Page 50 of Hex Appeal

Maybe because I'm not terrified she's burning alive. Serena reaches up and touches my jaw.

“I think I'm falling in love with you, too.”

Something inside me goes completely still.

“You think?”

Her eyes sparkle. “Don't push it.”

I laugh. Then I kiss her.

Slowly this time. Just Serena in my arms.

When I finally pull away, she rests her forehead against mine.

“You know,” she whispers, “for someone who thinks we're too woo-woo, you did just save Hexes for Exes.”

“I destroyed Hexes for Exes.”

“Then permitted its resurrection.”

“Under strict supervision.”

“Sounds magical to me.”

I shake my head. She kisses me again.

And this time, when I hold her closer, I don't think about everything that could go wrong.

I don't think about the fires I couldn't stop. Or the people I couldn't save.

For once, I let myself think about something else. I let myself consider everything that might go right. Starting with this woman who somehow loves me too.

And that’s a hell of a lot of magic.

EPILOGUE

SERENA

Technically, Clove is my cat.

I found him. I fed him. I was the one who took him to the vet after he appeared behind Spellbound last spring looking like he'd lost a fight with every other cat in town. I filed the paperwork with Animal Control to get him licensed.

And when my husband declared, in no uncertain terms, that we were not keeping him, I was the one who overruled him.

Which is why I find it deeply offensive that the little traitor is currently asleep on Welles's chest.

“You know he was supposed to be my cat.”

Welles doesn't look up from the book he's reading. “He doesn't know that.”

“He absolutely knows.”

Clove stretches, extending one paw across Welles's shoulder before settling deeper into his favorite spot.

Welles scratches beneath his chin. The purring intensifies.

Bastard. Both of them.