Marie landed in the puddle of light cast by the Barnes’ front porch light and let Luc stand on her own, but didn’t let go of her.

  Luc spun around, pulled in by Marie’s hand in hers, and tried to parse what she could from Marie’s face. Maybe reading her would be easier without her power, but honestly, she wasn’t good at reading people in general. For most people, she wouldn’t bother asking or bringing it up, but that wouldn’t make her a very good girlfriend.

  “Your dad?” Luc asked, taking a guess.

  Marie grimaced and glanced down at their entwined hands. “I just know he’s going to have something to say about me going to this camp. That I’m wasting my potential when I don’t need to be there. And I understand where he’s coming from, really, and he’s done so much for me but… I didn’t only retire because we broke up. I wanted to have a normal life. This feels normal.”

  “Yeah,” Luc said. “Going to a mage-run camp that employs magical delinquents does sound normal.”

  “Shut up.” Marie shook her head, but couldn’t turn to the side fast enough for Luc to miss the curl of her lips. “It is probably as normal as people like us are going to get.”

  “Yeah, you’re probably right,” Luc said. She didn’t get it, and probably never would, but she’d let Marie have this. Neither of them had had normal lives, for entirely different reasons. If Marie wanted to think this was fun and normal, good for her. To Luc, it was just another job. “You can stay the night, you know. I know Mama Barnes wouldn’t mind.”

  Marie glanced up at the house. The front door was open, a screen in its place, letting in the cool summer night air. Moths flew quietly around the warm light, crickets buzzing in the bushes below.

  “I… shouldn’t,” Marie said slowly, and dropped Luc’s hand. “I have to finish packing, and say goodbye to Nice. And my dad. Try and get him to understand.”

  “Okay,” Luc said, giving Marie’s hand a squeeze. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “See you tomorrow,” Marie said, leaning down to give her a light peck on the lips. “I love you.”

  “Love you too.”

  Luc dropped Marie’s hand and took a step back as Marie’s wings unfurled from her back. With a single, powerful push from her wings, she was in the air, flying off to wherever she’d left her car earlier in the day to drive it home. After watching her go, Luc turned on her heel and walked up the creaking steps onto the porch, through the screen door, and inside.

  Voices and warm cinnamon welcomed her as she walked through the front door. She slowed at the overlapping voices from the front room before she reached the entrance. Over the past few months of not speaking to Maisey, she’d been avoiding the girl whenever she came over to spend time with Tobias, hiding in her room until Maisey went home. Tonight, she stepped up to the doorway and leaned through, hanging onto the frame to pull herself back in case she wasn’t welcome.

  Maisey and Tobias sat on the couch, enjoying some variation of fresh caramelized apples, the TV playing some mindless reality show as they talked with their bodies half entwined.

  Their conversation dwindled out when Maisey glanced up and shut her mouth, eyes landing on Luc. She swallowed. Luc stared back, opening her mouth to say something, only to find the words slow to form.

  Tobias wrapped an arm around Maisey’s shoulders. “She promised no more shenanigans,” he said.

  “Well… No more dangerous ones, at least,” Maisey said, cracking a cautious smile.

  Luc stepped fully into the room as she rolled her eyes. “There’s probably no way to keep you from meddling.”

  “Not a chance,” Maisey said. She laughed for a moment before sobering up. “So… Does this mean we’re talking again?”

  “Yeah,” Luc said, grinning down at her. Relief filled her chest just looking at her. Not being able to talk to her these past few months had been exhausting. Maisey was one of the few friends she had, and she really didn’t want to lose her. “Marie is still being Marie, but she’ll come around.”

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  “She’s just jealous,” Maisey said with a roll of her eyes. “Worried I’ll take you away. Which is crazy. I’m great at sharing.”

  Luc laughed at Maisey’s antics, sinking easily into the familiar dynamic. Tobias relaxed and leaned back on the couch, then jerked his head toward the door.

  “Mama made caramelized apples, and there’s still toasted oatmeal and ice cream in there if you want some.”

