8 Chapter 8

"I don't think she's changed at all," Afton remarked as she kicked aside an empty plastic water bottle on the sidewalk. "Although, now it's Regine Harris Frazier. In school, she was just Regine Frazier who decided to send an anonymous e-mail to the dean concerning the fact I came to class barefoot. Well, I received a stern warning and had to wear shoes from then on. But that wasn't the worse of it. Ms. Frazier sent out quite a few e-mails for any and all infractions of the rules, at least as she saw it."

"So, what did you do, Aft?" Devlin asked as he walked along with his sister and aunt. He remained hunched in his leather jacket, his hands stuffed in the pockets.

Afton smiled fondly. "Remember, I told you about all those thunder storms that spring? They really put Ms. Frazier on edge. I just made sure she wasn't all that comfortable in her sorority dorm room."

"Ah, so that was you! Well done, well done."

"Thank you. But it wasn't just for me. I did it for all the girls who got stung by Regine Frazier's poison pen letters."

"You're simply the best, darling," Winnie agreed as she strolled between with her niece and nephew. "No one does inclement weather like you." The clouds had since cleared, leaving the air cold, crisp, and unusually still thanks to the blankets of snow.

"Well, I have my talents, too, auntie," Dev deferred. To demonstrate, he shuffled ahead of the woman and then indicated the row of lamp posts. One by one he pointed to them and turned off their guiding light, thus enveloping the sidewalk and surrounding buildings in darkness. "Voila!"

"Excellent, Dev," Afton laughed as she threaded her arm through Winnie's to make sure her aunt wouldn't slip and fall. Luckily, a spray of bright stars helped to illuminate their way back to the apartment building. "The Tremaines have never lacked for magical talent."

"Yes, but we've never been able to go beyond the ordinary," Winnie sighed they came to the front lobby door of their building. "Just think if we could conjure up anything we wanted."

"But after that, what's left?" Afton asked as she opened the door the old-fashioned way with her key. "There's no more challenge left."

"I suppose you're right, sis." Dev slouched his chin into the small top pouch of his jacket.

Opening the door, Afton stood aside to let her party inside. "Stick around, Dev, for awhile. I want to give you and Winnie your Christmas presents. After all, it's just after midnight, Christmas Day."

"Oh, that's right!" Winnie clapped her gloved hands.

"Gee, Aft," Dev sighed. "I wish I could have bought you something nicer, but I've never been so broke. You think that as witches, we could conjure up a few dollars just to tide us over."

"Don't worry," his sister assured him. "It's the thought that counts. Now let's get comfortable."

Once inside her apartment in the rear of the shop, Afton directed Dev and Winnie to take a seat around her gaudy but serviceable Christmas tree while she went to quickly change into a lounging outfit, a pair of flared pants and a matching sleeveless top in ebony satin.

When she returned Afton sat cross-legged on the rug in order to hand out the gifts she had placed under her tree. "Here you go, Dev." She handed her brother a wrapped rectangular box.

He quickly stripped away the foil paper to reveal a boxed set of his favorite Western movies on Blue Ray, including High Noon, Rio Lobo, and Hondo. "Oh, gee, Aft! These are great! But I don't have a Blue Ray player just an old DVD."

"You'll have one once you get home," she told him with a satisfied smile. Dev lived in a small loft apartment close to the Empyrean Club. Besides his band gig, he worked part-time at the Argos Herb & Essence Shoppe on the ground floor of his building. Afton had recruited the owner of the shop to sneak into Dev's apartment while he was here and hook up the Blue Ray player.

"Ah, these are wonderful!" Devlin leaned in and gave his sister a quick kiss on the cheek. "Thanks so much!"

"You're entirely welcome. There's one more." Jumping up, she went to her bedroom and then returned moments later with a canvas clothing bag. "Here you go. Try this on for size."

As Dev unzipped the bag his face lit up with a look of astonishment first, and then joy. Inside he found a new coat of taupe suede and lined with heavy wool. "Oh, wow, excellent!" He immediately tried it on and found the coat fit perfectly. "This is too much!"

"You need a warm coat. I'm tired of seeing you shiver in that old jacket of yours. Try the pockets."

When he did, Dev extracted a pair of lined, leather gloves in dove gray. "Oh geez, Aft, you're the greatest! I don't know how to thank you." He gave her a big, brotherly hug.

"Just wear the coat and gloves in good health," Afton told him, smiling, "because I want you to remain in good health."

"Oh, I will, I will!"

From her perch on top of the bookcase, Hexaba looked down at the humans with a faint smile of feline approval. Afton retrieved the next present. "And now for you, auntie."

Accepting her gift, Winnie quickly stripped away the paper until she got down to the shirt-sized box and opened it. "Oh, how lovely!" She retrieved a filmy black shawl studded with shimmering gold beads and spangles. She glanced at her niece. "Thank you so much, darling. But what does it do?"

"It doesn't do anything except make you look beautiful, auntie."

"How clever!" Winnie held the shawl up to the lamp light and watched the little jewels sparkle. "I'll wear it next time I go to the club. You're such a dear!"

"I'm glad you like it." Afton produced a square jewelry box of moss green velvet. "And this goes with it."