The Witches of BlackBrook by Tish Thawer

delaying us it’s another,” she confessed to herself.
    “Thanks for coming in, Trin. We’ve got a few extra bookings that we just couldn’t shift around,” Mia explained.
    “It’s no problem.”
    Trin resolved herself to an afternoon of work, happy to have a secure job in this unsecure economy. She’d answered Kit’s text about her whereabouts around noon, and was now greeting her next client of the day. As she struggled past the thought that she’d rather be working magic with her sister than kneading Mr. Clemens’ back folds, a wave of dizziness hit her, accompanied by a sudden case of nausea that sent her fleeing from the room.
    “Trin...are you all right?” Mia asked from outside the bathroom stall.
    “I’m sorry, Mia, but no, I’m not feeling well at all. Could you please give my apologies to Mr. Clemens and reschedule him for a free hour sometime next week.”
    “Sure. No problem.”
    Trin hovered over the toilet in fear of losing her lunch. She had no idea what was happening, but tried to take a few deep breaths to calm her stomach and nerves.
    Once washed up, Trin gathered her things from the locker room and immediately returned home.
    “You’re home early. What happened?” Kit asked from her perch at the dining room table. She had papers and sketch books spread across the entire area.
    “I don’t know. One minute I was fine and the next I was on my knees in the bathroom feeling sicker than a dog.”
    Kit jumped up from the table and laid a hand across Trin’s forehead and stomach. Closing her eyes, she drew upon her magic to weed out the cause of Trin’s state of ill-being, like her sister had done for her, so many times before.
    A few seconds later Kit declared, “I don’t see anything magical going on. Do you think you could have eaten something that didn’t agree with you?”
    Trin sagged into one of the dining room chairs. “I suppose so. But with everything that’s been happening around here, I just assumed it was due to whatever ‘evil’ is attacking us.” Trin dropped her head to the table while Kit set to making them both a cup of ginger tea.
    “Here, drink this. It should help.”
    Trin lifted her head and took a sip, thankful to be waited on for once. Kit continued to hover about as Trin took a few more swallows. Stressed and tired, Trin tried to relax but was sent into a full-blown panic when she began to cough up blood.

Chapter Seventeen

    “Oh my god, Trin. Here. Hold still.” Kit handed Trin a napkin and tossed the remaining cup of tea down the sink.
    “Thanks.” Trin sputtered into the tissue, then wiped the spittle from her lips. “Are you still convinced this wasn’t magically induced? Why would ginger make me cough up blood?”
    “I’m not sure. But I don’t think we should jump to conclusions. Maybe you should see an actual doctor first. What if you’re having some intestinal issues that can be easily treated?”
    Trin pushed back from the table and fetched herself a glass of water. No matter what Trin thought was going on, Kit disagreed. It was infuriating, especially when the damn fog-thingy had just attacked her one night prior. It wasn’t like she was making this shit up.
    “Fine. I’ll go to the doctor, but only after you agree to do a spell with me. We need to find out about this shadow thing and see what the connection is with Jason and Caris.”
    Kit stood, uncommitted for what felt like an eternity, then finally nodded in agreement. “Okay. Let me finish up with my work here, then we’ll head downstairs and see what we can find out together.”
    Trin nodded and headed for the stairs. “I’m going to rest for a while. Come get me when you’re ready to begin.”
    Kit smiled and returned to her papers, putting the last touches on her sketches and drafting up her summaries and proposals. She needed to focus on real life and make sure her next showing was as successful as her last. Maybe once she knew the bills would continue to be paid, she