It’s not that I don’t like The Scarecrow Grille. I grew up in Salem, of course I love it there. It’s Reg’s home away from home, he’s owned it my entire life, and he makes a burger like no one else in the world. And yeah, he probably uses magic for it, but I’ve been able to ignore that. 

I’ve gone there since I was a kid. Reg even once let me try making a grilled cheese on the griddle out back when I was eight. And right now I was there with Gretel, who I loved more than life itself. The woman I wanted to spend my life with, to fully make amends with, and then marry. And Joel, who I’d made amends with and was now my roommate? Even if I’d wanted nothing to do with him when he returned to my life just days earlier with a confident smile and a bullshit story about being in town for business and wanting to stop by to say hi.

It had been two days since everything went down. Two days since a powerful wizard in a pretty nice suit had threatened to kill us all over a powerful artifact Joel had stolen from him. And he’d very nearly succeeded in killing Joel. Only the powers that Gretel had hid from me for our entire two-year relationship had saved his life. And the wizard – Corman – thought Joel was dead. He’d be back at some point though. His powers were weakened significantly, but we had to be ready for when he came back for revenge.

Revenge against me in particular, since I humiliated him by being a magicless nobody who broke his Scarlet Holding with a garden ornament. RIP Horace.

I loved the Grille. I loved Reg. And I loved Salem. But I just hated magic. I was trying so hard to be cool with all the magic around me right now and I was just barely able to manage it. At the table across from us, two women were chatting with another through a floating orb (as though there wasn’t cell service in here). And by the door, a man showed off for a date by cooking a steak at their table. She was thrilled even as she froze his drink with the flick of her wrist. 

Meanwhile at our table, Gretel was sipping a Coke. There was nothing magical about what she was doing right now, but the soft hand that was delicately holding the plastic cup had stitched Joel’s throat back together two nights ago. And Joel himself was reading something on his phone as too much sugar – more than I knew he liked – poured into his coffee from the floating container in front of him.

I considered telling him, but then thought better of it. He could figure that out for himself. 

“Is Reg here tonight?” Gretel asked me.

“He said he’d be around, but I don’t know what time,” I replied as I cut my burger in half and picked one piece up.

I took a bite, spraying ketchup out the side and down my hands. Unlike everyone else here, I had to use a napkin to clean myself up. But whatever, this was Reg’s place and the magic was here before I was. So I couldn’t really complain.

“How far is Kittery from here?” Joel asked suddenly, looking up as the sugar container gently settled back on the checkered tabletop.

“Far,” I replied. “Why?”

“Someone’s looking for temporary help there,” he said with a shrug. “The pay isn’t great, but-”

“-But they’ll be so surprised that a dead man showed up that they’ll just drop their wallet?” I finished.

“Maine is nowhere near LA,” Joel said dismissively. “They won’t know. Plus, it’s not like I’m a celebrity or something.”

Only in his own heart, I thought. But if a major crime figure of the magical world thinks you’re dead, I imagined that word got around pretty quickly. 

“How temporary is temporary?” Gretel asked him before I could bring that up.

“Three days,” Joel replied. “I could rent a car and drive up. Oh, it’s only an hour’s drive from Salem. That’s simple enough.”

“Are you sure you want to do that?” I asked. 

“I’ll be fine.”

I wasn’t going to bother with this fight. At least he was trying to get a job. That was more than he’d done in the last months of our relationship years earlier. And maybe he would actually be fine. After all, he did know much more about the magical world than I did. 

“Oh, Dar, your aunt Heather is going to call tomorrow,” Gretel said.

I blinked at her. “Do you scry now?”

It was an honest question, if laced with a little bit of concern. But Gretel’s face fell, and I immediately felt bad for being suspicious. “No, Auntie Beatrix was at the dentist’s today, that’s all. She said to tell you.”

And Gretel probably used her magic to help with whatever ailment Auntie Beatrix had, so I felt less guilty than I might have otherwise. But I still felt a little foolish. “I’ll have my phone on me,” I said, taking a sip of my drink.

There was a tension at the table now that hadn’t been there before, and it was definitely my fault. I needed to try harder. It had been two days now, and we had bigger problems to deal with than the lingering feeling of betrayal that was still hanging around me even after Gretel and I had talked the other night. And last night. And late last night again, breathless and wrapped in each other’s arms in the darkness of our bedroom.

“I can talk to her if you’re busy,” Joel offered.

That wasn’t as strange as it sounded. My aunt and Joel had been close during the eight years we’d been together. She was, like me, non-magical. But she’d lived in a large house full of women for the past thirty years and most of them had magic of some sort. And I knew that even if they hadn’t spoken in years, my aunt would be thrilled to hear from Joel. 

“It’s fine,” I said. “But thanks. I’m sure we’ll be going over there at some point, so I’ll make you both come with me.”

Joel’s face lit up in a way that made me feel slightly less irritated. Then he took a big sip of his coffee and the switch to disgust erased almost all of my irritation.

“I’m working early tomorrow,” I said. “Do you mind if I leave soon? I’ll try and grab Reg if he has a second to talk.”

“You know I always have a second to talk to you, Darling.”

