When I emerged from my bedroom, Cass was seated at my kitchen table with a slice of Studmuffin's salted caramel chocolate tart and a mug of coffee in front of her. Her black cauldron sat on the kitchen countertop, already bubbling. It didn't even need a source of heat!

Not only did magic sometimes save lives, it was also a modern convenience. Good stuff, that magic.

While Cass ate and I stirred the parrot feather into the boiling water with the railroad spike, I told her all ...