Oh no!

The heart.

I froze and looked around, holding my breath, wishing Andrew would be standing in front of me. Instead, my worst fear walked toward me. A purple zebra pimp hat moved through the crowd in our direction. Blond hair and brown eyes came into focus. Hamilton winked at me.

No. No. No.

I closed my eyes and spun around, stumbling when I met with the solid wall of someone’s chest. A pair of hands wrapped around my biceps, steadying me.

I gasped and opened my eyes to meet pale blue ones, and a lopsided smile.

“Hi,” I said, exhaling in relief.

Andrew just smiled and grabbed my hand, pulling me away from the dance floor and Hamilton. Outside he kept going past the terrace, leading me down a stone path to the beach.

“My heart!” I exclaimed, stopping in the middle of the path.

“What?”

“I lost my heart pendant on the dance floor. I should go find it.”

“You’ll never find it in the crowd.”

I frowned.

He pressed his finger to my bottom lip. “It’s not important, is it?”

The charm itself wasn’t worth anything, but how could I confess to him how important it was to find it — or even more important, he find it, for the love spell to be completed.

He studied me for a minute before pressing his hand to my cheek.

I wanted to kiss him again — more than I wanted to find the heart, even more than I cared about superstitious hocus-pocus magic, so I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his.

He responded by wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me closer. With my heels, the height difference was much less and I could easily reach my hands into his hair. His open coat formed a cocoon around us.

We kissed like no one could see us, like we were the last two people alive, or the first people ever to fall in love. We kissed like we were falling in love.

My head spun as the earth shifted beneath my feet. Unable to catch my breath, I broke off the kiss, nuzzling my nose in his neck.

This was falling in love.

“Madison,” he whispered into my hair.

“Mmm.”

“I have to tell you something.”

“Okay.” I lifted my head to meet his gaze.

Gently cupping my cheeks, he searched my eyes, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed. “I know about the love spell.”

“What?” I tried to pull away from him, but his arm around my waist held me in place. Therefore, all I achieved was bending backward and grinding my hips against him.

Oh. Spell or no spell, Andrew liked me. Really liked me.

I had hard evidence… against my stomach. When he moaned and pulled his hips away, I pouted.

“The spell?” he reminded me.

Oh, right. The spell.

“I don’t even believe in magic. It was kind of a joke, and I lost the heart pendant. My true love was supposed to find it when it dropped, but you didn’t. And I saw Hamilton first. So it didn’t work,” I babbled.

Andrew stilled and remained silent.

I rewound what I’d said. Not believing in magic, joke, not working … true love … him.

Closing my eyes, I wished for the ground to swallow me whole. The beach and the icy cold water sat a few yards away. A short run and I could throw myself into the sea.

“Madison, open your eyes.”

I opened one eye, and then slowly the other.

Andrew smiled at me. “Even if you don’t believe in magic, I do.”

“You do?”

He nodded. “Of course.”

“Really?”

“Doubts the girl who used a love spell on me,” he said with a chuckle and a peck to my lips. “If you didn’t believe, just a little, why are you worried about the spell working or not working?”

He had me there. “I, um.” I paused and sucked in a deep breath to buy some time. “If it worked, then you don’t really like me, you’re just enchanted. Or whatever you call it. And if it didn’t work, then I’m embarrassed and a fool.”

“What if I told you it didn’t work, but I’m still enchanted, although I prefer the word bewitched.”

Bewitched. My skin tingled and warmed.

“Walk with me? I want to show you something.” He entwined his fingers with mine and gently pulled me down the path.

I followed. Of course.

The beach was quiet except for small waves slapping against the rocky shore. Sand and rocks were madness with these heels, so I removed them and walked barefoot through the cold, wet sand. A large shadow loomed down the beach, and I realized it was a pile of wood for a bonfire.

“Is this the midnight surprise?” I asked, circling the pyre.

“It is. Tonight’s Samhain as well as Halloween. Do you know about it?” He followed behind me, but at a distance.

“Sam and Sarah told me a little. It’s the night when the threshold between worlds gets thinner and magic is easier.”

“Sarah?” He stopped walking.

I stopped, too, and faced him. “Sarah, at the Spelling B.”

He smirked. “I should have known.”

“Known what?” I stepped closer. His contacts made his eyes almost glow in the light from the sliver of moon above the bay. “Your contacts remind me of her eyes.”

“How odd.” He glanced down at his watch. “I’ll explain everything in a minute.”

With a look over his shoulder toward the house, he crouched near the wood. He held his hands in front of him and a spark hit the kindling. I never saw a match. Within seconds, a blue flame spread through the stack before transforming into a warm blaze. Flames reached toward the sky.

“I’ve never seen a bonfire alight so quickly,” I said in awe. “How did you do that?”

He shrugged and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

“Seriously, how did you do that? Lighter fluid? I didn’t even see you use a lighter.”

“I didn’t.”

“What? That’s impossible.”

“Not if you believe in magic.”

I was utterly, completely, and entirely confused.

“Andrew?”

“Uh huh,” he said, stepping closer and touching my hips above my tutu.

“What going on?”

“Hmm … well, if you don’t believe in magic, nothing. Just two people standing near a bonfire.”

“A bonfire you lit with your hands.”

“Not if you don’t believe.”

“But I saw it with my own eyes.”

“Appearances can be deliberately deceiving.”

“You’re speaking in riddles.”

“I’m hoping you’ll catch on without me having to spell it out for you.” He chuckled and kissed me again.

I let myself fall into the kiss, but my mind kept spinning with questions. Andrew Wildes wasn’t what he seemed. Something clicked.

“You’re not wearing contacts tonight, are you?”

I could feel his smile against my cheek.

“I think you’re catching on.” As he spoke, his scruff rubbed against my skin.

“Glasses?”

“Fake lenses.” A kiss to my neck.

My forehead creased. He kissed the wrinkles.

“Wait. Contacts and fake lenses?”

He nodded, or at least dipped his chin in the beginning of a nod. His glacial blue eyes pierced through me. I shivered with the chill of his stare.

“All part of the illusion.”

“At first we dress to deceive?” I asked. When I crossed my arms, my wings tightened at my shoulders. This conversation was surreal enough beyond the fact it was happening while I was dressed like a bee.

“The quiet, loner boy who no one notices.” He raised one shoulder in a lopsided shrug

“But why?”

“Maybe I didn’t want to be who everyone expected me to be.”

“Because you’re from here.” I was missing something.

“And my mom.”

I gasped. The pieces fell into place like a puzzle coming together. “Your mom is Sarah at the Spelling Bee!”

“The lady is on to something.”

“Your mom is the most powerful witch in Salem.”

“Ding, ding,” he said flatly.

“Sam told me Sarah is a real witch.” I stopped myself and stared at him. “Does that mean …”

“I’m a witch.”

It wasn’t a question.

“You’re a witch?”

He nodded.