Veronica wasn''t sure what she expected when Deville dragged them away from everyone else after selecting someone to take over to observe the work being done.


    She figured that Deville would probably talk about the incident earlier, but Deville''s next words shocked her.


    After staring blankly at Deville for a few seconds, she blurted out, "Huh?"


    Deville returned her blank look as she repeated, "I said you should return home immediately. The witching hour is over, and nothing is keeping you from leaving."


    While it was true that everyone was free to leave since the witching hour was over, Veronica didn''t expect Deville to send her away right away. Everyone else was currently pitching in to clean the mess. She had a feeling that Lucida had something to do with Deville''s desire to see her gone.


    Leta seemed to think the same thing as she bluntly asked, "Is this because of Lucida''s offer?"


    "I won''t mince my words." Deville pointedly stared straight at Veronica as she said, "I expect you to leave as soon as possible."


    Why does she want me to leave so badly? Is Lucida being my mentor really that bad?


    Veronica glanced at Leta to see what her thoughts were.


    "I think she has a point." Before Veronica could decide how she felt about Leta''s words, Leta continued, "Your baby sister must be exhausted. Besides, what about your parents?"


    The mention of Veronica''s parents left Veronica feeling guilty and disgusted with herself. She only now remembered about what happened to her parents before coming to the witching hour party.


    If something had happened to her baby sister, how would she be able to face them when she returned?


    Even though they wouldn''t be home when she returned, she wilted at the thought of her parents'' disappointed expressions.


    I should go home right away.


    "Good. Now that''s settled, I''ll take Leta back with me," Deville said.


    "Wait. What about Lucida? Will she bother Veronica again?" Leta suddenly asked.


    "It''s likely. Lucida isn''t the type to give up when she sets her eyes on something, but as long as Veronica refuses, there''s nothing she can do. However, it''s up to Veronica whether or not she accepts Lucida''s offer to be her mentor."


    Despite Deville''s confident words, Veronica had her doubts. Lucida hadn''t had any issues forcing them to float high up in the sky with the threat of death hanging over them. It had felt as if one wrong word would have sent them plummeting to the ground.


    "Is there a reason why I should accept the offer?" Veronica asked hesitantly.


    Deville pursed her lips. "As you''ve seen, Lucida is a powerful witch with a lot of knowledge. She would have a lot to teach you."


    Leta narrowed her eyes. "Then why do you want Veronica to refuse?"


    After a moment''s hesitation, Deville said, "She had a disciple before, but her disciple turned out wrong, which forced her into seclusion. No one knows exactly what went down between them other than the two involved. All anyone knows is that her disciple did something unforgivable, which resulted in a break in their relationship."


    "What does that have to do with Veronica?"


    "The incident became a stain on Lucida''s reputation. As a result, not many witches talk about her. Accepting her as your mentor might result in the bad reputation spreading to you."


    Is that I''ve never heard of her?


    Whatever the incident was, it must have been really bad if no one wanted to talk about it. However, Veronica didn''t think that was enough to deter her from accepting Lucida''s offer. It wasn''t like Veronica had a stellar reputation to begin with. While it wasn''t bad, it wasn''t good either. Accepting the offer probably wouldn''t make a ripple.


    Leta must have seen something in her expression as she asked, "Are you going to accept the offer?"


    "I don''t know." Veronica glanced down at her baby sister, who had groggily opened her eyes. "I don''t like how she was looking at my baby sister."


    She hadn''t forgotten how Lucida eyed her baby sister. The first person Lucida had wanted to take on as a disciple wasn''t her, but her baby sister. While Veronica didn''t know why Lucida was so interested in her baby sister, there was no way she would let her baby sister anywhere near her. She was sure she could manage just fine without Lucida.


    Deville nodded, seemingly approving of Veronica''s decision. "In that case, I suggest you leave now before Lucida corners you again."


    Veronica looked back at Leta, who said, "You don''t have to wait for me. You should go on ahead."If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    "I agree. I think there''s been enough excitement for one day," Echo said as he buried himself in Veronica''s hair.


    "Alright," Veronica said as she mounted her broomstick. "See you tomorrow."


    Leta waved as Veronica slowly ascended into the air. The higher she flew up, the more she could see of the mansion. Veronica winced at the destruction. Surprisingly, most of the damage had been caused by Lucida, who had destroyed the roof. Watching as everyone worked to clean up, Veronica felt a twinge of guilt for ditching everyone.


    She quickly got over it and focused on returning home.


    Her broomstick didn''t get very far before something crossed her path. Veronica jerked her broomstick to a stop to prevent herself from colliding with the snowy owl that had cut in front of her. It gave a hoot and flew circles around Veronica.


    It didn''t take a genius to know that this wasn''t any ordinary owl. This had to be a witch''s familiar.


    As Veronica wondered who the witch was, the snowy owl finally settled on the edge of Veronica''s broomstick. It raised a claw, revealing that a message had been attached to its leg. Veronica removed the paper. As soon as she retrieved the paper, the snowy owl took off, heading back to the mansion. She watched the snowy owl disappear from view before turning her attention back to the paper in her hand.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Echo peeked out from Veronica''s hair and asked, "What does it say?"


