“Anytime you want. If you give me your number, we can set it up.”

Leanne smiled as the two most important people in her life swapped contact info. “Sure you don’t want to stay for breakfast?” she asked.

Vanessa shook her head. “We snacked all night long. Only thing I want to do now is crash like I’m in college again.”

Smiling, she headed out, and Leanne finally felt like things were fully okay between them again. She didn’t want to be the one who only showed up when she needed something. Trev came over and hugged her; she snuggled against his chest, realizing belatedly just how much the long night had taken out of her. The last time her eyes felt this grainy, she’d waited all night to be first in the doors at Bloomingdale’s in Chicago because some college friends convinced her that would be an awesome way to spend the day after Thanksgiving.

“Did you have fun?” he asked.

Was she imagining it, or was there a certain gravity to the question? Nah, my imagination is running away with me.

“We did. Vigorous book discussion, followed by gossip about our partners. I had so many entertaining things to talk about.”

Trev smiled like he hoped he was in on the joke, not the butt of it. His family really had a lot to answer for. I should hex them too. Leanne wished she could claim she wasn’t the type, but in all honesty, she could be petty as hell. Just look at how she’d hexed Mayor Anderson right before his big interview. She smiled at the delightful memory, wishing she could’ve seen for herself whether he’d developed hives or welts.

Yeah, no two ways about it. If the rest of the coven is nice, I’m extra witchy. No regrets, no apologies.

“Sounds like an awesome time,” Trev said.

“It was. Before I forget, I got you a present.”

“What?” He froze with a comic expression of disbelief. “But it’s not my birthday. Or Christmas. Or—”

“It doesn’t have to be a holiday for me to treat you,” she cut in.

“Wow. Okay. I’m ready.”

She felt a little guilty calling this a present. They’d repurposed a necklace she already owned, one she’d received from Junie as gift but didn’t much like because it wasn’t her style. She preferred delicate chains and small pendants, while this was a polished stone on a leather strap. It would suit Trev much better, and the tourmaline had been receptive to the layered protective charm. Now this pendant would repel all but the strongest magic, and if the council meddled with Leanne’s spell, the breaking of it would signal her that Trev was in trouble.