Magic and Mayhem: Any Witch Way (Kindle Worlds Novella) Read Online Free PDF

squeak —“well, the thing is we told”— squeak —“well, we sort of said—”
    “Oh, for Goddess’ sake, spit it out,” the round guy said, getting up now. “We told Mac we’d come help you out. Correction. These idiots told Mac we’d come help you out. It’s all part of their Cinderella Plan—”
    “The Glass Slipper Initiative,” Tall Guy One said. “On the whole, Mouse Shifters have been relatively underappreciated in the world. We’re not really great in a battle, and don’t have a whole lot to set us apart from any of the other Shifters, other than the cheese-eating thing. So, we’re setting out to change that with the Glass Slipper Initiative, our own little effort to be more like the mice in Cinderella.”
    Tall Guy Two nodded rapidly. “Yeah, helpful and cheerful. Just like in the movie.”
    “Maybe you should come in and start from the beginning,” Gwen said, stepping forward and waving an arm to invite them into his room. Was she serious? This day just got better and better.
    “Oh, thank you,” said Tall Guy Two, bowing repeatedly as he entered the room, as though meeting Cinderella herself. Gideon felt like he’d walked into some bizarre fantasyland where fairy tales were lived out in twisted reality show versions you couldn’t get away from.
    “I’m Gwen.” She offered her hand to each of the mice. At least she’d given up on the big speech announcing her corporeal form to everyone she encountered.
    “I’m Mickey,” Tall Guy Two said, then gestured to the other brown-haired one, “and this is Mike, but we call him Mighty. That’s Moose.” The round guy nodded.
    Gideon was speechless. He didn’t know which was worse. Mouse Shifters named Mickey, Mighty, or Moose, or the way Mighty was currently flexing arms that appeared to be as thin as toothpicks without a muscle—mighty or otherwise—in sight.
    Gideon looked at Gwen. She beamed. Positively beamed at her latest fans.
    Great . And he meant that sarcastically.

Chapter Five
    Gideon put his hand on Gwen’s back as they neared the carnival encampment, then removed it. What the hell was he thinking? It was a knee-jerk reaction, that was all. He knew the witches and warlocks in the traveling circus could be a closed-off group. They might not welcome an unannounced visit from strangers. His urge to protect Gwen was nothing more than a mere byproduct of having been raised right.
    He’d sent the mice off on a wild goose chase to get them out of his hair for the day, but it hadn’t been easy to convince them to leave Gwen. The trio had shown up at Gwen’s door that morning with platters of fruit and cheese—a lot of cheese. Mickey and Mighty had said it was all part of the Glass Slipper Service, while Moose grumbled about sharing his cheese.
    As he and Gwen teleported to a field near the carnival’s encampment, Gideon was glad he’d been able to ditch the mice. The last thing he needed was three mice tagging along as he tried to get the Komolvo to open up to him. Komolvo witches and mice did not get along. Komolvo witches could almost always trace their lineage back to a few familial lines originating in a small village on a mountainside in Europe. A village that at one time produced great cheeses.
    After the mouse invasion of 1713, the Komolvo took to traveling, and many now worked in carnivals the world over.
    They’d only gotten within twenty yards of the small carnival community when two men and a woman separated from the group and came toward them. Nowadays, instead of tents, or even RVs, they traveled in tiny homes set on trailers. Not what you think of when you think of trailer homes, these were tiny little houses, with chimneys and real roofs. The only difference between them and a real home were the wheels. Well, that and size.
    Each was typically no more than three hundred or so square feet. At least, that was how they appeared from the outside. Gideon wouldn’t be surprised if they were much larger on the