Page 31 of No Charm Done

“A fellow in that outfit?” Elias supplied mildly.

“Yes! Exactly!” Luna turned to him gratefully. “You understand, right? Surely this goes against everything you were raised to⁠—”

“Luna.” Elias’s voice was patient but amused. “Are you under some misapprehension that men kissing other men was invented in the 1970s?”

She stared at him. “I . . . what?”

“Sweetheart, I lived in Chicago during Prohibition. Half the speakeasies in town had men singing in evening gowns.” He studied Frank with obvious appreciation. “Though I must say, most of them weren’t quite this architecturally ambitious.”

Frank preened. “You flatter.”

“And,” Elias continued, turning back to Luna with a look that was definitely mocking, “I’ve kissed my share of men. Sometimes for money, occasionally for information, once or twice just for the hell of it. So if that’s all this deity requires . . .”

The ground shifted beneath her feet. “You’ve . . . what?”

“Oh, Luna. You sweet, sheltered little witch. C’mere, handsome.”

“But . . .” Her protests were dying in her throat. She was running out of reasonable objections.

“However,” Frank continued with obvious delight, “as we all know, good things come in threes. So after you’ve each kissed me, you’ll need to kiss each other.”

“Nope,” Luna said flatly. “Absolutely not.”

“Why not?” Elias asked, and there was something in his voice that made her look at him sharply.

“Because it’s . . . we don’t . . . I mean . . .” She could feel her cheeks burning. “It would be purely transactional! Just for the spell! It wouldn’t mean anything!”

“Of course it wouldn’t,” Elias agreed easily. Too easily. “So what’s the problem?”

The problem, Luna thought desperately, is that I don’t want to kiss you in front of an audience because then everyone will see that I’m no good at it and also because you’re stupidly attractive and I don’t trust myself not to make an idiot of myself.

Out loud, she said, “Fine. Whatever. Let’s just get this over with.”

Frank clapped their hands together. “Wonderful! Who wants to go first?”

“I’ll go,” Elias said, stepping forward with the kind of confidence that made Luna want to hate him. He approached Frank with the easy grace of someone who’d done this sort of thing before, cupped the god’s face in his hands, and kissed them thoroughly. Confidently. Expertly. Keen observers noted Frank levitate several inches above the sidewalk.

The shadow cast cheered. Someone whistled. Luna tried very hard not to notice how good Elias looked doing . . . that.

When they broke apart, Frank looked genuinely pleased. “My my. What a lovely man . . . You know, you could just stay here with us.”

“Appreciate the offer,” Elias replied with a grin. “But I got places to go, people to see, et cetera.”

“All right,” Frank sighed. They turned to Luna expectantly. “Your turn.”

Luna approached as if she were walking to her execution. Frank was taller than her—much taller in those impossible heels—so she had to reach up. The kiss was . . . fine. Pleasant, even. Frank knew what they were doing, at least, and managed to make it feel less awkward than Luna had expected.

When they separated, the crowd cheered again, if a bit less loudly than they had for Elias. Luna couldn’t help but notice the reduction in enthusiasm, which she managed to not take personally until Elias said⁠—

“I think you just lost at kissing, sweetheart.”

“I’m not your sweetheart.”

“Well, let’s find out.” Frank snickered. “Time for our grand finale!”

Elias looked . . . nervous. Not scared, exactly, but less confident than he’d been a moment ago. “You sure about this?”

No, she thought. I’m not sure about anything right now. “It’s just a spell component,” she said instead. “Like ingredients in a potion.”