^ Lucian.

Serena.

Charles' Jaguar escaped vandalism only through the quick arrival of Hayley. I didn't like showing my sometimes extreme violence infront of her, mainly due to the fact that she was all sparkles and bouncy hair and I'd never forgive myself if I ruined that sugary sweetness and tainted it with my brash, impetuous raging.

It's a constant wonder to me that she didn't have an avid fanclub following her around like some kind of teen popstar. I mean, all the boys in spell-school had been infatuated - and half the girls - it was actually fortunate that she hadn't been kidnapped by some crazed fan with a basement fetish. Although now that she had Lucian, her safety was pretty much assured. No one wanted to make that lizard angry - I'd heard from reliable sources that Lucian tended to chow down on idiotic people trying to touch his witch - in a rather grotesque, poor table manners kind of way. Best. Detterant. Ever. I don't think 'my cat will piss on you' has quite the same effect.

She peeled into the carpark in her little VW beetle, shimmer fluttering off the wheels as they screeched to a halt. If I ever decided to change careers to bank robbery, she's totally the get-away driver I'd hire. "Hey, Gypsy," I slurred slightly - apparently the alcohol was still affecting my mouth. "I'm not going to say you were right, but I'm currently re-evaluating my relationship status."

She snorted, then peered at the restaurant with a harsh look on her face - completely at odds with her usual smiles. "Get in the car, Serena," She called through the wide open passenger window, a thick lizard tail flicking through her hair.

I stumbled, less than graceful on my heels, and spent a good minute fumbling with the door handle. I closed one eye which magically made the task easier, and slumped into her bucket seat. "Can you text my mother and tell her I broke up with Charles?" Because, was I fuck going to be the person sharing that bit of news. I had to tell her eventually and the sooner I did, the sooner she'd move onto something else.

"I told her yesterday," Hayley announced, as if that was a completely normal thing to do.

I kept my eye closed to turn slightly in my seat and focus on her face, pointing a finger and poking it into her cheek. "Your secret is out. Can you see the lottery numbers? Or the next big company to invest in?" Because what was the point in premonition unless it gave you those important answers?

Hayley laughed as she over revved and lurched out of the carpark, "It's not premontion, it's just a feeling I get, Serena."

"It's a fucking accurate feeling."

She blew out a breath of sparkles, "Okay, so sometimes it's more like knowing what will take place - not a vision of the future - just being aware of what's going to happen."

I closed my eyes and turned my face to the open window, hoping the wind would help to sober me up. "Told you - fucking gypsy."

We arrived back at my house in one piece - honestly astonishing considering Hayley's ignorance of speed limits and general lack of road safety. Her small and curvy body bounced out of the car in a dress that looked suspiciously like one I'd recently ordered and had yet to wear. I fell out the door - my heel catching in the door step - and snapped my fingers at her. "Hey! Is that my new dress?"

She looked down, then pouted at me. "I don't know, is it?"

Such a thieving pixie. I pointed at her face, "Don't give me that look, doesn't work on me." Even though it absolutely did.

"But it looks nice though, right?"

I swear, the girl was an evil villain in disguise, bent on taking over the world with only a cute face and puffs of glitter. "It does, though I'm pretty sure it's not made for pixie-sized gypsys, evident by the fact that it's currently dragging on the floor." I pointed out the hem getting scagged from the gravel on my driveway, and the obvious height difference between us that put her a good six inches shorter than me at only five foot.

She smiled brightly and I blinked as I saw spots on my vision. "It's a good thing that you're like a sister to me, Serena."

Fucking hell. I'm literally never going to win an argument ever again.

I sighed and waved at her to let herself in - she'd had her own key since the day I'd left purgatory on my eighteenth birthday - more commonly known as my mother's house. I'd tried to emancipate myself at fourteen due to my grandmother's sizable fortune and the account she'd set up for me years ago. Apparently that was only a human thing though and didn't really count for witches who didn't exactly exist on the births and deaths register. I'd still taken the opportunity to invest in a sizable four bedroom house in a quiet and decent area, and sent my slightly loony grandma a huge thank-you gift every month. She'd just hit the grand old age of eight hundred and five and lived with twelve cats and a two hundred year old toy boy in a country manor befitting nobility. Grandma Minnie still looked in her forties, but dressed in feather boas and those flapper dresses from the nineteen twenties. She was one knock on the head from supernatural dementia and a consumate purveyor of marijuana - something the human police in her little village let slide due to her natural ability for suggestion.

I followed Hayley into the living room and immediately walked into her back as she froze in place. Her snorting giggles soon followed and I rubbed at my itching hazel eyes in irritation. "What's he done now?"

Through laughter, She eventually managed to answer me. "I hope you have a nice bra on, because it's the only one you have left now."

I groaned and stepped around her, finding lace and sequins scattered around the living room, and parts of what used to be expensive bras in small piles of ripped and torn fabric. My rage - which hadn't quite extinguished from lunch with Charles - flickered back life at the destruction before me. Little blue sizzles ignited from my finger tips, running like live electricity across the pads of each finger. I got a warning hiss from a suddenly appearing Lucian for daring to spark whilst Hayley was in the vicinity. I hissed back at the bulky lizard - refusing to cower before a damn reptile. "That's it, I'm going to fucking drown him!" And I seriously started looking around for a brown sack and some spare rocks.

