Page 83 of Enchanted to Meet You

“Sorry.” Esther slipped her phone back into her pocket. “Gabby has an anxiety disorder. Sometimes she freaks out if I don’t respond right away.”

“It’s fine for you to call your friend,” Derrick said. I could tell from his conciliatory tone that he felt bad for his earlier complaint about their chitchatting and was trying to make amends. Itwas so cute. “But we need to know that if things go to hell—and I mean that literally—in the next forty-eight hours, you’ll be able to defend yourself.”

Esther’s face puckered with worry. “Why? Where are you going to be?” She was looking straight at me.

“I’ll be around,” I said quickly. “Of course. But I’m not the Bringer of Light. You are.”

“You’rethe one they’re going to come after, Esther,” Derrick said. I noticed how tactfully he avoided explaining whotheywere. Demons? Or Rosalie and her friends? I still tended to favor Rosalie, despite her generous gift from this morning. “So we need to know you can protect yourself.”

“Oh, I can protect myself, all right,” Esther said, her worried look suddenly replaced with a confident grin. She nodded at a stray pumpkin that had fallen dangerously close to my new car as she’d been levitating it. “See that right there?”

“Esther.” The pumpkin was also dangerously close to me. Derrick flung a protective arm around me. “Don’t—”

“Get ready,” she said. “Get set...”

“Wait, Esther!” I cried.

“Go!”

I didn’t see what happened next, because the flash of light was so bright, it seemed to fill the entire field. Plus, Derrick had thrown both arms around me, blocking my view. For a second, all I could see was the interior lining of his jacket, and all I could smell was leather... and burnt pumpkin.

When he finally dropped his arms and straightened, the light was gone... and so was the gourd. All that was left was a small gaping hole in Farmer Frank’s field, with a stream of smoke rising from it. There wasn’t even a single seed to be found.

My new car was fine, though, and so was I. And so was Esther, who was grinning ear to ear at her accomplishment.

“Okay,” Derrick said, looking resigned. “I think it’s time to call it quits for the day.”

Esther was already sliding her phone back into her pocket. “Good,” she said. “Because I need to get home and change. Gabby’s parents reserved a table for tonight at the Yacht Club. I’m supposed go with them to be at this selection thing and support her, since there’s no way she’s gonna get picked. Then hopefully this whole Harvest Princess thing will be over, and stuff can go back to normal.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure.” Derrick was staring at the horizon. When I followed the direction of his gaze, I saw that he was looking toward the treetops. Almost all of the bright red and yellow leaves had been stripped away by the cold ocean breeze.

In their place sat hundreds—maybe thousands—of crows. Their black feathers hunched against the wind, they clung to the naked branches, peering down... at us.

“Why are there so many of them?” Esther whispered—although neither of us had told her to lower her voice. “What are theydoingup there?”

“Waiting,” Derrick said.

“For what?”

“Crows are scavengers.” He put out both his arms and began slowly inching Esther and me toward the car. “They’ll eat just about anything. But their favorite food is carrion.”

Esther wrinkled her nose. “What’s that?”

“Decaying flesh.”

I swallowed nervously. “So they think there’s going to be a lot of that lying around West Harbor soon?”

“In my experience?” Derrick nodded somberly. “Yes, they do.”

Jessica

Blue is the common color. Wear blue to win the trust—and hearts—of others.

Goody Fletcher,Book of Useful Household Tips

“That’swhat you’re wearing?” I asked when Derrick came down my stairs in his usual black jeans and leather motorcycle jacket.

“Why?” He looked down at himself. “What’s wrong with it?”