Page 25 of Jingle Spells

“Oh I see, of course, yes. Which knife shall I use?”

“Uhh.” Zahir chuckled uncomfortably as he handed her a wooden spoon. “I’ll cut them open for you, then you tap them. Knock those seeds right out for me, okay? I mean, after all, what can go wrong?”

Scarlett’s eyebrows did a little dance. “I’m excited to find out.”

“Right,” Zahir sighed. “Delightful. Okay, so while you two do that, Delilah could you work on the mint for me? See the pile, on that work table in the corner?”

Delilah’s eyes widened. “That’s one big pile of mint you got there, pal.”

He shrugged. “It’s one big dinner. No stems, please.”

“And no magic,” warned her mother. “Mr. Hopkins, perhaps you can assist Delilah in that task.”

Delilah glared at her mother. If looks could kill, Kelly would have been a small pile of ash on Zahir’s immaculate kitchen floor.

Zahir glanced at Jasper sympathetically. “Let me set these ladies up with some pomegranates and then I’ll get something together for you to eat, okay? Haven’t forgotten, I promise.”

Delilah plonked herself down on a stool beside the mountain of mint stems. “Leave it to the Romans to invent a tradition that involves epic levels of mint deforestation.”

“Did you know—” Jasper carefully sat down on a stool beside her “—Saturnalia’s roots likely go back even further than Rome? There’s evidence of similar winter solstice celebrations in—” He caught himself. “Sorry. I tend to . . .”

“Go full Nutty Professor?” Delilah was picking her own mint leaves with the kind of focused precision usually reserved for bomb disposal. “Don’t apologize. It’s . . . I mean, it’s interesting. I like to know the real history, not the sanitized version.”

Their fingers brushed as they reached for the same stem. Jasper felt himself flush a little and tried to change the subject. “Speaking of history,” he ventured, “that tour guide seemed determined to write her own version of it.”

“Yeah, well. Nothing says ‘authentic witch experience’ like cartoon villains in pointy hats, right?”

“Interestingly, the association between witches and pointed hats didn’t emerge until—” He noted her raised eyebrow. “Right. Sorry again. Not the point.”

“No, but it’s kind of exactly the point.” She told him about visiting the casino, and the conversation she and Scarlett had overheard. “Scarlett is of course all excited about this big meeting the magicians are apparently having. But I keep thinking about what the men said about the tours, and us not knowing what’s real. It’s like they’re deliberately spreading different versions of everything.”

“Creating uncertainty about what’s true and what isn’t . . .” Jasper’s hands stilled over the mint. “Why, though? What’s the endgame? You know that saying, cui bono? Who benefits?”

Their conversation was interrupted by an ominous squelching sound, followed by Kelly’s voice from the far side of the kitchen: “Darling, is pomegranate supposed to stain quite this dramatically?”

Red juice sprayed across the kitchen in a Freddy Krueger–esque arc.

“Mama!” Scarlett dove for cover. “That’s not how you⁠—”

“Well how else am I supposed to—” Kelly gestured with the spoon, sending another spray of juice across the kitchen. “Everything is so sticky. And heavy. It’s so ridiculous to do this the hard way.”

“Annnnd that’s the whole point of Saturnalia,” Delilah said, attacking her mint with renewed vigor. “We’re supposed to remember what it’s like to live without magic. To honor the non-magical members of our community who—” She stopped abruptly, realizing everyone was staring at her. “What? Zahir’s not the only one who gets to share backstory.”

“I’ll help clean up,” Scarlett offered, but Zahir cut her off.

“No! No more help. You’re officially banned from my kitchen until after the banquet. Except . . .” He glanced at the mint-picking operation. “You two can stay. You cuties can rip mint until sunrise if you like. The rest of you, out.”

On her way into exile, Kelly swept past the “two cuties” at the mint table and paused. She gazed from Delilah to Jasper and back, one eyebrow arched so high it may as well have been in the air over her head. “You aren’t employing your wand on that mint, are you, Delilah?”

“Oh my gods, Mama,” Delilah groaned. “Can you maybe not talk to me like I’m a child? No, I’m not using a wand, or any magic at all for that matter, as you can obviously see just from observing what we’re doing.”

“Good. And there’s no need to be snotty, I was just checking. Because we do not. Use wands. In Oak Haven. Come along, Scarlett, I believe the decorations in the dining room need adjusting.”

Scarlett just sighed, saying, “Sorry, Del, you know how she gets . . .” as she followed her mother out.

A silence settled over the kitchen as Delilah and Jasper went back to work. He could see the embarrassment all over Delilah’s face, and he chewed his lip for a moment, trying to imagine if there was anything he could say that might make this awkward moment even slightly better.

Finally, he repeated Kelly’s command, but in his best Christopher Walken voice. “We do NAHHT. Youse WAH-nds. In oakHAVEn.”