  Luc perked up before letting out a sigh. “I still have to finish packing.”

  “We’ll help,” Tobias said with a wave of his hand. “Just relax and join us for a bit first. It’s been too long.”

  “It has been,” Luc agreed, and hopped up to get herself some dessert.

  Halfway through her bowl of apples and vanilla ice cream, Luc found herself fully involved with the reality show Maisey and Tobias had been watching, caught between them as they argued over some contestant. Maisey wanted Luc to agree with her; Luc didn’t have an ounce of context behind the argument, but it made Tobias laugh to disagree with her.

  She yawned, hand pressed over her mouth to stifle it, Luc remembered everything she still had to do and let out a little groan.

  “I still have to pack.”

  “Oh yeah,” Tobias said. He stood up, picking Maisey up with him and putting her on her feet. “We should—yawn—probably do that now.”

  ******

  Luc woke with someone’s foot inched away from her face, and blinked groggily to find Maisey laying across her bed on top of the covers, using a backpack as a pillow. Sitting upright, she found Tobias lying on the floor, one hand under his head, mouth open as he snored.

  At least they’d managed to finish packing before they fell asleep.

  Doing her best not to wake anyone, Luc slid out of bed and tiptoed out of the room. She showered quickly, then walked back into the room and began to wake everyone. They needed to pick up their temporary licenses and then drive five hours to reach the camp before noon, and Luc wanted to give them time just in case something ridiculous happened.

  “Come on,” Luc said, shaking Tobias awake. “We need to get everything in the truck and get going.”

  Tobias blinked awake, holding one hand over his face to shield it from the morning sunlight. “What about breakfast?”

  Luc rolled her eyes. “Is food all you think about?”

  “Only when I’m hungry.”

  “Get up,” she said, jabbing him in the side, this time not bothering to be gentle about it. “There’s Poptarts in the car.”

  “What flavor are they?”

  “Get up!”

  It didn’t take as much effort to get Maisey out of bed and load everything into the bed of Tobias’s truck. Finally came to the goodbyes to Mama and Mr. Barnes, and they were off, Luc and Maisey squeezing into the passenger seat of the truck.

  “Is Marie meeting us at the commission building?” Maisey asked as they pulled off the bumpy dirt road.

  “Let me find out,” Luc said, wiggling to give herself enough room to pull out her phone. Once she got it out, she shot Marie a quick text.

  Luc: are you meeting us at commission?

  Marie: sorry, gonna be late. leave without me

  Luc texted back a question asking why and waited for a response, only for none to come. With a frown, she put down her phone and tried not to worry. Why would Marie be late? Hopefully everything was okay.

  Luc hopped out of the car first as they reached the commission building, a familiar car parked in the mostly empty parking lot. Not the Commissioner’s big black SUV, but a much smaller, silver car with a bevvy of bumper stickers on the back.

  She led the way inside, a small smile coming to her lips as she laid eyes on the woman for the first time in months.

  “Hi Mrs. Oscar.”

  The woman’s face lit up as her eyes landed on Luc. “Look who’s been ungrounded.”

  “Only if you give me the license,” Luc said, reaching the counter and leaning across it. “Do you have ‘em ready?”

  “I do,” Mrs. Oscar said. She reached down into a drawer and pulled out a set of three boxes, each holding one of the mage tech watches that the commission used to track magic and provide payment to magical girls. Luc clutched her to her chest, resisting the urge to tear the box open and strap it on. “I still can’t believe you’re going to that camp. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen someone from here go up there.”

  “Really?” Luc asked, curious.

  “Yeah, it’s been about… eighteen years now? Something like that.” Mrs. Oscar shook her head. “He never came back.”

  “What, like, he died?” Maisey demanded. “I’m not going to some horror summer camp. I’m blonde. I’d be the first to die.”

  “No, no, he got a job,” Mrs. Oscar said with a laugh, waving off Marie’s concerns. “Try not to get into too much trouble up there, okay?”

  “We won’t,” Luc promised, and leaned over the counter to give the woman a hug before leaving for the summer.