“No.” He lays the bag on my bed and carefully sets the tape recorder inside.
I keep trying: “We’re about to do something huge; shouldn’t we talk about it?”
“Who are you, and what have you done with Simon Snow?” He flicks his wrist, and his wand slides into his palm—he’s wearing his holster. He points at the tape recorder.“Safe as houses!”
I touch his arm. “Baz . . .”
He turns on me, eyes flashing. “Simon.She hasn’t had magic. For five years. And it’s my fault. I can’t talk until I fix this. I can’t evenbreathe. . . All right?”
I take in his wild eyes, his bloodless fists. “Yeah,” I say. “All right.” I squeeze his arm. “Let’s go, then. Let’s fix it.”
I’m wearing a T-shirt with slits down the back for my wings. I pick the Watford hoodie up from the floor. “It’s too hot for this,” I say. “Just hide the wings, would you?”
Baz has the duffel bag slung over his shoulder. “With a spell?”
“Yeah. I’m tired of wearing hoodies and trench coats, and it’s not like I’m gonna fly to Camden . . .”
“All right,” Baz says softly. He snaps his wrist, then aims his wand at my wings.“Now you see it, now you don’t!”
Baz’s magic is hot, it normally burns a little bit . . . But not today. I don’t feel anything. I glance over my shoulder—my wings are still there.
Baz frowns. He points his wand again.“There’s nothing to see here!”
Nothing happens.
“Sorry,” he says. “I’ve been upset. My magic is . . . We’ll have Bunce do it.” He’s already walking into the living room. “Penelope—”
Penny and Shepard are leaning against the living room wall, kissing. (I kind of feel like I’ve been cockblocking Penny all these years. As soon as I left her alone,thishappened.)
“Spell Simon’s wings away,” Baz says.
She kicks away from the wall. “I thought we weren’t doing that anymore.”
“I changed my mind,” I say. “It’s too hot to hide them.”
Penny fishes her purple gem out of her bra (we need to fix that ring) and holds it out to me.“There’s nothing to see here!”
Nothing happens.
Penny frowns. “Did you already try, Baz?”
“Yeah, I’m too upset to cast.”
“Is that a thing?” she asks. “Maybe Simon moved to a dead spot.” She points her fist towards the sandwich wrappers.“A place for everything, and everything in its place!”The trash disappears. “Hmmm . . .” She points at me again.“Now you see it, now you don’t!”
Nothing happens.
Baz shoots his wand into his hand and points at my new sofa.“Tickled pink!”The sofa turns pink.
“Hey . . .” I say.
Baz points at me. “Clean as a whistle!Did that do anything?”
“I don’t know,” I say. “I was already clean. Should I feel dirtier?”
Penny has stepped closer to me. Her fist is still out.“Float like a butterfly!”
My feet stay on the ground. “Hey, you guys, slow down . . .”