    Veronica unraveled the paper. After reading its short contents, she frowned. When she remained silent for too long, Echo tugged on her hair and repeated his question. This time he got a reaction from her, and she frowned as she folded the paper.


    So much for avoiding Lucida. I didn''t think she would actually send her familiar to deliver a message to me.


    Lucida must have realized Veronica would leave right away and wanted to make sure to send a message before Veronica could get very far.


    "Lucida said she will come to my home to discuss being my mentor," she said, answering Echo''s question.


    "What?" Echo asked incredulously. "Does she even know where you live?"


    She doubted that it would be an obstacle for the witch. Lucida could just ask around or use magic to discover her location. It wasn''t like her address was confidential information.


    "Let''s stop talking about it. Let''s just go home," Veronica said as she tucked away the message.


    The rest of the trip was uneventful, much to her relief. She had enough excitement for one night and was ready to crash once she got home. However, she never expected to see both her parents'' cars sitting in the driveway. Veronica''s eyes widened like saucers as she stared down at it in disbelief.


    Why are both cars here? Didn''t Mom go to the hospital to see Dad?


    There was a sinking feeling in her stomach as she landed on the rooftop in front of her room. She carefully stepped down from her broomstick and tugged at the window.


    The window didn''t budge.


    "Oh no," she muttered as she tugged at the window with the same result.


    Veronica knew that there was only one reason why she couldn''t open her bedroom window. It had to have been locked from the inside. She had purposely left it unlocked when she left since she intended to return the same way. If it was now locked, it meant that someone must have locked it.


    Suddenly, the window slammed open, nearly sending her tumbling off the rooftop.


    "Veronica, what are you doing? Get back in here," her mother demanded.


    In the face of her mother''s furious expression, she reluctantly entered through the window her mother just opened. As soon as she entered the room, Veronica was greeted by the sight of both her parents'' grim expressions.


    Seeing her father in one piece, Veronica blurted out, "Dad. You''re okay.


    Her father narrowed his eyes. "Don''t think I''ll let you change the topic so easily. What were you thinking, leaving the house with your baby sister? Do you know how scared we were to see you both missing?"


    "I told you to stay home to watch your baby sister. I didn''t tell you to take her out with you to do who knows what," her mother joined in.


    Under the barrage of her parents'' words, Veronica could only hang her head and accept them. Her baby sister, on the other hand, let out a wail that stopped their parents in their tracks. Their mother quickly took her baby sister from Veronica to coax her as their father hovered. Once her baby sister calmed down, there was a brief moment of reprieve before their parents turned their attention back onto Veronica.


    Her mother asked softly, "Do you understand what you did wrong?" When Veronica remained silent, she continued, "I rushed to check on your father to make sure he was okay only to return home and find both of you missing. We couldn''t find a single trace of you anywhere. We thought something horrible must have happened to you two."


    "I''m sorry," Veronica said in a small voice.


    Her father sighed. "Veronica. Saying sorry isn''t enough. This is serious. If we can''t trust you to listen to us during emergencies, what do you expect us to do?"


    She continued to stare at the floor, fidgeting with the broomstick in her hand. Abruptly, she felt her parents pull her into a hug.


    "We''re glad you''re okay," her mother whispered.


    Veronica''s eyes welled up with tears as she clung to them, basking in their warmth. After several minutes, they broke apart, and Veronica took the chance to furiously rub the tears out of her eyes.


    "You''re still grounded," her father reminded.


    She let out a small laugh as she didn''t expect otherwise. "Dad, what happened? Mom said you were in an accident."


    "I was, but it wasn''t serious. Unfortunately, your mother misunderstood what was going on and panicked."


    Her mother elbowed and glared at him. "What do you expect me to think when I got a call from your coworker that you were in an accident and I couldn''t get ahold of you?"


    "Sorry, sorry."


    Even though Veronica expected that to be the case since her father was right in front of her, hearing that it wasn''t bad lifted the heavy weight in her chest. She was just glad her family was okay.


    "Anyway, are you going to explain yourself?" her mother abruptly asked. "Where did you run off to? When we came home, we thought you might have been kidnapped, but there were no signs of anyone breaking in. We were going to call the police when we realized your bedroom window was unlocked."


    "I didn''t expect our young daughter to go sneaking out in the middle of the night," her father said, shaking his head.


    "I was meeting with a friend," Veronica blurted out. "We had plans to meet tonight and wanted to see them. I didn''t want to stay home alone."


    Her parents'' expression softened as her mother said, "That''s still no excuse." Veronica suddenly yawned and covered her mouth with one hand. "We will be having a long discussion about this later. It''s been a long night for all of us."


    Refusing to let the opportunity slip, Veronica nodded her head vigorously. "Okay, Mom, Dad. Good night."


    The moment her parents left the room, Veronica collapsed on the bed.


    "You''re definitely going to be grounded," Echo said. "What are you going to do?"


    Rather than answer the question, Veronica chose to bask in the softness of her bed.


    That was something for future Veronica to worry about. All she wanted to do at that moment was to sleep. As she fell asleep, her mind was filled with thoughts about the witching hour party and what the next one would be like.