Mr. Mendes disentangled himself from Inez. "Excuse me, hon, I'd better put some clothes on." He sidled away, trying to keep his nudity from Josh and Ric. He escaped to the bedroom.
Ric put the book on the table. Josh and Ric sat down on the couch, and Inez joined them. She turned to face them. "My name is Inez," she said, "and I'm sorry I reacted so badly, but that's my fiance."
Josh gave a half-hearted smile. "I'm Josh, and that's Ric. That's okay, I guess."
Ric swallowed. He took a hold of Inez's sleeve, and shook it. She turned to face him. "Does Mr. Mendes know you're a witch?"
Inez smiled. "Bruja. And yes he does."
"Then - could you teach me more magic?"
Inez stared at Ric. "You want to learn?"
Ric nodded. Josh looked at Ric and then Inez, very surprised.
"Well," said Inez, pointing at the book, "You already have the source material. Whatever is in that book is probably as powerful if not more than me." She leaned in. "You need to learn ethics. What not to change."
"Like what?"
"For one thing, don't change someone against their will, unless it is in self-defense. Spells that help people are ethical, providing they agree to them, and transforming the inanimate world is OK, I guess." She thought for a bit. "Take the book, and find a spell to transform..." she looked around, and pointed to a plant in the corner, "That plant."
Ric got the book and leafed through it. He found a spell and carefully cast it on the bush.
There was a grinding noise, and the bush shrank, and then exploded in a shower of leaves of paper, all the colors of the rainbow. The paper covered the entire room.
Inez nodded. "Not bad, kiddo. You need to learn control though."
Just then, Francsico walked in. He looked around. "Inez, boys, what's going on?"