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TWENTY-SEVEN

He uttered three words. “Zebras aren’t horses.”

“I love— Eh?”

“They’re closely related. Both are equines. But not the same species.” Walls let out a mighty sigh. “That felt good. I’ve been wanting to tell you since I heard you tell Madam Maude about the horse with stripes.”

Thorn felt an equal desire to hug him and to stab him with an uncooked piece of fusilli. “You should have mentioned it earlier.”

“I didn’t want to be that jerk who goes around correcting people.”

“I see. But for future reference, when I get my animal trivia wrong, please correct me right away.” She was surprised that she wasn’t very disappointed Walls hadn’t said the three words needed to seal the deal.

Perhaps because she was enjoying this time with him even without them. Besides, the night was still long.

Later, the fusilli were cooking in the pot when there was a knock on the door.

Thorn opened the door to see Meg.

“That’s Walls’s car in the driveway,” Meg said. “What’s Walls doing here? Is Bandit hurt again?”

Before Thorn could reply, Walls appeared behind her and said, “Just a little vomiting. Too many treats.”

Blasphemy , Bandit said from the rocking chair. I only received one packet of tuna-and-cheese mousse.

“That greedy cat,” Meg said, barging past Thorn with a box overflowing with black streamers and fake cobwebs. “I came by to drop off some decorations and supplies for the Covenstead Halloween tour.”

Walls stepped in Meg’s way and grabbed the box off her hands. “I’ll take these. Thanks. Bye.”

But Meg didn’t leave. “Anyway, Walls, I know you said you’d tell me when you were ready, blah blah blah, but it’s been three years since your breakup.”

“Meg—”

“Just hear me out. I ran into Michelle today. She’s the one I’ve been wanting to introduce to you. She really is perfect for you. She’s a vet, too. She’s gorgeous. And funny. And nice. Just go on one date with her.”

“Meg, you’re a matchmaker?” Thorn said.

“Only as a hobby. I know lots of people. And I’ve successfully set up three couples so far. Could be four, if Walls would just give Michelle a chance.”

Walls grabbed the door and started to push it closed. “I’ll think about it. I have to give Bandit some meds. Bye now.”

“Hooray!” Meg clasped her hands. “All right, I’ll go. Get well soon, Bandit!”

Walls shut the door and strode to the window.

As he watched Meg’s car drive away, Thorn remained where she was, thinking about how he’d just agreed to give the three-in-one vet a chance.

Thorn tried to pinpoint where or when or how the spell on Walls had been broken.

Yesterday, it had been easy to see the rush of affection that had overcome him right after ingesting the potion, which had caused him to be less than a cool cucumber.

But today, he had treated her with the same kindness he always did.

“This dinner isn’t a romantic gesture,” she whispered to herself. The realization knocked the wind out of her, and she flopped onto the couch. “It’s just to be nice.”

“What did you say?” Walls asked as he placed Meg’s box on the table.

“Nothing. I’m just tired.”

“It was warm out today, and we walked a lot. Get some rest.” The lid of the pot rattled, and he hurried over to the fireplace. “Dinner should be ready soon, if I get the hang of cooking this way.”

She toppled sideways to lie flat on her back and covered her eyes with one arm. She only had herself to blame. She should’ve gotten him to say “I love you” before the potion wore off.

He strained the pasta in the sink. “Sorry. I didn’t want to tell Meg that you and I were on a date.”

“Because you want to go out with Michelle?”

He was silent. The next thing she knew, she felt him sit down on the edge of the couch next to her.

“Because Meg would butt in,” he said. “Every day, she’d ask both of us when we’re getting married.

That’s what she did with all my ex-girlfriends.

To her credit, these past three years, she’s only harassed me a couple of times about jumping back into dating.

That’s an incredible effort for her. Besides, I have to thank Meg.

She was the one who alerted me to the stray cats hanging around the cottage since I volunteer for the TNR program.

The day I met you, I walked around the house to check for more cats, and when I came back to the front, a strange woman in a pointy hat was asking two stray cats what century it was. ”

She took her arm off her face. “But you just told Meg you’ll think about dating Michelle.”

“That was a lie.” He leaned down, one arm against the back of the couch for support. It was the closest a man had been to her in decades, not counting crowds. “Or Meg would never have left us alone tonight.”

