Blurb
It's all fun and games until Kelly's gargoyle statue turns into a real man...
If there's one thing Party Witch Extraordinaire Kelly Holloway likes, it's a good time. So what if her coven thinks she's so immature they've tacked an extra year onto her wardship? Of course, that's why it's such a surprise when she learns she's inherited Hollow House. Oh, the epic ragers she plans to throw!
But all isn't Jello shots and booty calls. Not only does she have to deal with two quirky roommates she's forced to take in, a snarky vampire living in her basement (rent free, no less!), and a curmudgeonly new boss who doesn't find her habitual tardiness the least bit charming, but also a pesky sentient house that seems hell-bent on thwarting her love life.
Things only get weirder when the gargoyle statue she's been messing with for months turns into a man. A hot man. The hottest she's ever seen. And Ronun's not a fan of Kelly's...at all. Considering all of the funny outfits she's dressed him in, she can't really blame him. But...dayum. He's so fine even Hollow House seems to like him.
Whatever. Kelly has far more important things to focus on--such as finding her family's missing spell book so she can figure out how to rein in the uncontrollable Hollow House, impress her dubious boss, and break the curse that turns Ronun to stone for half the day.
Hey, no pressure or anything!
One
“That should just about do it.”
Kelly Holloway hung the last of her streamers from her favorite gargoyle's horns in her boss's office. Rubbing the last scrap of tape in place on the top of its stone head, she leaned back to admire her handiwork. Thanks to the drinks she’d already tossed back, she had to steady a hand on the desk as she snickered at herself for getting more than a bit tipsy before the party really got started.
But since it was a baby shower and her boss certainly wouldn’t be indulging, Kelly liked to think she was drinking for two. Which was as good an excuse as any.
“You know what sucks?” she asked the gargoyle, blowing a handful of confetti in its face. “We won't get quality time like this anymore. Cora’s going on maternity leave, so you know what that means, right?”
The grotesque stone face remained as silent as ever, its gaping, fanged mouth choked with multicolored bits of paper.
“That’s right,” she said, patting its cheek affectionately. “No more unpaid internship for me. The year I’ve spent here has been great, and I’m gonna miss your ugly face, but it's time for me to move on.”
She heaved a sigh and took another hearty drink from her plastic cup, coughing against the back of her hand as the strong booze burned the back of her tongue.
“That’s so good,” she rasped. “Anyway, no internship? No class credit. No class credit? No Othercross U diploma for me. So…that’s fun.”
She studied the bulbous, furious features staring sightlessly back at her while the booze warmed her from the inside out.
“You’re the perfect man, you know that, don't you? You listen and never say a damn thing back. No advice, no questions, no judgment. Just pure, unadulterated listening. If only you were easier on the eyes.”
She laughed again and polished off her drink.
“I’d better enjoy this while I can,” she said, gazing ruefully into the bottom of her cup. “Cora found a new internship for me. Did I tell you about this?”
The gargoyle just stared. That’s why she liked him.
“No answer, huh?” She kissed his cheek, then spit a few pink and yellow flecks of paper off her lips. “The new gig is at night. Ugh. How am I supposed to have any kind of social life? Not that it’s been much lately, but still…”
That wasn’t entirely true. Just a few days earlier, she’d turned twenty-five, and that celebration had turned into a rolling party. Which is to say, it had been hard to get hung over, because she and her close friends just woke up and started drinking again. The baby shower was just around the corner, right? Why not just roll one party into the next? It wasn’t always Kelly’s style to go on a multi-day rager like that, but it wasn’t entirely out of character either. Still, she found the long nights took more of a toll than they used to.
“You know what you really need?” she asked her inanimate companion, shaking off the little jag of boozy melancholy. She raised a palm full of red glitter and held it in front of granite eyes, letting out a wicked little giggle as she did.
“I know you’re not planning to blow glitter all over my office, Miss Holloway.”
Cora leaned against the door frame to her office, and Kelly hid the palmful of trouble behind her back. Cora only addressed her as ‘Miss Holloway’ when she meant business.
“Maybe?” She fired an innocent, toothy grin at her very pregnant boss.
“Huh-uh.” Cora wagged her finger, barely suppressing a smile over her mischievous intern's antics. “You know that stuff never comes out. There’s no spell strong enough to get glitter cleaned up. If you blow that around in here, I’ll be finding it when this little devil is studying at OCU.”
She rubbed a palm on her stomach, and Kelly marveled at how Cora glowed at the mere mention of the baby. The woman had always been ravishing but there was a new shine to her that anybody could see.
“Fine,” Kelly said guiltily, dusting her hands off into her empty cup. A thousand tiny flecks stuck to her fingers. She picked and scraped with her fingernails, only succeeding in getting little red flecks lodged beneath them. “Dammit, you’re right. This shit is the worst.”
“You knew that before you started.”
“Yeah.” The young witch flashed that faux innocent smile again.
“It’s not even the office I’m that worried about,” Cora said, coming forward to look at the streamers hanging off her granite friend. “If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a thousand times—gargoyles are people too. The last thing he’d want is to be covered with glitter and be unable to get it off.”
“I guess,” Kelly shrugged.
At times, it seemed as if her boss was just a little too attached to the thing, considering how protective she was over a statue. Still, she had to admit, she had just been talking to the guy.
“Well,” Cora said brightly, “shall we go out? It’s nearly sunset, and it’d be no good for me to be hanging out in here when my own party starts.”
“Let’s hit it!” Kelly snatched up her cup and headed for the door. “I could use a fresh drink anyway.”
“Just remember to get a new cup.”
“Ha, right!”
As Kelly stared down into the sparkly, globby mess at the bottom of her cup, Cora waddled past her and into the crowd of her friends and coworkers. For a second, Kelly hung in the doorway, looking back into the office.
“Not too bad,” she whispered to herself as she admired her handiwork. The gargoyle glared at her in multicolored silence before Kelly snapped off the light and closed the door behind her.
“New girl.” The laconic, dry greeting wafted over Kelly’s shoulder the second she stepped into the party proper, and she didn’t even need to glance back to know she would find Holly Woodbriar leaning against the wall.