Mornings are difficult enough when I've had a full eight hours of sleep. They're worse when the jarring of an alarm pulls me from slumber. The shrill scream of the clock sends me scrambling out of bed, hands flailing in an uncoordinated attempt to silence it. It's the worst way to wake up.

Or, it was the worst way to wake up until Harmony found a more unpleasant way to greet the day.

Memory foam pillows are a strange beast- a human magic the witch community has happily adapted. Like sleeping on a cloud, if a cloud weighed nearly five pounds. Heaven. Until said pillow is smashed into your face.

"What the hell," I spluttered, covering my aching nose as I sat straight up. Tears blurred my vision, and the only warning I had before the pillow slammed back into my face was the whoosh of wind.

"You little wench," Harmony screamed.

She pulled her hand back and swung again. I rolled out of the way and put my arms up in self defense. I was surprised to see she wasn't using magic to attack, but I'd heard Clemmy say on more than one occasion there were times the physical act of doing a thing brought more satisfaction. And from the look on my sister's face, she'd gotten great satisfaction from beating me awake.

"What did I do?" I demanded, knowing full well what I did. My hands darted to my head, and I sighed to find it covered in hair.

Harmony's blue eyes radiated rage, and she clenched the pillow in her hand as she stalked toward me. Willow remained motionless in the bed, only her tiny snores indicating she hadn't died in the middle of the night.

"You don't have anyone to back you up now," Harmony hissed.

"Look, I don't know what I did to piss you off so bad, but I'm sorry."

She put a finger against her dimpled cheek and pretended to think. Through the doorway behind her, I spied Caly, tiptoeing to the stairs. She kept her gaze forward, but if she were a dog, her ears would be swiveled in our direction.

"Hmm, where should I begin? First, you got me in trouble with Clemmy over Ash Goodwin. Then, when I told you to stay away from him, I find you practically in his lap when I got home Friday night!"

"That is not-" Harmony's finger went in the air, the little digit stealing my bravery.

"I know what I saw."

"Really," I said, digging deep for the nerve to keep poking the bear, "because you were out of your mind high when you walked in the house."

"Shut the hell up. You don't know what you're talking about."

"I might not, but your crush does. Ash is the one who said you were on something. So tell me. What is it you've been getting into?" There was no way she'd make it so easy for me, but I had to try.

She blinked and dropped her hand. Ignoring my question, she whined, "You know I like him sp why are you trying to steal him?"

"You don't even know him, and I've not done anything wrong. I didn't chase after him, begging him to spend time with me. He came over to the house because Willow was here."

"How do you explain Brews, or the party you went to last night? Y'all are gettin real cozy, Rosey. What happened to sisters before misters?"

"You kind of fall low on the totem pole when you keep threatening to hex me."

Harmony sniffled, looking far younger than her seventeen years without all the makeup and teased hair. For a moment, I almost felt guilty. The hurt in her eyes looked genuine, but Ash wasn't a piece of property to be claimed.

"It doesn't matter anyways." I lowered my arms, almost certain she wasn't going to sling a spell at me now that she was calm. "Ash would never go for a girl like me."

Big, blue eyes rolled. "Rose, I may be a lot of things, but I don't lie. You're freaking gorgeous. It's kind of why I can't stand you."

"Th-thanks?"

She shrugged and flipped her hair. In a reverse echo of Ash's words last night, she muttered, "It's not a compliment."

"So we're good?" Harmony and I were never what I'd call good, but I'd settle for not being transformed into something with slime or four legs.

"You gonna stay away from Ash?"

"Harm..."

"That's not an answer."

"I'm not going to run him off. He's free to come and go. I think he needs friends."

The fragile peace between us shattered, and she whipped her finger back up. Reflexively, my arms raised, and I cringed, waiting for the curse and hoping Willow would know what to do when she woke. Harmony's delicate nose crinkled, and she made a chopping motion.

 Nothing happened.

Well, that's not entirely true. The locket around my neck heated, but I remained unscathed. Eyes narrowed, my sister shook her hand as if it was cramping.

"If he needs a friend, he can come to us. He should be with his own kind. You'll just drag him down in the end."

When I was certain Harmony had gone downstairs for breakfast, I shut my door and pulled the locket over my head. Minute amount of magic my tush. There were few objects in the supernatural world that could deflect magic- mostly because they required a lot of magic to create. And not just the kind of magic that restored itself after a little rest and relaxation. No, charms of this magnitude require the witch or warlock to sacrifice their power to create them, and most were not made until just before death.

I traced the diamond monogram. Clemmy had dropped a fortune around my neck, and I wondered if she understood just how precious this gift was to me. Or if it was a means to an end for her? With Clemmy, I never knew.

"Why does my head feel like a bell at the county fair?"

Willow held her head between her hands as she sat up. Her typical golden parlor was ashen, and the spiky ends of her hair pointed in every different direction. She winced when I lowered myself to the edge of the bed, despite my attempt to cause as little disturbance as possible.

"Do you remember anything last night?"

"We got to the party. I danced with a girl...Allyson?" Her words came out stilted and thick.

"And then?"

"Allyson gave me something to drink." Willow squinted at me, her chin quivering when she saw my disapproving frown. "Don't look at me like that. I knew I wasn't driving home, and to be fair, I'm technically allowed to drink."

"That's all you did? Drink?"

"Yeah, it was some good stuff too. Tasted just like summer and the beach, which is strange because I'm pretty sure Allyson told me it tasted like Christmas."

Ignoring her groans, I chewed on my thumb. If Willow was telling the truth, the drink was the culprit, and to be honest, I found the idea of spelled liquor to be more terrifying than the drugs. There were a lot of people who would drink before they'd try drugs.

"What did it feel like? A normal buzz?"

My friend had flopped back on her pillow, and she had to lift the arm she'd thrown over her eyes to look at me. "At first, yeah."

"But then?"

She sat back up and drew her knees to her chest, refusing to look at me. Sucking her lip between her teeth, she chewed on it for a full minute before answering. "I don't know if I can't explain it to you because you've never used magic."

It stung. More than it should've. "Try."

"One of the first things we learn in school is that magic exists in everything. Even impotens have magic." I perked up hearing this. "What makes witches and warlocks different is our ability to unlock that potential. There's a rare Gift among witches- Siphoning."

"I've never heard of that."

She rubbed the spot between her eyes. "No one talks about it because no one has been born with the Gift in over a hundred years. Some thinks it's a dead Gift."

"So what's your point?" I asked, trying to follow her. I wasn't sure what this had to do with the question I'd asked.

Willow stuck her tongue out at me before continuing. "Siphoners can pull magic from the world around them, borrow it so to speak. The way I felt last night is how I imagine they have to feel when they borrow magic. I felt supercharged. Did I...did I call a storm?"

My mind returned to last night. There had been a rumble of thunder, but I'd written it off as a storm in the distance. Could she have called a storm? She had the Gift of Weather magic, but it was one of her weaker Gifts. Not to mention, only the most skilled- the Tempestarii- could call a storm. They devoted their lives to the study of Weather magic.

"Maybe," I admitted.

She nodded solemnly. "I thought I remembered something like that, but it was because I had to release some of the power. I felt as if I was going to explode. After that- I don't remember anything."

"Crap, this is bad. Ash and I think whatever was in your drink is the same stuff Harmony was on when she came home. How did magical alcohol get to St. Augustine's?"

"That's not the worst thing," Willow whispered.

Don't say it. Don't say it. Don't- "What could be worse?"

"It's still there. I can feel it."

"Feel what?"

"Magic that doesn't belong to me. I didn't borrow it. I stole it."