Page 142 of Flirty Fall Fling

Blaire grabs my hand and pulls me with her. “It’s a love loaf! I swear there’s magic in it that makes people obsess over one another. Call Autumn and ask her!”

We leave her cousin standing in the middle of the hallway, wearing a blank stare.

“I’m making her recipe right now! I’m going to label them Love Loafs at the shop tomorrow. Thanks for the idea.”

Blaire shakes her head, dragging me into the study. “It makes people fall in love. Autumn thinks she’s clever.”

“How so?”

She doesn’t answer me. When we’re in the study, she moves fast, like time is running out. Blaire climbs one of the ladders on the bookshelves and grabs a leather-bound book. It slams on the desk, and she flips through it. I look over her shoulder, seeing most of the pages are handwritten in ink. Cursive fills the margins. She turns the page two more times, then flips it back to where she was.

She scans down the page with her pointer finger, mumbling as she reads. The mood ring is still purple. I glance down at mine, and it’s the same color as hers.

“No, this isn’t it,” she says.

I can feel her growing more frantic. I rest my hand on her shoulder and rub my thumb across the back of her skin. She stops, and her eyes close. I ground her in the moment, and when she looks back at me, I swear her eyes are a different color. I decide it’s the lamplight, even though I don’t entirely believe that.

“Breathe,” I tell her.

“You don’t understand. If I lose the waning moon, I’ll have to wait an entire month before I can do this.”

I keep my hand where it is and breathe out slowly, keeping my voice low. “Don’t force it. Concentrate. Use your intuition.”

She breathes out through her nose. Then she turns pages, one at a time.

Three minutes later, the book gives her what she’s searching for.

She reads, then freezes. Her neck and face turn bright pink.

“What?” I ask.

“Nothing,” she whispers, closing the book on her fingers. “We have to find another way.”

I reach past her and open it. “Show me.”

The page is old; the ink is brown, and the handwriting is written in a slanted cursive that’s difficult to read. UNDO LOVE is written across the top. Different penmanship is on the page. There’s even a coffee stain in one place.

I struggle to read the list of items needed. “A fire of a proper size on the witch’s acreage, beneath a thinning moon, is required.”

“That’s the easy part,” she whispers.

“The lover she keeps now needs to be present.” I look at her again, and she nods. “The two shall drink the brew and dance free.” I clear my throat. “At the height of their joining, the love line should be traced, and the lovers’ blood is combined, sealed with an oath.”

“We cannot do this. I changed my mind,” she says, and it’s the first time I’ve seen her emotions get the best of her.

“Talk me through it, please. So I understand.”

“The love line.” She picks up my hand and draws across the line that starts between my pointer and middle finger and leads to the side of the palm. The room dims around us. “Mine and yours, cut and combined. If this breaks him from me, it could tie you in his place.” She meets my eyes when she says it. “I won’t do it to you.”

I reach past her and open the book again. It takes me a minute to find the line, and I read it. “Let the lover choose.”

She goes quiet.

“I choose you,” I tell her.

“I don’t know if we can undo this if it backfires. It’s too dangerous because …”

“Because what?”