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“I don’t remember the specific language used.”
“Gran.”
“Okay, okay. I do recall the phrase “put this vampire in a state of constant excitement” being used. In retrospect, I suppose I didn’t specify which part of his body should be in constant excitement. I’d assumed, you know, he’d be happy in the head.”
I groaned.
“I did not realize that it would apply elsewhere.”
“Yeah, well, now he’s grinning and holding my hand like we’re engaged. Among other things.”
“I should’ve probably left the enchantment off,” Gran admitted. “But I usually fix these Happy Hexes for old folks, and they don’t mind a little boost in that general vicinity, if you know what I mean.”
“This is a disaster.”
“It’s fine,” Grandma Betty promised. “It’ll wear off in twenty minutes.”
Trixie hung up. When she climbed into my car, she glanced at me. I was pretty good at hiding my emotions. But even I wasn’t built to hide my surprise at the fact that the sly old fox had hexed a very powerful vampire to feel happy. What a conundrum.
“You had your grandmother hex me?” I asked. “Seriously?
“You heard all that?” Trixie said weakly.
“I tried not to,” I said. “But even a mere mortal could’ve heard you and your Gran shouting in the middle of this godforsaken cornfield.”
Trixie licked her lips. I felt an overwhelming desire to kiss her. Stupid hex. Now I wasn’t sure which parts of the things I was feeling were real and which were courtesy of Grandma Betty.
“I’m sorry,” Trixie said. “Grandma Betty makes these Happy Hexes for all her neighbors. She convinced me to let her make one for you because I was telling her about our hate hex battle, and she suggested trying to kill you with kindness—not literally kill you, obviously. I did double check that she wasn’t trying to kill you. Twice.”
“How thoughtful of you,” I drawled.
Trixie blew out a telling breath of relief. “Anyway, I let her make me a potion, and I’m sorry. I had my doubts, and I tried to stop you from drinking it when she put it in your coffee this morning, but then I got carried away by our conversation. By that time, it was too late.”
“The kiss earlier—”
“That wasn’t affected by the potion,” Trixie assured me. “Gran was positive the potion wouldn’t work for an hour. She purposefully delayed it so you wouldn’t know exactly when you’d been hexed.”
“Trust me, I felt it kick in like I’d been rammed by a Mack truck,” I grunted. “My cheeks hurt from smiling so much.”
“Smiling looks good on you.”
I turned toward her. “Seriously?”
She winced. “So it does look a little unusual, I admit. I suppose there’s a happy medium between grouchy-you and happy-you.”
I gave a nod as I pulled back onto the road. “Twenty more minutes before I can finally stop to get you that coffee you’ve been wanting for half an hour without getting out of the car and looking like The Joker. I hadn’t stopped because I’d been afraid of startling the mortals.”
“I’m sorry,” Trixie moaned. “Maybe we call off our hex war? Things are spiraling out of control.”
“I think that’s a solid plan. Now that your grandmother is involved, I officially forfeit. No telling what she’ll try next.”
Twenty minutes later, like clockwork, the smile dropped off my face. Trixie glanced over, and I pinned her with a stare that could’ve obliterated a lesser woman.
Trixie’s face colored gently, like a sweet pink poppy. “So, about that coffee then?”
Once we’d procured Trixie’s caffeine, we got back on the road. I could tell Trixie was working up the nerve to ask me something. It took her twenty more minutes after her coffee kicked in.
“Why would your brother be trying to target people close to you?” Trixie blurted. “People who look like me?”
