Jenniffer Griffin POV

I lay down after receiving the call from my mother, too tired --- unbothered --- to think about what my mother had said. So, I slept.

I was the first to wake up in the morning. When I turned to my side, Darius was sleeping beside me. His bare back and buttocks were inviting; for a moment, I considered the chance of making him a friend with benefits. He shrugged and turned around. Maybe I should do it now.

I sat up and straddled him, looking into his eyes. Then I placed a hand on his head and began to chant magical words - apeleftherotheíte apó to város sas.

He opened his eyes and stared around. I waited for him to gain consciousness. Then, we could talk about an arrangement that wouldn’t hurt us both. His girlfriend wouldn’t have to know about us.

He raised his head and stared into my eyes. Then he turned around and scanned the room, the walls, the ceiling, and even the floor.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

He grabbed me by the waist and shoved me to one side.

“I need you to tell me what I am doing here? How did I get here?”

He got off the bed naked and started searching for his boxers and trousers. He found some of his clothes on the floor and left the room to find the rest in the living room. I could hear his voice. “I am not crazy, right?” he asked.

He came back to the bedroom, looking into my eyes. If he attempted to do anything silly, I would have no choice but to enchant him again.

“I saw you at the club… and then… I don’t know. How come I am here. I don’t know... I am....”

“See, you are acting funny. We hooked up. Is that hard to figure out?”

He nodded and looked around the room as if he had missed something. “Yeah,” he said, smiling. He glanced at my breast and then down at my bare thighs. “I remembered,” he said. He put his hands in his pocket, brought his phone, and turned it on… “See. I have to run,” he said.

“Well, you can bounce now. You have got all you wanted. You know what, I don’t care.”

I got out of bed. I had my panties but nothing else. So when I got up, his eyes stared at my bare back. Then I turned around, so his eyes caught the side of my boobs.

I walked to the wardrobe at the corner, not looking at him.

“We will talk later,” he said, looking at his phone. It had started ringing continuously from many text messages. He rushed out of the house. He was going to meet his girlfriend, and good luck to him on getting her back. I hated that he had to run to her like that despite the kind of fun we had last night. But did it matter? It was temporary, anyway.

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I brushed my hair backward. I had nothing planned for the day, and I was expecting my school to send the result for my application today. It could mean I would return to Georgia or remain in this city.

So I changed into new clothes and went to prepare something to eat. Just working in the kitchen, I pointed at the cooker, which lit up. One of the simple benefits of being like this, you could save yourself the stress of simple things like lighting up a stove.

I walked around, feeling a bit happier than a week before. I had been tasked with finding a mysterious wolf and a girl. I found them one week later. The question was, why? Why would my grandmother give me such a task? I could find out, and that was what I would do. I was going to ask my grandmother what the chasing around was about. What was the point of all of it?

After breakfast of rice and sauce, I walked into the secret room. I had gotten the things I needed for the perfect ritual purpose — oils, feathers, and incense imported from Greece.

The fire started when I closed the bowl. I closed my eyes, raised my hand on the fire bowl, and I said a few magical words. Then I opened my eyes, picked up the bottle of oil from the table, and poured it into the flame. And it rose so high that it almost reached the ceiling. But this wasn’t just a flame. Nothing would burn from it unless I wanted it to.

Sitting down and crossing my legs, I began to speak. I wanted to talk to my grandmother.

Páno apó to lófo, páno apó to lófo,

Leptós thámnos, diexodikós thámnos

Megáli plimmýra, megáli fotiá!

Páno apó to párko, páno apó chlomó

Megáli plimmýra, megáli fotiá!

Páno apó to lófo, páno apó to lófo,

Leptós thámnos, diexodikós thámnos

Megáli plimmýra, megáli fotiá!

I waited, held my breath for as long as possible, and kept my eyes on the burning flame. The fire slowed down, turning blue and growing again, but not as tall as it once was. My grandmother appeared in the flame, all happy. She was smiling at me. How I wished she didn’t die so early. How I wished she was alive for a long time so she could mentor me into a powerful witch like herself. She raised her head and pointed her hands at me. Her body was like rays with flames glowing out of her dress.

“I am so proud of you, Cordelia,” she said.

That was the name she used to call me, Cordelia. She once told me that she would have given me a better name if she were alive.

“Thank you, granny,” I said, trying my best not to jump and run towards the flame.

“I see things that trouble your mind. Ask your questions?”

“Yes,” I nodded. I must speak in time before she leaves. Summoning her always has a duration. It was seven minutes, just seven minutes on the dot.

“The wolf and a girl. Why? What do I have to do?”

“An opportunity, my dear. You need the wolf for a sacrifice. It will unlock your powers, far greater than you ever believed you can have in this life.”

“Sacrifice? Does that mean it has to die?”

“Sacrifices are made for purposes. Compare its life with the ability of becoming the most powerful being the world has ever seen. Weigh the options. Which will you choose?”

I nodded. “How will I make the sacrifice?”

She sighed. “You are one of the chosen. You have the potential. All you have to do is capture this wolf and the old witches will guide you when you have it in your care.”

She turned around, ready to leave. “I should be ready to leave.”

“My mother called. She said I shouldn’t fall in love with it. Why would she warn me about that?”

She turned to me and nodded. “Witches and wolves have some history. We are not usually best of friends. Conflict of interest. You should take your mother’s warning seriously.”

“What about the girl?”

“She is the only thing stopping you from getting to that wolf. She will be protecting it with all she has. You have to take her out of the way.”

“Should I kill her?”

“You can’t. She is a born wolf. Your powers are not as good against her except you use it on something else.”

I stared at her and waited for answers.

“I know you are confused,” she continued, “but you will understand as you continue to get closer and closer to the two of them. May the gods be with you,” she said. Then the echo of her voice resonated, may the gods be with you, and she vanished from the flame.

The fire grew again, and then it turned to a bright yellow.

May the gods be with me.