Page 44 of How to Flirt with a Witch

Humiliation burns inside me.

As Clayton sits back, looking suddenly sober, I slide my chair back and stand. “Back in a sec. I just have to call home. It’s past midnight there.”

I grab my coat and speed-walk to the door, leaving behind Clayton’s palpable disappointment, Mo and Aura’s makeout session—they really should get a room—and all the other people we came with, who are getting drunker and noisier by the minute.

Outside, the sirens are louder. It’s threatening to snow, and I dodge a frozen puddle before I can slip. I put on my coat, leaving it unbuttoned so I can cool off from that stuffy restaurant.

It wasn’t a lie when I said midnight has already struck in Toronto, so I pull out my phone. I text Hazel first—New Year’s is a huge deal on the Japanese side of her family, so they’ll be partying all night—and then I send an obnoxious confetti gif to my family’s group chat.

I pause, staring at Natalie’s name. I want to ask her if the vial was a potion.

But her rejection was clear, and the fact she hasn’t reached out since that night is even clearer. I’m acting no better than Clayton, refusing to take a hint.

It’s time to let her go.

Tapping the screen aggressively, I delete our text exchange.

Next, her contact. It’ll be easier if there’s no temptation to message her again. Like she said, I should move on and pretend none of this happened.

Holding my breath, I tap Delete, watching her disappear from my phone completely.

A sinking, deflating feeling pulls my shoulders toward the ground. I liked having her in my life, however strange and temporary our connection was. But the mystery will go unsolved, my questions left unanswered.

I put my phone away, a hollow ache behind my ribs. Going home and crawling into bed would be really good right now.Homehome—not the basement suite.

Someone swears, and I look up. A shift in the atmosphere surges to my attention. The street buzzes with nervous energy, so palpable that it prickles my skin.I rub my arms, surprised I didn’t notice it the second I stepped out of the restaurant. Car doors slam. People shout and talk urgently, leaning out the open doors of nearby establishments. Everybody faces the same direction, looking down the block, clutching each other.

Something serious is going on.

The police cruisers that blew past are parked a block away, forming a barricade to wall off a section of the street. Their sirens are off, but the lights flash, staining the inky sky red and blue.

“…think it’s a bomb,” a woman behind me tells her friends. “Maybe a gas leak. There was an explosion.”

I whirl around. “An explosion?”

She meets my eye, fear tightening her expression, and nods.

My skin tingles. As I face forward again, a hook sinks into my core, tugging.

Maybe it’s because I was thinking about Natalie, but my brain jumps to the doll and the crater in my bed.

She said curses could be anywhere.

I may be wrong… but even if I’m right—especiallyif I’m right—the smart thing would be to walk away.

My feet stay rooted, questions swarming in my mind like bees. What if this is another curse? What if Natalie is here?

I shift my weight from foot to foot, curiosity burning. I just want to check. I’ll be thirty seconds, tops.

I walk toward the barricade of police cars, the red and blue lights leaving spots in my vision. People are being ushered out the doors ofa nightclub, most of them drunk and swaying, some shouting at those trying to get them to safety.

Smoke curls inside my nostrils and dries the back of my throat. A haze drifts out the open doors—I can’t tell if it’s from the explosion or smoke machines from the club.

I edge as close as I can to the scene, trying to stay inconspicuous. I step over a dead rat and onto the sidewalk, my pulse accelerating.

Something small perches on the hood of a cop car, illuminated by the flashing lights. My breath hitches. My imagination could just be desperately trying to fit pieces together… but it looks like one of the purple butterflies that appeared when Natalie melted the doll.

“Hey, do you know what’s going on?” a gentle voice asks behind me.