Excerpt: The Kitchen Witch versus the Lemon Poundcake of Doom

"Nooooo!" The dark-haired woman screeched and hurled the scrying crystal across the room. Fortunately it landed on one of the many cushions scattered around the room. If it had broken, she would have been even angrier, and not even the satisfying crash and crack that would have accompanied it would have helped. The Brownies and pixies and the sad bits of leftover ectoplasm scattered to the far edges of the dark room, sending the candle-flames flickering and hiding behind pillows and curtains as though they were some protection from her rage.

"How dare she! She's my link to The Boy!" Without a magic signature for her to follow, she would not be able to track down this girl. Without the girl, the boy whose scent she had gotten that night at the club may well be lost to her forever.

For a week now, she had been closing in on the girl, narrowing her location down to somewhere around downtown. But now, oh! How would she find her? How would she find him? She needed him, now that she knew he existed.

She started pacing in the candle-lit room. One of the sprites pinched another and a small fight started. The woman glared at them. "Ahem. I'm raging, here! Stop it!" They subsided again, but as she turned to start pacing again, she had a brilliant idea!

"You, all of you! Gather around!" She half-knelt to put herself closer to their eye-level. "Come along, I am not angry anymore. I have a job for you, and I think you will enjoy it." She could not have the spirits show her where the girl lived; physical existence meant little to them. They would lead her in circles quite nicely, but could not actually take her to the girl. No, something more subtle was needed.

Slowly the scared creatures crept out of hiding. They had almost forgotten what had sent them running in the first place. She would have to do something about that. She began to hum, spinning out a thread of power to pull them in and bind them. They would listen to her. They would remember what she told them.

"I need you to find the girl who has long blonde hair. She follows the old ways. She is in this area," she said, impressing the bounds of where she knew the girl to be living on the creatures. "She looks like this," she said, pressing a mental image of her onto them as well. "You will find her. She will know you are there, but she won't do anything about it. Torment her. Pressure her. Make her break her vow to do nothing. Once she is again working with the power, I will find her in the flesh and make her show me where he is." Several of the spirits grinned and snickered. They would do as she asked with little qualm.

She snapped her fingers, and the spirits disappeared. They would be off on their task and soon, soon, she would be able to find the boy of her dreams. She reclined on a deep red velvet upholstered chaise lounge and waited.