Page 58 of Moth to a Flame

“Yes, but aren’t you the one always talking about statistical significance? We need more data.”

She rolled her eyes, but leaned into me more. “Funny how much about math you can remember when it is about sex.”

“If I’d known it was this rewarding, I would have paid more attention in school.” I pushed her up against the work table, tugging at the shoulders of her lace dress so I could kiss the soft skin over her collarbone when an annoyed groan sounded beside us.

“Yeah, don’t mind me. Just an innocent young mothman being exposed to his older brother’s degenerate behavior.”

Now I rolled my eyes as Motthew walked through one of the broken windows. “You were the one who said I needed to get a girlfriend.”

Lucia chuckled and pushed me away until I pouted. She reached across the empty space between us now, running her thumb over my lip piercing, and winked before turning to my youngest brother.

“Need help with your homework?”

He shrugged. “If you have the time. You know, I graduated early so I could take a semester off before starting university.”

“This is time off,” she countered. “It’s only one class, and it’s at Pumpkin Hollow Community College. Come on, let’s go inside.”

She gave me a kiss on the cheek and patted my ass, then followed my brother. He complained, but I knew he was happy to have someone in his life on his level of book smarts. She was my light, but seeing how she cared for my brothers had convinced me I would never let her go.

She worked with Motthew on his schoolwork, and already had him learning sigil building—he was a natural, of course. She’d changed the recipe for Motholemew’s medicine to better suit his moth genetics and he had been thriving, his chronic wing pain nearly completely eliminated. And Timothy had really taken to Pumpkin Hollow, appointing himself the guardian of the covered bridge that led into town. I didn’t one hundred percent understand it, but he was happy and had a hobby that wasn’t video games in mom’s basement, so I was happy.

As she walked away, there was a tug around my heart. It wasn’t the bond, I just hated to see her go.

Forty minutes later I’d installed three new panels and called it a night. Motthew was in the parlor, playing FortKnight on the new TV, Lucia dozing on the couch next to him. My wings fluttered as I watched her for a moment, the tension she carried in her brow wiped away in sleep. She was radiant, even draped over the arm of the threadbare couch.

I didn’t want to wake her. We had an early morning tomorrow.

I scooped her off the couch and carried her up into our room. She nuzzled against my chest, and my heart was completely full.

Pumpkin Hollow’s town square was lively. A bit too lively at seven a.m. for nocturnal creatures like me and Lucia, but we were pulling it together. Pumpkin Hollow’s farmer’s market had started at seven a.m. every Sunday for the last hundred years, rain or shine. So we couldn’t be late.

I grabbed a wrought-iron table from near the gazebo and moved it beneath a tree for shade. Lucia encouraged a few vines to grow up around the legs, holding the handwritten FREE sign in front of the bottles and pouches she set on top. A few people stopped to watch, curious about the fresh addition.

She spent longer than was necessary rearranging the tinctures and teas, then stepped back into the shadows, nervously picking at her nails.

I set my hands on her shoulders, and gently pushed her forward.

“You don’t need to do that anymore. Lurking is just my job now.” I whispered in her ear and left a soft kiss on her neck.

“But what if—” But before she could finish the thought, a woman with a very large handbag stepped up to the table.

I barely heard Lucia say, “Hi Doris.”

The woman smiled. “Hi Lucia! I just wanted to let you know how helpful your tea was. Thanks for leaving it for me. My mother is doing so much better.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” Lucia was a little louder that time.

Doris gave her a beaming smile. “I’m sorry about our misunderstanding last time. I’m still getting used to all this magic stuff. It’s quite a shift for a city girl like me.” She looked down at the FREE sign. “Gertrude said—well, she said that you really liked honey. I hope this is an acceptable form of payment?”

My antennae perked up as she pulled a golden jar out of her oversized bag.

Lucia reached for it before cradling it against her chest. “It’s perfect.”

Doris smiled again as she stepped away, and more citizens of Pumpkin Hollow took her place.

Each thanked Lucia for what she had given them, some apologizing for not reaching out or saying they needed to get together soon. Some took more tinctures, but all left jars of honey on the table. Some of those jars were thank you, and some were apologies, and some maybe even bribes to diffuse their own guilt of leaving her alone for so many years. But she accepted them all, the gifts of a town who had never forgotten her, just maybe hadn’t had the magic to help her.

She was glowing as more of her neighbors left more and more jars of honey on the small table until I worried it might collapse under their weight. She was grinning and radiant.