Page 6 of Enchanted to Meet You

“How did you know where I live?” I asked.

“I came here for your birthday party when we were six. You showed us all your room, don’t you remember?”

“Oh, yeah,” I said, and I did dimly remember it, though it was hard to remember anything at that moment because suddenly Billy’s lips were on my cheeks, my hair, my lips, kissing me as if he could never kiss me enough, which was exactly what I’d always dreamed of, though I’d never dreamed of it happening here, in my backyard, in the middle of the night with me in my winter coat and pajamas and Billy’s skin feeling so hot against mine, like he was running some kind of fever. And that wasn’t all of his I felt against me, either.

“Are you”—I managed to gasp, coming up for air after a particularly intense kiss, with tongue—“all right, Billy?”

“Yeah,” he murmured, sliding his lips down my neck. His big football player fingers were fumbling at the buttons of my flannel pajama top. “Are you? Is this... is this all right?”

“Yes. More than all right. It’s just a bit . . . sudden.”

“I know. But you’ve been so nice to me all year, helping me in Chem the way you have. I’d have flunked by now if it weren’t for you, and Coach would’ve kicked me off the team for sure. It’s so sweet of you, and... well, I’ve wanted to kiss you like this for so long, Jess. I just never worked up the courage until tonight. I can’t believe you like me back. You do, don’t you?”

“I do.” Understatement of the year.

“Oh, man. That is so great.You’reso great....”

This was very gratifying to hear—almost as gratifying as his cold, strong fingers felt a second later around my boobs when he finally got my top open and, with a strangled cry, buried his face against my throat.

But it still wasn’t exactly what I’d been hoping for.

“Didn’t you say you had something you wanted to ask me?” I said as I very delicately pushed his head lower.

“Oh, yeah.” He mumbled something that I couldn’t understand because his mouth was full of my boobs.

“Billy.” It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, because the sensation of his hot tongue on my nipple had set off a veritable geyser of lust in my pants.

But I needed to hear the words, so I tugged his head away by his hair. He stared up at me, his eyes as drenched in desire as my pajama bottoms.

“Wha’?” he asked, stupidly.

“Homecoming,” I said. “Who are you taking to Homecoming?”

“Oh. You, if you’d go with me, Jess. You.”

I let go of his hair, and his mouth went right back to my chest, before sliding lower. Then lower. “You,” he murmured again, like an incantation. “You, you, you, you.”

Jessica

Samhain is when the wise goodwife finishes her preparations for winter. Animals should be fattened up enough for culling. Fruits, herbs, and harvest vegetables should be preserved for the cold winter days ahead.

Goody Fletcher,Book of Useful Household Tips

I started to laugh—until I realized Derrick Winters wasn’t joking.

“Wait,” I said. “The Chosen One?Me?”

Apparently he was serious, since he produced a pile of paper from the inside pocket of his leather jacket and unfolded it.

“This was copied from a witch’s grimoire found plastered into the wall of a house in upstate New York,” he said. “It’s thought to have been hidden there nearly four hundred years ago.”

“Wait.” I couldn’t believe this was happening. “This isn’t anancient prophecy, is it?”

He eyed me sternly over the top of the papers. “Ms. Gold, I can assure you that though you may find it amusing, what’s happening here in your town is deadly serious.”

“What’s happening in my town?”

He stared at me like I’d just asked if the sky was blue. “Arift. A shift in the cosmic balance. Are you honestly telling me you haven’t noticed? Nothing unusual at all lately around West Harbor?”