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As we walked, River said, “There were humans in that apartment building.”

“I know,” I said miserably. I’d been so afraid and then so relieved when the local news anchor announced that everyone had gotten out safely.

That was the night River disappeared. In a way, I’d been relieved about that, too, even though it meant I’d potentially never see him again.

“What did your uncle think after that night? After he realized I wasn’t around anymore?”

I shook my head, but then I revisited every time I accidentally forced River to regenerate. My uncle had been thrilled, excited like a kid at an amusement park.

“He was upset. Became more and more agitated. After about a year of no sightings, he threatened to tell my family that I was responsible for the fire.” I hadn’t considered it until now, but Uncle Lewey had been well and truly upset over not spotting River anymore.

“You don’t know him, do you? His name is Lewey.”

River shook his head. “I’ve never met a witch named Lewey.”

I guess Uncle Lewey just liked watching him regenerate that much.

Problem was, I couldn’t get that fire, those humans rushing from the building out of my mind.

“I’ve made a lot of mistakes using my magic in my life, but that was the only time I’d ever, ever put other people in danger.”

Even the giant jester had only wanted to dance down the road, unencumbered by the float.

“Is this why you ended up in Arrythmia?” River asked quietly.

We were at the register, the associate busy scanning my purchases with her handy little radar gun. Queenie had given me a credit card and promised that whatever I spent was fine.

I nodded as we walked away after paying for this load. I placed the bag o’ cat on the cart. Wyldfire thrust out her head and glanced from side to side, probably wondering where the hell she was.

“I got scared,” I admitted. “Everybody loves him, while I’ve been a black sheep for practically my entire life. And the fact of the matter is, I did force you to regenerate time and again. I did cause that fire. Even if I can’t figure out how, I still did it.”

We stepped out of the building, River pushing the cart and me walking by his side. A drizzle had started while we were inside. I thought Wyldfire would dive back into her bag, but she continued to sit regally on top of a boxed espresso machine like she was a queen.

The air between River and I was slightly less chilly than it had been immediately following my confession. Perhaps he’d forgive me, eventually. I hoped he didn’t ask me to leave Arrythmia. Probably, since he’d lived there longer than I had, he had seniority or something. I wasn’t sure how that worked.

I just knew I didn’t want to leave. Not Arrythmia—and not him.

“Hey,” I said feebly, “we’ve been in the same vicinity for almost a week and I haven’t accidentally forced you to regenerate.”

Did he just roll his eyes? I thought I caught the action out of the corner of my eye, but I was distracted when a male voice called out, “There you are! I’ve missed you.”

What in the name of the goddess was he doing here?

Chapter

Twelve

River

“Uncle Lewey?” Cassandra called out, a question in her voice.

I narrowed my gaze at the man standing next to our borrowed truck. He was short and squat, with gigantic eyes and white bushy mutton chops. Tiny round spectacles were perched on the end of his rather wide nose. He wore a top hat and what looked like a red smoking jacket—was it my imagination or did the guy strongly resemble Scrooge McDuck?

Cassandra had called the man who was supposedly training her to improve her magical use Uncle Lewey.

I’d never seen the person who kept forcing me to regenerate. The first few times, I’d chalked it up to accidents. Things happened. Wrong place, wrong time and all that.

By number four, I was officially suspicious. Too many coincidences.