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Iris grinned. “I have no idea what any of that means, but that’s incredibly sweet.”

“You’re not mad?”

“Why would I be mad?”

Blair shrugged. “I didn’t exactly ask your permission to name my store after you.” He pushed up from the floor and went to sit next to her on the couch. “The iris is actually an incredible flower.”

Iris bit her lip, holding back a smile. “Oh, really?”

“Yeah. To the untrained eye, it appears blue or purple. But underneath, its internal petals contain the full spectrum of primary colors, like a rainbow. The name ‘iris’ comes from the Greek word for rainbow. And,” he added, his voice uncharacteristically enthusiastic, “artists have always been fascinated by them. Even Van Gogh has a painting called Irises.”

Iris opened her mouth to speak, but Blair held up a hand.

“I’m not finished. In Greek mythology, Iris was a herald for the gods, a winged woman who could travel between heaven and earth to deliver messages. People believed that if they placed irises on gravestones, it would allow her to transport their loved ones to heaven. The iris also happens to be an excellent medicinal flower. It’s toxic in large quantities, but in small doses can treat nausea and help heal certain skin conditions. So, you see, it’s a fitting name for my establishment.”

“Is that all?” Iris asked, laughter in her voice.

“I believe so, yes.”

“You really like my name, huh?”

He dipped his head, peering up at her. “Only because it belongs to you.”

Iris’ heart melted. She reached for his hand, intertwining their fingers. “What does the name Blair mean?”

His face fell slightly. “Battlefield,” he admitted sourly.

They sat in silence, their worries draping back over them like heavy cloaks they couldn’t quite manage to remove. “We should probably try to get some sleep,” Blair sighed after a while.

Iris knew he was right. There was no telling how long it would take Gabriel and Clement to track down Anna. It could be a mere matter of hours. Once they did, Clement would need them all together in order to work the memory spell that would erase Gabriel, Iris, and Blair from the witch’s memory. Iris still didn’t understand why the spell had to be done immediately, but she trusted Gabriel that it couldn’t wait.

She shivered. What if Anna had purposefully drawn Gabriel away from the house so that she could corner Iris and Blair at home, unprotected by Gabriel and Clement's magic?

Then again, why would she? It was Gabriel who she wanted, wasn’t it?

Iris’ head was starting to ache, so she tried to set her concern aside. There truly was nothing to do now but wait.

When she turned back to Blair, she was alarmed to see the expression on his face. “Hey, what’s wrong? Is it my heartbeat again? I’m sorry; I was thinking about Anna, and worrying about⁠—”

“It isn’t that,” Blair assured her. He smoothed out his features like a rolling pin over dough. “I’ve been teaching myself how to quiet the sound of your heartbeat in my mind. It’s just…” He twisted his forefinger and thumb around the phantom ring on the middle finger of his left hand. “I’m scared of forgetting.”

Iris frowned as confusion pressed down on her, nearly as heavy as the worry. “Forgetting what?”

He looked at her warily as though trying to decide how much to reveal. Iris had had enough of all this secrecy.

“Tell me,” she demanded.

Blair sighed. “If Clement made a mistake when separating my energy from Anna’s, once the spell goes into effect, it will work on me, too. I’ll forget who you and Gabriel are, all the memories we’ve shared. And…” he hesitated, a line forming between his brows, “I guess it would mean I’d forget who I am, too.”

Bizarrely, he sounded less worried about that last possibility than the former.

“Did Clement tell you that?” Iris asked. Her throat seemed to close in on itself as she watched Blair’s nod of assent.

Iris was the first to admit that she wasn’t exactly Clement’s biggest fan, but she had enough faith in Gabriel’s judgment to trust Clement to handle this one situation, seeing as witchcraft was his area of expertise. She should have known not to trust him. How could he take such an enormous risk?

“We can’t let that happen,” she said vehemently.

Blair smiled sadly. “I don’t think we have a choice.”