“Ready to celebrate?” Everett lifted the champagne bottle.
“What do I do? Break it on the sign?”
“It’s the company’s headquarters, not a ship,” Everett said with amusement. “How about we do it justice and drink it instead?”
***
The next morning, Simon packed his stuff—the entirety of one unworn shirt and a toothbrush—and joined Shanna in her little Beetle. Jinx rode in the back seat, happily panting through the open window, as the car headed out of town and west, settling on the winding road leading through the dark green conifered hills.
“Explain this bond thing again,” Simon said.
“I can’t tell you anything more than I already have. It must be some residual effect from one of the rituals.”
“So either the one that brought me back a few days ago …”
“Or the one I performed in the first place.”
Once he got out of this strange mess and reclaimed his normal life, he was going to get real whiplash about all this witchy stuff. It was somewhat easy to accept while his life was chaotic: he’d woken up in a strange woman’s bed, he’d missed three years, he’d died but not quite, and everyone else thought he was newly dead. The existence of actual witches who performed spells and resurrection rituals seemed minor in comparison.
“Anyway, Gran will know better,” Shanna said.
Which is why they were headed to Spokane, to Shanna’s grandmother. At least it would put him on the right side of the Rockies. Shanna’s grandma was also a witch because apparently, everyone in his new life was one. On the bright side, Shanna had given him the impression that Grandma Dolores was more capable and less prone to accidents.
And Simon could use a capable witch.
Shanna’s tendency to break furniture, Simon’s head, or his phone (which passed away in the early hours of this morning) was also the reason he was going along with this plan. The bond allowed them to only be a hundred feet apart before they started yanking at each other in an invisible tug-of-war. But that wasn’t the real issue. If Simon had to take Shanna with him to San Francisco as he showed up on the doorstep of Aries Tech and proclaimed he wasn’t dead, he would. Who cared if there was astrange hippie woman with him? What mattered was setting the record straight.
But what unfortunately also mattered was that his plan went smoothly, and he didn’t make things worse by showing up. Which would not be a given if Miss Accidents-Are-My-Middle-Name was there, attached to his hip.
Or should that beMrs., considering that technically, they were still married—
In any way, while the bond persisted, he couldn’t risk it. He shuddered to think what would happen if Shanna came close to their production line or any of the display rooms. The woman was a walking glitch. Living with her must be an absolute nightmare.
“So how did you, uh, come by youraffliction?” he asked.
“You know how some people are luckier than others? I’m not saying necessarily in terms of money or position, but in little things? They find a coin on the ground. They win more games of rock, paper, scissors. They prepare an umbrella, but just as they step outside, it stops raining.” She glanced over at him. “I’m the opposite.”
“But those are random statistics. It’s impossible for everyone to find the same number of coins on the ground, or win the same number of games, so of course, some will appear luckier than others.”
“What can I say? I’m a statistical anomaly. Dragging down the average.”
“Is that why you claim you’re bad at witchcraft?”
“I guess. My spells tend to have side effects, though usually nothing dire.”
“Except for this bond. Or when you tried to resurrect me but didn’t quite succeed.”
“Yeah. That,” she responded with a bit of a bite.
Simon lowered his gaze to his lap, contemplating ways to salvage the conversation, then wondering why he wanted to salvage it. He cleared his throat. “So, that crafting of yours. The wire pendants. What’s that all about?”
“I make them. Sell them. It’s my job, for now.”
“Oh.”
She glanced over again. “What?”
“Nothing. They look pretty. Very intricate. Good for you.” It wasn’t his kind of crafting, but he could appreciate good work. “Do the shapes have specific meanings?”
