A confident voice added, “I’m sending a link to a poll. Your vote is yes or no. Your identity will not be revealed, so none can hold your stance against you. Ready to proceed?”

Leanne voted yes immediately, hoping hard for the correct result.

***

Trev noticed the glimmering energy ball dissipated as soon as the creepy MIB-looking pair followed Leanne into the bedroom.

But he couldn’t deny what he’d seen. That was…magic.

He paced the living room floor, fighting the urge to bail. Because this was beyond anything he could’ve expected. For real, he’d occasionally thought she got ready too fast or she was too gorgeous to be real, and he’d been baffled by the convo he’d overheard between her and Gladys, but had he ever really thought she was a wizard? Or a sorceress? He wasn’t even up to date on the correct verbiage. In video games, she’d likely be a magic user. Of course, she’d also be wearing a sexy dress that showed her thighs and be able to cast fireballs and summon lightning too, enchant magical weapons…what else? Oh, in one game, magic users could turn into spiders or bears.

Can Leanne turn into a bear? Fuck. I’m so freaking out right now.

With shaking hands, he went to the liquor cabinet and poured himself a shot. He didn’t even look at the bottle and drank it straight, whatever it was. Ugh. Gin. To his palate, it tasted like pine cleaner smelled. Trev gulped some water to get the traces out of his mouth.

It seemed like forever before Leanne came out, flanked by the two assholes who’d showed up to try and…arrest him? He was guessing about that, frankly, but based on his wife’s reaction, whatever they had planned wouldn’t be healthy for anyone involved.

At first, he couldn’t read her expression, but she turned to the two and said, “Get out. As of now, your job descriptions will likely change.”

“Understood,” said the male agent.

They left as swiftly as they had arrived, with absolutely no explanation. Leanne closed the door behind them and slowly turned to face him. Trev thought she was nervous, judging by the way she fluttered her hands as she moved toward him.

“I wanted it to happen,” she said slowly. “But…I wasn’t sure it would. In a way, it’s probably good that it came on like a tsunami. We had to go on gut reactions rather than letting everyone mull it over and maybe second-guess. As it was, it was close. Two votes, our favor. I’m a persuasive speaker.”

“You realize I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You will soon. I’m sure you’ve already worked out that those clowns set off a protective spell.”

Spell. There it is.