Page 33 of Bewitched By the Pumpkin Queen

She’s always noticing it seems, but she doesn’t call me on it. Instead, she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and studies my face with a look I can’t quite decipher.

"I can’t say I remember the dart itself," I admit. "A sharp sting, sure, then nothing. Woke up with you standing over me, in that godawful black get up like the Angel of Bad Decisions." I attempt a smile that doesn't quite reach my eyes.

Delia snorts, the tension in her frame relaxing by degrees. "Speak for yourself. I looked fantastic. Definitely the best-dressed necromancer in the tri-state area." The quick banter helps, but only a little.

"We should get back to the farm," I say, standing and brushing dirt from my clothes. "Bag this properly and figure out our next move."

Whiskers climbs to Delia's shoulder, giving her a look that seems loaded with meaning. His tail flicks against her ear, and I catch the slight nod she gives him in return.

They see it too.

Something is changing in me.

I may not fully understand it what that something is, but what I do understand, tonight, pressed against the tunnel wall with the world crumbling around us, something flickered alive.

Not a flame.

No.

Nothing so dramatic.

Just a faint, traitorous ember, burning in the space where my heart used to be.