“If you had planned to stay, why didn’t you tell me you were staying in a magical town? I remember you mentioning you were headed this way, but you never sent me any of your articles like you usually do,” Malcolm had a sense that Jasper was keeping something from him.
Jasper’s face turned a little red. “Well, you don’t like magic. I didn’t want to be like ‘hey bro, come hang out in a magical town with me.’ You know?”
“Good point,” Malcolm murmured. He definitely wouldn’t have wanted to come here if Jasper had told him about it. But now that he was here… it felt different.
Sage came over and placed a mug of coffee in front of Jasper.
“Wait, you didn’t order anything, did you?” asked Malcolm.
Jasper smiled. “Perks of being a regular.” He winked at the witch, making her face turn crimson. Sage gave Hades a quick pat and a small cup of whipped cream topped with a dog biscuit before she hurried back to her counter.
“You’re not worried that flirting with a witch might get you hexed?” Malcolm was only half-kidding about that.
Jasper arched a brow. “Is that what happens when you flirt with witches?”
“No,” Malcolm said far too hastily.
Jasper chortled into his coffee mug. “So what brings you to Moonstone Falls, really?”
“Like I said, you did. Just… indirectly.”
Jasper blinked. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He’d never kept anything a secret from Jasper after the night he’d levitated him off his dorm bed, and he wasn’t about to start now. Malcolm told the entire story, starting with the disastrous arrival in the pumpkin patch, right up to setting Calli’s rug on fire with a kiss.
Jasper snorted. “Thank God you never set me on fire.”
“You’re not my type,” said Malcolm.
“Yeah, that would have probably changed how I viewed magic… and roommates.” He took deep drink from his mug.
“Is that the Cursed Bones?”
Jasper nodded, eyes closed.
Malcolm couldn’t help but wonder how the spell differed from person to person. “What do you taste?”
“Apple pie, the kind my grandmother made at Thanksgiving when I was a kid.” He nodded at Malcolm’s mug. “How about you?”
“Bananas foster. The kind I had on my tenth birthday.”
“She’s got a gift,” Jasper said with admiration. “So, you decided to stay and let Calli give you some magical tips, huh?”
“Yeah, at least one lesson. The least I can do is humor her.” He still doubted she could help him. No one could.
“I’m proud of you, man. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?”
“Well, I owe her that much for her pumpkins.” He stroked Hades’s head, wondering if Jasper was referring to more than just the lessons.
“Damn right you do. Word is, her pumpkins are a major part of the Halloween festival here.”
“What, really?”
“Oh yeah. I’ve been asking around about last year’s festival to prep for my next article. She does some amazing things with them since they grow to be huge. Last year she had a carriage bewitched to roll with pumpkins as the wheels. The non-magics can never figure out how she does it. But I know she really wants to make the carriage itself someday out of a pumpkin.”
God, he really owed Calli for destroying something that mattered this much not just to her, but to the people who attended the festival.
Malcolm eyed the shops on Main Street. Two men were setting up a festival sign that spanned the width of the street. One man used his wand to guide the rope up the side of the building he was standing beside. The other used a tall ladder, carrying his end up to a hook on the building on the opposite side of the street.
