Page 93 of A Lady’s Guide to Witchcraft

Ethan did not look particularly impressed.

Petal smiled wider. “Oh, I like him.”

He only grunted.

“But what does he mean, you paid the price?” she demanded. “You were nowhere near me, and I didn’t tell you what I was doing for a reason.”

“Yes, about that…” Briar replied.

“You would have tried to stop me.”

“Or she might have been prepared,” Ethan snapped.

Petal frowned. “Prepared for what?”

Briar waved her hand. “Nothing. He’s exaggerating.”

“You are lucky not to be in a Keeper’s iron collar,” Ethan insisted. “That blighter reached into your fucking head.”

He wasn’t wrong. But he had come for her. He had burned down the headquarters of the Order. She promised herself an inappropriate little swoon about it later.

He scowled. “And they broke your teacups.”

Petal gaped. “What the hell? That museum curator came after you? Instead of me?”

“The spell he put on the amulet found me instead,” Briar said. “A twin thing, I imagine.”

Her sister cursed. “I’m sorry.” She pressed a hand to her stomach. “And I am starving.” She winced in pain.

“You’ve been asleep for days,” Briar explained as Bramble handed Petal an apple from the basket of food.

Petal took a large bite. “I don’t remember anything except coming through the portal and feeling awful. I had to crawl home. If I hadn’t had your lemon candies for the solstice dawn ceremony, I don’t think I would have made it.”

“Are you the one who broke the moon charm?”

She tilted her head, trying to remember. “Yes! That curator followed me. He wasn’t supposed to be able to even see me. I had rabbit magic.”

“Lord Coventry, yes.”

She winced. “He’s a lord, too?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“Am I going to have to smile at him?” She shuddered. “Or flirt?”

“No,” Ethan cut in. “Coventry is too dedicated to his work for that.”

She looked relieved as she finished the apple and ate a hunk of cheese, and three rolls sprinkled with dill, before she could manage another word. “Can we go up top? I think I might be dying for fresh air. It stinks of roses in here.”

She moved slowly and carefully, like someone only just recovered from a fever. Bramble hovered.

Briar smiled at Ethan. “We did it.”

“You did it.”

“You helped me not get murdered along the way,” she pointed out. “And now the shields are unlocked. I think?”

Her smile faltered. She turned away so he would not see it. If the spell was broken, then Ethan would be leaving. He had only ever been honest about that. The fact she would miss him enough that her chest already ached was her own problem to deal with. She would not let it tarnish the night’s victory.