Page 40 of Jingle Spells

“Scarlett, it’s so late already. Shouldn’t we wait until tomorrow?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Who knows when that big magician meeting is happening—it could be going on right now, for all we know. We could be missing it. Plus? Casinos don’t have clocks for a reason. Shake a leg, Nate’s waiting at the bottom of the hill.” Scarlett turned and skipped down the path, singing “Viva Las Vegas” with Oak Haven substituted in the lyrics.

“Your sister,” Jasper said carefully, “seems very excited about a plan that might get us in a fair amount of trouble.”

“She gets like this when she’s nervous. When we were kids, she once sang half the score of Les Mis while we were trying to smuggle a dragon’s egg out of the inn’s kitchen.”

They stood awkwardly for a moment, the weight of their interrupted almost-something settling between them like frost.

“We should . . .” Jasper gestured vaguely downhill.

“Right.” Delilah smoothed her coat, a gesture that seemed more about collecting herself than fixing her appearance. “Time to go spy on some magicians. You know, normal Saturday night stuff.”

But neither of them moved.

“Delilah, listen. I⁠—”

“Don’t.” She shook her head. “Not now. Not when we’re about to do something monumentally stupid.” She managed a crooked smile. “Let’s save the monumentally stupid emotional conversations for after the monumentally stupid breaking and entering, okay?”

He wanted to argue, to finish what they’d started. But she was already walking away. He watched her go, thinking of that randy old joke about I hate to see you go, but I love to watch you leave. In truth, though, there wasn’t any sense in which he loved seeing Delilah moving farther away from him than absolutely necessary. So after a moment, he followed.

Behind them, the crystalline grove continued to glitter, holding Oak Haven’s magic in trust until the witches returned to claim it. Ahead, the casino’s neon lights painted the winter sky in unnatural colors, like a challenge. Or maybe a warning.

Chapter 13

Christmas Infiltration

“This is the worst idea you’ve ever had.” Delilah marched beside her sister down the road leading to the casino. But just because she was going along with Scarlett’s crazy plan, that didn’t mean she was going to let Scar off the hook. “And I’m including the time you tried to teach the Chatterjees’ gnomes about dance battles.”

“They were doing great until someone—” Scarlett shot her sister a meaningful look “—told them about popping and locking.”

“It’s not my fault gnomes have crappy knees.”

The sisters marched along through the darkness, the casino’s overdesigned neon entrance beckoning them onward. Nate and Jasper trailed behind like a pair of fretful ducklings. As they approached the town limits of Oak Haven, Scarlett paused. “Okay, everyone clear on the plan?”

“You mean the plan where we stroll on in and hope none of the magicians notice that we’re the witches they’ve been feuding with for centuries?” Delilah asked. “Yeah, crystal.”

“Actually . . .” Jasper raised his hand like a nervous student. “I have a question. What happens when I forget everything about Oak Haven? Won’t I be a bit confused about why I’m in a casino? Won’t you three just be—” he suddenly locked eyes with Delilah but just as quickly looked away “—be, uh, strangers?”

“Don’t worry,” Nate assured him. “I’ll keep an eye on you.”

“Great, that’s . . . But wait, how, though? Won’t you forget everything too?”

“No, because I grew up here, so I’ve got that learned resistance on my side. Of course, I can’t I stay away too long or . . .” He made a popping sound with his mouth. “Poof. Clean slate.”

“Right.” Scarlett nodded. “So, no dawdling. In and out—we’ll be fine.”

“Well,” Jasper said weakly, “some of us will be fine.”

Delilah found herself wanting to reach for Jasper’s hand, to tell him they didn’t have to go. But that would mean admitting she cared whether he remembered her or not. Which she absolutely did not. Probably. Maybe.

It’s better this way, she told herself firmly. It’s already getting complicated with him. Best that he forget me now. Makes everything simpler.

Then he smiled at her: an annoyingly endearing smile that plonked at her heartstrings like a ten-year-old at her first violin lesson. Suddenly she remembered why she’d spent so long avoiding interactions exactly like this one.

The casino loomed over them like the MGM Grand’s most-hated cousin. The building’s facade managed to combine the worst excesses of Sin City with the most aggressive aspects of holiday cheer. Giant rotating top hats sprouted mechanical rabbits while holographic doves circled overhead, trailing tinsel. Sequined Santas performed card tricks for an audience of animatronic reindeer. Even the fountain had gotten into the spirit, the multicolored water was now spelling out “DECK THE HALLS WITH ENDLESS WONDER” in a font that looked like it had been created by someone who’d had too much eggnog and access to too many exclamation points.

They were about twenty feet from the entrance when Jasper stopped dead in his tracks.