That made her smile. As she considered her answer, her forehead creased in a way that was, frankly, adorable. “I’m not sure. I think about it all the time, but I suppose I’ve never really let myself get too attached to any one idea.” Her face softened. “Except for this one: I used to dream about having my very own enchanted tea and potion shop. A small, storybook kind of place, with potions and jars of tea leaves on the shelves, and a mortar and pestle on the counter, and a cauldron bubbling away.”

The instant she said it, he heard how right it was, how her. And he heard something else, too. How, underneath the love of magic and the joy of living without having to hide who she was, what she wanted more than anything was people. Visitors she could befriend, friends she could help, a family she could share the thing she loved with.

“That was the place you created in your videos.” Her alter ego. “I only watched one of them, but I remember the cauldron, and the potions in the background, and you, the wise and mischievous witch.”

She laughed. “I suppose it was the closest I was ever going to get to the real thing.”

“You could make it happen, you know.”

“I don’t think so,” she said. “Not here. Not yet.”

Quiet descended over the car. Jamie could tell she had something on her mind, so he waited patiently.

“Sometimes,” Mika said after a moment, “I wonder what it’s like to be a witch in other places in the world. Like in India, where I was born, or in America or Norway or Egypt. Wherever. I sometimes think about the ugly things, like I wonder if witches are still hunted in places with more deeply rooted superstitions, but mostly, I think about families and communities. Is there a place out there where witches live their lives in the open? Are there entire communities where the townspeople know about the friendly local witch, who maybe works with the friendly local doctor so that, together, they can fix pretty much anything?” She smiled a little sheepishly, like she expected him to laugh at her, but it was the furthest thing from his mind. “I suppose that place, if it exists, is where I might be able to have my tea and potion shop.”

“You could go looking for it.”

At that, she shook her head decisively. “I don’t think so. I like learning about other places, and I’d love to find out more about witches in other parts of the world, but . . .”

When she hesitated, Jamie filled in the gaps. “But you’ve spent so much of your life moving around, you just want somewhere you can stay put?”