She folds her arms. “Are you that ashamed of me?”
“Yes,” I deadpan, but then quickly add, “No, of course I’m not ashamed of you; but you know what will happen if the town finds out about your existence.”
My grandmother scrunches up her face and scowls. “What? They’ll think that our family is cursed and that our daughters are horrible people? Does that sound about right?”
“Yes, it does,” I say brightly. “Now. Are you ready?”
“I suppose.”
“Stand still.” I pull out the atomizer that Devlin had at his house. Who keeps an atomizer? An inventor, I guess. This was the potion that I most wanted to make—to make Nana invisible so that she could walk around freely without ruining my family.
I spritz her with the mist and she instantly vanishes.
“Did it work?” she asks.
“It sure did,” Devlin says, coming up behind me. “Are we ready?”
I grin. “I think so. Nana, want to go for a ride?”
I can’t see her, but I sure do hear her when she says, “I thought you’d never ask.”
Normally we would travel by magic to get to a new location, but Devlin insisted on driving. I didn’t complain because it’s a perfect winter day for once—not blisteringly cold with a freezing wind chill. A warm front moved in last night, and it feels like early spring.
So he got out his convertible, we picked up Nana and we are heading into the countryside.
As we pass through Castleview, I get a good look at all the charming Tudor-style homes and the shops that line the center of town. Lots of humans are here today, visiting stores, buying clothes and jumping into books.
As my gaze scans the horizon, my phone buzzes. Storm’s texting me. Yes, even though we’re magical, we still use cell phones.
Had a great time last night.
I type back,Yes. Thank you for the bear.
When can I see you again?
My stomach clenches. Whencanhe? After the break-in at Devlin’s, I’m not sure when I want to see him, if I want to see him at all.I’m working a lot the next few days. Let me check my schedule.
Checking my schedule? That’s the kiss of death in a relationship. I might as well tell him that I’m washing my hair, like women told guys they didn’t like back in the olden days.
Plus, this is real. This is a serious decision I’ve made. This puts my entire family’s magic in jeopardy to simply blow him off.
The weight of that is tremendous It crashes down on me, and I press a hand to my forehead in worry. But as much as I’d love to pursue things with Storm, it doesn’t feel right. It just…doesn’t. He’s fine and all—I mean, on paper he’s perfect, but just receiving this text made a sinking feeling open in my stomach.
I shouldn’t ignore that. Should I?
But Storm just texts back,I’ll touch base with you when I’m back in town.
It feels like I’ve been given a lifeline that I don’t want.
“Everything okay over there?” Devlin asks.
“Oh yeah. It’s fine.” I tilt my head up and get an eyeful of sun that blinds me. “Just checking the sun. It’s still there. Working overtime. Go, sun! I knew you could do it.”
“Storm texted her,” Nana tattles from the back.
Devlin doesn’t say anything, and I glance over my shoulder at Nana and scowl at her. No clue if she saw me, but just doing it made me feel better.
We head out of town into the Tennessee country, and within minutes we’re flanked on both sides by rolling meadows that were cut for hay in the summer. Large round bales sit on the empty fields.
