angry called me back.
    â€œAnd Hadley?” he asked.
    â€œYes?” I turned around to look at him, noting that the girls were still fully engrossed in their own conversations behind me and hadn’t witnessed anything that had just happened.
    â€œDon’t try to use your powers on me again. It won’t work and I don’t appreciate it.”
    A rush of coldness filled my body even as my cheeks began to heat up. How had he known that I’d been trying to influence him? People had never been able to sense it happening before.
    â€œSure. Yeah. Sorry,” I mumbled, before shuffling away from the table in a slightly shocked daze.
    Cursing under my breath, I moved into the main part of the cabin and busied myself with looking around