Page 49 of Hexual Healing

“It's impossible…”

Oops.Did I just say the quiet part out loud?

“So was surviving, but we managed.”

I smiled into my pillow.“Fair point.”

“Sleep.Tomorrow, your training begins.”

“That sounds ominous.”

“It should.Zelda has plans.They involve charts.”

“I hate charts.”

“Everyone hates charts.”

The house creaked in agreement, and somewhere in the walls, I swear I heard it whisper, “Good night.”

Oh, goodie.It’s learning to talk.

I fell asleep to the sound of Baz's rhythmic breathing through the wall, the near-constant ache in my chest, and the bizarre comfort of knowing I was no longer alone.Even if being together might eventually kill us both.

My dreams were full of unicorns made of Bubble Yum and Gary wearing a crown and lording it over everybody.For some reason, that was somehow more disturbing than the nightmares about dragons.

ChapterSeven

Zelda literally dragged me out of bed.

“Rise and shine, chaos queen!Today, we're teaching you to aim!”

“It's dawn,” I groaned.“Dawn is for roosters and masochists.”

“And witches who need to learn control before they accidentally turn the town into a demented musical.Again.”

That got me up.“That wasonetime!”

“Once was more than enough.Poor Randy still can't stop humming 'Let's Get Physical.’Martha’s about this close”—she put her pointer finger and thumb within a hair’s breadth of touching each other—”to filing a restraining order.”

She dragged me outside, where the entire town had gathered.They'd set up what looked like a makeshift training ground in Baz's backyard.Targets, barriers, and what appeared to be a scoreboard.

“Taking bets!”someone shouted.“Two to one, she turns something into food!”

“Three to one on more accidental nudity!”

“Even odds on more of those butterfly daggers!Protect your eyes!”

“Can she try for mason bees instead?Mabel needs to be pollinated.”

“My petunias would love that, too.That’d make themreallysing!”

“Are they seriously betting on my magical failures?”I asked incredulously.

“It's a small town,” Dee Dee said, setting up a folding chair.“Good entertainment’s somewhat limited.”

Baz emerged from the house, and my magic immediately tried to rip his shirt off.I managed to stop it at “artistically torn.”

You’re such a one-trick pony.At least go for the pants again.