Hayley shook her head while fingering a scrap of lace that was precariously hanging from the table lamp. "There has to be a reason he keeps doing this. Lucian was never this destructive."

I gave her a withering glare. "Yes, well, Lucian is the most perfect familiar ever created isn't he?" My words were a little snappy and she didn't deserve them, but dammit, I didn't understand why I got the familiar that was freaking broken. My snappiness lasted all of three minutes before the pout struck again and guilt hit me instead. "Sorry, Hails, I didn't mean that."

"I know, I'm just trying to help. Where is he anyway?" She asked, because the culprit was not at the scene of the crime.

"Probably celebrating his accomplishment somewhere, help me clean it up? I'll go find him when I get his coffin ready."

Hayley hummed and starting picking up dangling satin and lace from where it had quite artfully fallen. "You aren't really going to drown him...right?"

It probably said something about me that she wasn't quite sure if I was serious about offing my cat. To be honest, I may have been a tad bit serious. "Probably not," I huffed. "We'll table the option for now, maybe I can neuter him instead."

Hayley swirled her finger and small gusts of wind blew along the carpet, shifting the sequins into one small pile and the larger fabric into her hand. "I think it's against the witch code to neuter our familiars."

I stopped picking lace off the bookshelf and stared at her. "There's a witch code?"

She snorted, "Yes, Serena, your mother made you recite it for like a week when we were eleven."

I shrugged, "Well that explains it - I try very hard not to remember a single thing she says."

Hayley's handbag buzzed and she halted her swirling finger and rummaged through it for her phone. As I stretched to pick off satin from the ceiling light-shade, her little gasp drew my attention. "Uh oh, it's your mother, Serena."

I turned wide eyes to her, "Don't answer it!"

She panicked - she never could handle stressful situations very well. "What?! I have to answer it!"

"No you don't, we'll pretend we didn't hear it ring!"

"Oh my god, Serena, it's the Head of the Witch Council - I'm not screening your mother!"

"She won't know, Hayley!"

"She's a witch, Serena, of course she'll know!"

The phone stopped buzzing and while I breathed a sigh of thankfulness, Hayley screeched in horror. "Oh goddess, she's going to be so mad at me," She practically hyperventilated while Lucian's tail made calming swipes across her head. The phone started up again and flew in the air as a shocked Hayley fumbled with it. She grabbed it quickly and before I could scream 'NO!' she'd already answered. "Cynthia! I'm sorry I just missed your call."

My mouth was agape - astounded by Hayley's complete lack of balls when it came to my mother. "Put the phone down," I hissed, "You're my friend not hers!"

She waved me off and fluttered her hand around her face as if trying to cool her flushed cheeks. "No, I'm sure Serena just hasn't had a chance to look at her phone."

I'm assumed that meant my mother had also phoned me a few times today - And I wasn't actually ignoring her on purpose this time.

"Oh, yes, she was going to phone you herself about Charles but she does realise how busy you are."

I tapped my foot and glared at Hayley, ensuring she knew not to get me into something I couldn't get out of.

"Of course, I'm sure that'll be fine, and we'll see you at the winter solstice on Sunday." Hayley cringed and waved her hand faster, "Okay, I'll see you then, goodbye, Cynthia."

I waited with my foot still tapping, already narrowing my eyes at her. "Well?"

She whined softly, her cute face scrunching in discomfort. "I may have agreed to her coming here tomorrow." She shut her eyes tightly.

"Here? In my house? Fuck sake, Hayley!"

"I know, I know!" She cried, "She makes me nervous."

I glared, then realised that firstly - I couldn't stay mad at her, and secondly - Hayley had just invited herself to join us tomorrow. "You'll be here," I stated.

She nodded her head vigorously, "Yes I will." Understanding that it wasn't a question, and also entirely her own fault.

"Good. Now help me find the damn cat."

She smiled brightly, relieved that I hadn't started shouting, because even though it never lasted long with her, my temper could be a bitch at times. We walked to the heavy oak door that separated the living room from the kitchen, pushing it open as I went first and Hayley followed. I stopped short this time, feeling a thud against my back as Hayley crashed into me.

"What, what is it?" She stepped around me and gasped, her mouth hanging open and lashes blinking rapidly against her cheeks. "Serena, why is there a naked man in your kitchen?"

And he was very naked. Standing with the fridge door open, a gallon of milk tipped to his mouth and frozen in place as he caught sight of us. Messy dark hair crowned his head, his eyes hidden beneath hooded, dark lashes. He was easily six and half feet tall, and thick bulging muscle ran along his arms and chest. His skin was tanned like he saw the sun often, and his lips were half open as if he struggled to find something to say.

"I don't know why there's a naked man in my kitchen, Hayley," I flicked my gaze to her - only to find her own eyes covered by a thick reptile tail. "Is it my birthday?"

Hayley snorted, then lost herself in giggles, causing my own lips to twitch uncontrollably. "Ask him if he's seen your cat," She whispered finally.

I mumbled through the side of my mouth, "I'm sure there are more important questions right now."

"Not really - if the Cat comes back, he'll pee on naked guy, and then naked guy will go away," She said dispondently.

At least one of us has their priorities in order.