Reg’s voice behind me almost made me knock over my cheeseburger. Meanwhile, Joel did spill his mug, flooding the table with over-sweetened coffee. “Sorry!” he exclaimed, even as he waved a hand and the spill disappeared. 

Reg was the owner of The Scarecrow Grille, an enormous bearded sun ray of a man. He was one of the most powerful magicians in Salem, and that was saying something. “Ma wants me to bring her by your place to set up those safety measures,” he said.

Joel looked offended for a second, but then stowed it away. “That would be lovely, thank you,” he said, overly politely instead. 

“What would she need to do?” I asked. I wasn’t thrilled at the idea of magical protection, but the situation was so severe that even I was willing to allow it. The last thing we needed was to wake up in the middle of the night with Corman and his goons hanging around the end of my bed. 

“Oh, nothing much,” Reg said, tossing a clean rag absently onto his shoulder. “We’ll just lock it up tightly so that nobody can get in unless you’ve invited them.”

I glanced at Joel, who had been officially living with us for all of two days now. Was this going to toss him out of the house at some point? It wasn’t that I was apprehensive about Joel being there (okay, maybe a little), but magic could be strict. You need to be very specific when setting locking charms like what Reg was describing, otherwise you could end up with consequences you didn’t plan on dealing with. And Joel being incapable of getting into the house, while funny, could be dangerous.

Joel looked like he was thinking the same thing. “Is it based on who’s on the lease?” Gretel asked.

Reg looked amused by this. “No, we’re not going to leave poor Joel here out in the cold, if that’s what you’re concerned about.”

“I’d figure it out,” Joel muttered.

Maybe against most things. Joel was powerful, as far as wizards went. But against Reg’s Ma? Unlikely. And the amused look on Reg’s face only grew with Joel’s sullen comment. “How about tomorrow?” he asked. “When will all of you be there?”

Gretel and I both worked days. And Joel didn’t work at all, though he was trying to change that already. “Can we do tomorrow evening?” Gretel suggested. “There’s nothing going on.”

“I have softball practice,” I said.

Gretel looked over at me. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t think…”

It was a simple mistake, but the way she’d spoken for both of us bothered me more than it would have a week ago. “I’ll skip it,” I said. “It’s the first of the season, I won’t miss much.”

Gretel started to protest, but I shook my head and plastered on a fake smile. “It’s fine.”

“If you don’t mind, Dar,” Reg said. “It will take about twenty minutes, knowing Ma. Could you go after it?”

“Yeah.” I’d probably be dying to get out and do something normal after, anyway.

Someone poked their head out of the kitchen and called for Reg. “That’s me,” he said, leaning down to give me a warm hug. He went around the table and did the same for Joel and Gretel. “I’ll call you tomorrow afternoon. It’ll be quick and painless.”

I doubted at least part of that, but it would be significantly less painful than anything Corman had in mind. Reg made his way through the crowd back toward the kitchen and I forced myself to take one more bite of my burger before picking up my jacket. “I’m going to go home,” I said, pulling some cash out of my wallet. “You guys finish up, I just need to work early.”

“Hang on, we’ll go with you,” Gretel said quickly. 

Joel nodded and stood too, nearly knocking his chair over. The two of them also pulled out cash and we left probably way too much money on the table to cover our bill, then walked out into the cool night air. 

Salem was gorgeous right now. The floral scent of the spring air was cut by the brine of the nearby ocean as we walked down Essex Street, Salem’s main tourist area. Even this time of year, the street was fairly crowded with tourists and locals flitting in and out of the little magic shops. As we walked down the cobblestone street, I took Gretel’s hand in mine. She looked over and I smiled, hoping it looked more real than anything I’d shown her at the Grille. I wanted this to work. I wanted us to work. Even if things wouldn’t be the same as they’d been even four days ago, I still loved her more than anything in the world.

“How’s the softball season looking?” she asked me as we passed a tour group carefully watching a college student in a top hat telling a story. 

“Same as always,” I said with a laugh. “The hotel staff has changed a little, but we managed to convince Kelly from the kitchen to stay on the team after she left to work at the House of the Seven Gables. Sea Catch is going to be pissed, but they include softball skills in their interview process now, so they can deal.”

Gretel laughed, and it was like bells. I looked over at her. She was about six inches taller than me, with a large, gentle body that fit perfectly with mine. Her dark hair was piled on her head, with a few graceful curls hanging around her face. I reached up to tuck one behind her ear as we waited to cross the street.

I wasn’t thinking about magic. And I wasn’t thinking about the way that, before Joel had teleported me away from the front door when I tried to leave, Gretel had thrown the deadbolt. None of us were completely innocent or guilty here. But we were working through it and everything was going to be fine.

We lived a few blocks away from The Scarecrow Grille. It was a nice walk, though even on a beautiful night like tonight, I knew we were all cautious. I could see small sparks jumping around Joel’s fingers, like he was preparing for a confrontation. Which hopefully wouldn’t happen. Considering I didn’t have any magic – or even a softball, which seemed to be my defense against magic – I’d be helpless. And I hated feeling helpless.

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Continue to Chapter 2