Page 64 of No Charm Done

“Okay, baby sister. Go get ’em.” Scarlett squeezed her shoulder as she passed, and Delilah did the same.

Kelly went to settle up with Dayo. Jerusha finished her Singapore Sling and rose with the careful dignity of someone who’d had exactly the right amount to drink. Soon it was just Luna and Elias at the table, surrounded by the debris of their evening—empty glasses, picked-over plates, and a lingering memory of Frankie Shaw.

The silence stretched uncomfortably.

“What?” Elias finally snapped. “What are you going to say?”

“You know what I’m going to say.”

“I really don’t.”

“The con in Florida. The one that made you famous.”

“I’m a minor celebrity at most,” he said, going for levity.

“That was revenge for your brother.”

He shrugged. “Sure. Why not? What difference does it make now?”

“It makes a huge difference now.” There was steel in her voice. “Your nemesis is mixed up in the whole CastR situation. Which makes me worry about your priorities.”

“Don’t worry your pretty head about⁠—”

“Hear this, Shaw. This plan of ours, to humiliate Vex and destroy CastR? It’s not personal, one pissed-off magician versus another. This is about the future of not only our community here in Oak Haven but of all magical communities everywhere. We can’t afford to have you turning this into Attempt Number Two to get revenge for Franklin.”

The sound of his brother’s name in her mouth made something in his chest twist sharply. “Why are you assuming that’s what I would do?”

“Because that’s what I would do.” Her voice softened. “If anyone did to one of my siblings what Burke did to yours, I’d never stop coming after them. Void or no Void.”

“Well, I guess I must be more adult than you, doll. Because I won’t allow myself to be distracted by an old lizard like Burke.” He stood and offered a hand to help her up. “We have a plan, and it’s not too shabby of a plan, and that’s what we’re doing.”

Luna let him pull her to her feet. She glanced down at the floor, where glittering shards of his pint glass were still scattered across the old wood. “Your drink suggests different.”

“I was surprised, is all.”

He pulled her closer. Too close, close enough that he could count the flecks of gold in her eyes, close enough to see her breath catch. Then he kissed her. It was fierce and desperate and a terrible idea, but he needed her to stop talking about Frankie, stop looking at him like she could see straight through to all his broken places.

When they broke apart, Luna was breathless. “Well. Now you’ve caught me flat-footed.”

“As intended.” He kept his voice light, easy. “Come on, let’s have ourselves a fine night out in the Big Apple.”

They headed for the door, stepping out into the warm Oak Haven evening. The street was quiet, lit by old-fashioned lampposts casting pools of amber light. Luna moved a few feet from the pub’s entrance: one needed space for portals, room for the magic to breathe. But before she could start the spell, she turned and looked at him. Really looked at him, with an intensity that made Elias want to squirm like a kid caught stealing.

“It has to be enough, Shaw.” Her voice was soft but immovable. “Destroying CastR has to be enough.”

Elias nodded. “Don’t you worry about me, Melrose.”

“I’m going to anyway.”

“Yeah . . . I figured.”

Luna’s hands began to move, tracing the familiar patterns of a portal spell.

Suddenly he thought, Wait. We’re leaving Oak Haven, which means . . . Struck by the sudden realization, Elias reached out and stopped her hands. “Hang on . . . Am I about to forget everything that’s happened?”

She turned to look at him. There was a certain gentle concern in her expression, a look he’d never received before, and it made him ashamed, somehow, to be afraid. “Happens to everybody, Shaw. It’s fine, I promise.”

“Says the gal who is not about to get her memory erased.”