He rolled his eyes. “I don’t think there’s been a single moment since the day you told me we’re all made up of stardust that I haven’t wanted you.”

Her heart gave an astonished, delighted thump, but she shook her head. “You turned me down in the car just two days ago.”

He raised an eyebrow. “When you were delirious with a fever? That time?”

“That is an annoyingly good point.”

The sound of their shoes sloshed in the wet undergrowth. Jamie closed his eyes. “God, Ian can never find out about this.”

“Can you imagine?” Mika didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “The smugness might kill us on the spot.”

The rain had quieted down by the time they got back to the car. Inside, Mika scrabbled in the box of snacks until she found a thermos of hot water and two teabags. She let the bags steep in the water while Jamie got the car back on the road, and then cast her last speed spell of the day.

“Here.” She handed him the thermos. “Drink that.”

He obeyed and looked down at himself in astonishment as, with each sip, his clothes grew drier and drier until it was as if he’d never been caught in the rain at all.

She grinned and took the thermos so that she could polish off the rest of the tea. “I looked up the weather forecast last night. I thought this particular brew might come in handy.”

“You know you’re really good at what you do, don’t you?”

The words, and the wonder in his voice as he said them, found their way deep into Mika’s heart and warmed a part of that that even the tea hadn’t been able to reach.

“There’s this tiny town about fifteen minutes away,” Jamie commented, pointing out the window. They were quite close to Nowhere House now. “The gardens all have flower borders. Every lamppost is decorated with two basket planters overflowing with flowers. There’s a red telephone box, which is out of order these days and stuffed with flowers. There’s a statue of a horse pulling a cart loaded up with flowers, and the cart’s been artistically tipped over so that it looks like the flowers are spilling out. Basically, you can’t take a step without tripping over a fucking flower.”

Mika laughed. “That sounds like my kind of place.”

“Exactly.” His voice was more serious now, and she glanced sideways at him, confused and curious about where this was going. “Someone in that town loves flowers the way you love magic. They went all in, and you should, too. You should open that enchanted tea and potion shop.”

“It just isn’t possible,” Mika objected. “I don’t know of a single place in the world where I could do that.”