Page 38

Hannah

That evening, Naomi teleports Skye and Autumn to the bookshop a half hour before the rest of the witches are set to arrive.

The cupcakes and cocktail-mixers get set aside as they cram in around me on the longest sofa.

“Thanks for coming. I totally need an emergency bestie gab session.”

“Of course,” Autumn says, her tone saying, “duh.”

“What is it?” Skye asks, her blue eyes full of worry. “Your magic?”

“Yeah,” Naomi nods. “The last trial is less than two days away. It’s coming up fast.”

“I know.” Anxiety twists in my tummy. God, time’s been freaking racing! I’m almost out. “It’s kind of about the trial, but it’s so much more than that. ”

Autumn widens her eyes at me, bestie speak for “get on with it already.”

“Severin took me on the most amazing date last night. He really went all out. He bought me an amazing Faerie silk dress from that new boutique in town. He got a top chef to make us dinner and arranged a romantic table for two on the green with a harpist and magical floating Faerie lights and everything!”

They make appreciative noises.

“What makes it even better is he arranged all of it personally. He spent the entire day doing it! It made me feel super special, and…” I suck in a breath and blurt, “I realized I love him.”

Skye lets out a delighted squeal and hugs me. “I’m so happy for you!”

“Oh, boy. That complicates things.” Autumn’s mouth twists.

“But it’s good!” Skye says, ever the romantic. “Being in love is always good.”

“It’s good if Severin gets to stay.” Naomi reaches over Autumn to squeeze my arm, her voice gentle as she looks at me with sad eyes.

“Oh.” Skye deflates.

“I have to win the third trial. I just have to!” My voice hits a high note as my hands twist in my lap. “It’s not just about the town now. It’s also the only way Severin gets to stay on Earth. He loves it here, and I love him, so I need to do this for him!”

“We’ll do whatever we can to help,” Autumn says, expression determined. Then her freckled nose wrinkles. “ Uhh. So what can we do?”

“I don’t know!” I wail and throw up my hands. “It’s going to be the trial of discernment. What the hell does that even mean?”

They crowd in around me with hugs, and once I’ve calmed down, we work out a plan.

Skye will study the books delivered by library loan to see if there’s any new information on my kind of magic.

And Autumn is in charge of relaxing me on the day of the third trial so that I go into it in the best state of mind possible.

“Magic?” She shrugs, making her bangles chime. “I’ve still got no clue. But yoga and centering yourself, I can do.”

“Thanks, guys.” I hug them to me. “You’re the best.”

The other Witch Bitches start arriving, and Skye and Autumn hop up to prepare the cupcakes and cocktails, bringing me mine first.

Finn follows Jasmine through the door, running up to press against my calves. “I gave you ‘girl time’ like you asked. I deserve a treat.”

I chuckle and set down my cupcake to scratch around his ears. When Autumn sits beside me, I gesture to the crunch berries covering her cupcake. “Can Finn have one?”

He whines, his eyes growing huge and piteous, like he’s wasting away, the little liar. I gave him chicken for lunch.

But my animal-lover friend can’t resist. “Of course!” She tosses him a fruity bite of cereal, which he snaps out of the air with a crunch.

Jasmine settles onto the sofa opposite me, her dark curls spilling from the top of a pretty turquoise head wrap. “Does anyone have any news about magic? ”

I perk up. Maybe someone found something that can help me win the trial.

“I got nothing.” Kayla puffs her purple bangs from her eyes in frustration. Tonight’s T-shirt reads: I talk like this because I am better than you . “Most of the stuff in the gaming forums is made-up spells. None of the developers talk about where they got their ideas from.”

“I read more of my ancestor’s diaries.” Violeta takes a sip of her drink. “But she never speaks of magic again.”

“Has anyone found a familiar?” I ask.

More noes, with Emily adding that she walks in the woods each day to make it easy for animals to find her.

Huh. I guess it really might be because of my magic that I got mine first.

“See!” Finn prances at my feet, his bushy tail waving like a proud flag. “I’m special.”

“Never doubted it for a minute,” I tell him.

“That makes you special, too, since I chose you as my witch.”

“Thanks, little bud.”

“Anyone have any other witch biz?” Jasmine asks. When everyone shakes their heads, she turns back to me. “Okay, spill. We all saw the date last night.”

“You did?”

“Jared uploaded a video to the internet.” She holds out her phone, and Autumn snatches it from her hand, her mouth dropping open as she watches.

Skye leans over her shoulder, her eyes going wide. “You weren’t kidding when you said it was romantic!”

Destiny and Madison both start playing it on their phones as well, and soon all of the Witch Bitches are watching.

“Where’d you get the dress?” Violeta asks. “It’s to die for.”

“It’s from that new boutique, Haute and Bothered. The fae who runs it tailored it to fit me at a single touch.” I grin. “Severin bought it for me, along with a makeover.”

Shocked gasps of awe.

“Girl,” Jasmine drawls, “you got the royal treatment last night.”

“I really did. He didn’t just pay people, either. He actually went out and arranged it all himself.”

“He’s got it bad,” Violeta says. “Any more hot, single fae kings running around?”

“Or princes?” Kayla adds. “I’d take an ousted prince traveling the realms to complete a big quest only I can help him with.”

I glance at Naomi, who shrugs and grins. “No idea, but if I bump into any, I’ll send them your way.”

“My perfect man will love books as much as I do,” Skye says. “He doesn’t need to be royalty.”

“I like ’em brawny and able to put in a good day’s hard work.” Autumn’s eyes flick to the window in the front door, which shows Rune standing guard right outside. “Someone I can picture helping on the goat farm.”

While the others chime in about their dream guys, I take Jasmine’s phone and watch the video of last night’s date.

It captures me and Severin in profile, zoomed in enough to show our expressions, even if you can’t hear what we’re talking about.

He says something, and his lips quirk in quiet amusement as I laugh.

Then I look down at my plate to slice off another bite of pheasant, and Severin’s eyes remain glued to my face.

I never caught him doing it last night, but the video makes it clear: every time I glanced away from him, Severin watched me as if I’m the most fascinating sight he’s ever seen.

The intensity of his look steals my breath, giving me hope.

It catapults me right back to last night, to how special he made me feel. To think that a king spent his time planning and setting up such a perfect date for me .

Then the sex. Heckity heck, the sex was scorching.

My toes curl just thinking about it. The excitement of hanging in midair, knowing Severin’s shadows were the only thing keeping me aloft.

The thrill of him commanding me to ride his face while he held me bound.

The delicious stretch of him stuffing me full of his cock and shadows.

The even more delicious night spent snuggled close to him until he slipped away to bring me breakfast in bed.

None of it feels fake.

We can have a future, I just know it.

All I have to do is win the third trial, and I’ll have a whole year of marriage to convince him that we should be together forever.