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TWENTY-SIX

That night, Thorn hardly slept.

She was too excited. She tried to guess where Walls would take her for their first date. Perhaps a romantic restaurant? Or a romantic river cruise. Or a romantic movie. Somewhere with dim lighting and few people. Since this was modern times, there was a good chance he would even kiss her.

“But I will not expect an ‘I love you’ on the first date,” she reminded herself. “Modern people usually only say that after many dates.”

Bandit, curled up on her chest, opened one eye. It was filled with sleep and scorn.

“Hey, I said I wouldn’t potion him, and I didn’t.”

Bandit opened his other eye to bring on twice the scorn.

“It was fate!” Just when she’d realized she had unrequited love for Walls and had decided to take a break from men, he’d drunk that love-inducing lemonade on his own. And she hadn’t even meant it for him. “The spirits must want us to date. And quit judging me!”

I’m not doing anything. If you’re feeling guilty, that’s all on you.

“I’m not feeling guilty. Because I didn’t do anything. And I owe it to magic to at least give this a few dates. You know, to observe the effects of the potion.”

Bandit hopped off the bed. I thought a man-hungry witch was bad. Turns out a lovesick one is worse. But I see his appeal. He has good treats. He curled up on the couch.

She rolled off the bed and prepared her outfit for the date.

Because of the potion, he’d see everything she did through rose-colored glasses.

Even if she wore a potato sack, he’d see it as a resplendent dress of golden silk hand-stitched by blind monks.

But she still wanted to look nice for him.

It was an easy task picking out an outfit, as she had only two options—her usual witch garb or the clothing Meg got her during the modern makeover.

“I’ll wear Jean’s pants. I have a derriere in that. ”

Then she practiced putting on makeup. “Bandit, how do I look?”

Demon! he hissed.

She started over, going easier on the eyeliner and eyeshadow. “How about now?”

Circus freak. He yawned.

She started over, going easier on the blush. “Okay, now?”

He blinked slowly. Meh.

In Bandit’s language, that was a stamp of approval. She went to bed with the makeup on because she couldn’t be sure she could replicate it in the morning. Besides, it was only four hours before Walls would pick her up.

At ten to ten, she heard a car pulling up the driveway, and she stepped out to see a white car. Walls emerged from it.

“I didn’t know you drove,” she said.

“Usually only on the weekends, since I live so close to work.” He seemed to be back to his cool-cucumber self. Perhaps his body had adjusted to the New-and-Improved True Love potion coursing through his veins. “Hop in.”

She had just climbed into the car when she spotted the raven.

It was back on the fig tree. Why would it return to spy on her?

Perhaps it was still looking for the Dire Dagger.

That was fine, because the dagger was gone.

And it was also fine because at this point, Walls boosted himself out of his seat and leaned over her.

She hadn’t expected such a calm man to be so forward when it came to romance, but then again, the New-and-Improved True Love potion might be that effective. She moistened her lips.

But then he leaned back again. And clicked her seat belt on for her.

“Oh,” she said. “You were reaching over to grab the seat belt.”

“What did you think I was doing?” Then his face—at least the part not hidden by beard—turned red. He cleared his throat and set his eyes on the road. “Let’s go.”

On the road, she kept stealing glances at him. She couldn’t wait to see where he was whisking her away to.

Forty minutes later, he said, “We’re here.”

Right ahead was a huge sign that read: ZOO .

As Walls purchased the tickets, Thorn studied the crowd around them. The number of people present definitely exceeded the threshold for anything romantic to happen. And the smells weren’t helping the ambience, either.

“Finally, I found something you’re bad at,” she said as they went through the turnstile. “Dating.”

He laughed. “Ouch. Have some faith in me.”

And he immediately proved that he wasn’t terrible at dating, because at that moment, her eyes popped out. “That’s…”

“An elephant.”

She ran toward the enclosure. It made sense that Walls, an animal lover, would pick the zoo for a first date, and while it might not normally be the most romantic, Thorn delighted in each and every animal. It was a smorgasbord of amazing creatures she had only ever heard of, and many she hadn’t.

By the time they reached the zebras, she had discovered so many seemingly impossible animals that a horse with stripes was just one in a long list. But she was still the most excited to see it in the flesh, since it was the first fascinating animal she’d learned about in the twenty-first century.

The zebras also shared an enclosure with another ridiculous animal.

“The giraffes remind me of you,” Thorn said. “In a crowd, you usually stick out.”

Walls straightened his back to stand even taller and walked into the crowd. “No chance of you losing me, then.”

There would certainly be no chance of that once he said “I love you,” she thought, and skipped after him.

But as they exited the zebra and giraffe area, she saw the sign for the next attraction and her feet became heavy.

BIG CATS was coming right up. She knew the panthers—possibly including large black panthers—would be in secure enclosures, and the New-and-Improved True Love potion was supposed to be robust enough to last a month, but her having a bad meltdown could possibly break the spell on Walls.

“There are no black panthers in this zoo,” he said gently as he stood next to her. “They have lions, tigers, and lynx. We can also skip the big-cats section entirely, if you’d like. The armadillos in the next section are a lot more adorable anyway.”

“Have you been here so many times that you’ve memorized their catalog?”

He chuckled. “I called to check. If there were panthers here, I wouldn’t have chosen it for a date.”

“Oh.”

“Was this a bad idea? When your friend Madam Maude appeared in the fireplace, you told her about zebras and zoos. You were so excited. I thought…” He didn’t finish his sentence. He looked like someone had told him a story where the dog died.

Thorn didn’t know what to say, either. It was so thoughtful.

Even if the New-and-Improved True Love potion had made Walls ask her out, his choice for their first date had stemmed from knowledge he’d gained from their friendship.

In all her life, she never had anyone who’d truly considered her this way.

She slipped her hand into his. She had never once in her thirty-nine years been so smooth. “Let’s go see those… uh, what did you call them? Oh, I remember! Armadildos.”

After the zoo, Walls drove them to the grocery store for ingredients. “For dinner, not for a potion,” he said, winking.

A wave of guilt surged up in her. Poor Walls had no idea that he had been potioned.

For a second, she thought she should come clean.

But then he smiled at her. And, she was hungry.

It was a bit frightening how easily her hunger for a home-cooked meal and her hunger for love drove all her scruples away.

They were in the pasta aisle debating the merits of fusilli versus penne in the pasta-to-sauce ratio when his face suddenly turned grim.

“Thorn, I can’t hold it in anymore. I have to tell you now.”

Thorn’s heart began to race, probably faster than a gazelle. The moment was finally here. After those three words, Walls would love her forever. And unlike with Andy, she wanted to hear them from him.

“Yes?”