He gazed at Thorn’s lips. He placed a gentle hand on the side of her face. His brown eyes were kind and hot at the same time.

Her heart was beating wildly. Her New-and-Improved True Love potion had been as robust as she’d expected after all.

She pinched the front of his shirt and gently pulled him down.

She closed her eyes. But when she did, nose to nose with her wasn’t Walls but Rose.

Ten-year-old Rose. She was so close Thorn could see her nine-year-old self reflected in her sister’s green eyes.

Something glinted, and Thorn looked down to see Rose’s fingers laced around the hilt of an amethyst blade. Rose pushed. Thorn fell backward.

Thorn was surrounded by a low wall of dirt. She was lying in a shallow grave. And Rose stood over her. Beyond Rose was a patch of the night sky and the branches of a fir tree.

“I know you’ll understand, Thorn,” Rose said. Her voice was cold, matter-of-fact, determined.

Rose was going to use the Dire Dagger to take Thorn’s life. She was going to give Thorn’s life to Mother to finish the Forever True Love potion.

Rose brought the dagger up.

Thorn screamed. And shoved.

Walls fell off the couch and onto his butt.

“I’m so sorry!” she said, staring at her own outstretched palms. “I don’t know what came over me.”

Her head throbbed. She buried it in her palms. Walls hovering over her was a déjà vu. It became the catalyst that turned the key to all those doors. And the memories were gushing out.

“Thorn,” Walls said gently. He sat down slowly next to her. He reached out toward her at first, but then withdrew his hand. “What just happened?”

“Thirty years ago, I drank a potion that altered and hid some of my memories. It’s called a Liar Liar potion. I remember now why I did it. Because—” She choked. It hurt too much to say it. My sister tried to kill me.

A month before Rose’s death, Mother had finally deduced the one ingredient that would make her Forever True Love potion work. “One sip and I’ll get my true love, forever this time. But the last ingredient is a human life. And I… I can’t.”

Mother had then thrown herself into finding another way. Her daughters could only watch as she neglected to eat and sleep and grew more frail with each passing day.

One night, Thorn roused from sleep to find Rose missing from the bed.

She looked across the room to find her sister at the table, standing next to Mother.

Rose’s dress was stained brown, as were her hands, as if she’d been playing in the dirt.

Rose held her hand out. Mother took something out from her pocket and placed it in Rose’s hand. It was the Dire Dagger.

Rose loved Thorn, but she couldn’t let Mother waste away.

But after Rose pushed Thorn into the freshly dug shallow grave, just as Rose was about to take Thorn’s life, the feathers of a vampire parrot rained down upon them.

Rose swung the dagger, but Turnip leaped through the air and latched on to her hand.

Rose scrambled out of the grave, trying to get the cat off her.

Thorn was frozen with fear. She heard branches breaking, footsteps scuffling, and ferocious hissing.

She mustered her courage and sat up in the grave.

Turnip was running in circles around Rose, his black fur glinting in the moonlight, his yellow eyes shining through the dark.

Then Turnip and Rose disappeared into thin air. The dagger was on the ground.

Thorn picked up the dagger and ran home. She told Mother everything. But before she could finish her story, Mother was furious, and Thorn decided not to mention that Rose had dropped the dagger.

“You ruin everything,” Mother cried. “If you had sacrificed yourself, Rose would still be here, and I would have my Forever True Love potion and a true love.”

Thorn collapsed against Walls’s chest. He kept his arms hovering over her for a moment. She drank in the fresh-laundry smell, and the steady beats of his heart. She wasn’t crying. But her eyes were shut. Then she felt his arms wrap around her. He just let her be.

She must have fallen asleep there in his arms, because she was aware of him carefully laying her down on the couch and covering her with a blanket.

Later in the night, she groggily woke up to find him sitting on the floor right by her, his back to her.

He was whispering into his phone, telling his parents that he’d pick up Muffin and Noodle from their place tomorrow. He wasn’t going to leave Thorn tonight.

When he hung up and turned to look at her, she shut her eyes and pretended to be asleep again.

She felt selfish for monopolizing Walls.

She was aware she was only taking advantage of the fact that he thought he was in love with her.

But she reasoned that it would be just for this one night. The first and last.