Page 32 of A Witch in Notting Hill

I couldn’t remember all the circles of hell, but this had to be one of them.

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@JewelsBlogs:Is Willow James studying in London? Read more about star-studded MFAs and how Hollywood is overtaking academia at the link in bio!

@IDreamOfDragons:no way is she in grad school. I bet she’s filming something new. #WhereIsWIllowJames

Chapter 14

Oliver

When you own an occult bookshop in a popular neighborhood of a major tourist city, there are few things left to surprise you. Really, you start to think you’ve seen it all.

And yet . . . I was shocked.

Which didn’t make proper sense, given how little I knew about this woman, but something wasn’t clicking in my brain.Thiswoman thought she was a witch? This celebrity, famous for dramas and thrillers and films Lo and Minho informed me were serious, no-nonsense affairs. Though I supposed it was acting, after all. She was merely playing a role.

The same way she’d been with me, running the story about her gran. How stupid was I that I didn’t see what was really going on? Maybe this was why she was nominated for an Oscar or whatever Lola said.

My head was spinning, and before I knew it, I was headed in the direction of the pub. I would have to confess the whole thing to Min and Lo at some point, so, much like telling them about the search in the first place, I figured I’d get it over with.

They’d dropped a pin in our group text when they left, so it was easy to find them at Mack’s, just up the street from the station.

“That was fast,” Lola said when I slid onto a stool beside them.

“Yeah, well, we had nothing left to say to each other, so.” I drank half her pint in one gulp, ignoring her raised eyebrows and her open mouth. “I’ll get the next round,” I said.

“Are you going to fill us in?” she asked. “Or are we going to have to guess why you look like smoke is about to come out of your ears?”

“Nothing to fill you in on,” I said, finishing her beer.

“Might as well just tell us whatever it is now, mate,” Min said. “You know you’re going to have to eventually. Let’s have at it, then.”

“She lied,” I exhaled. “And she thinks she’s a witch. Are we ready to move on now? Have another pint and go back to living our lives like this never happened?”

“She what?” Min asked.

“And shewhat?” Lola added.

“Please don’t make me repeat myself,” I said.

“We’re going to need a little more information,” Minho said. “She lied about what? And what do you mean she’s a witch?”

“Shethinksshe’s a witch,” I corrected him. “She can’t be an actual witch because witches aren’t real.”

“But what about her gran?” Lola asked.

“There is no gran,” I said. “Or maybe there is... I don’t know. But Willow was looking for the book for herself the whole time.”

“Which means—” Min started.

“Which means she has to do the tasks,” Lola said, a note of excitement creeping into her voice. “Which also means she’s going to be in London for at least six more months, doesn’t it?” That piece I had yet to acknowledge, even to myself. I’d mentallyprepared for her to leave after today, and I had no idea what to do now that she was staying. Surely I’d run into her. And surely I didn’t want to. Or at least I shouldn’t have wanted to.

“Oliver, you have to keep helping her.”

“Are you mad? Absolutely not.”

“Areyoumad? Meeting Willow James in the first place was the opportunity of a lifetime. And now you get to help her do a whole lot of witchy tasks to turn someone back into a person? Come on.”