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The frying pan spat an angry drop of hot oil onto Temperance’s wrist. ‘Fuck, ‘ she whispered, barely feeling the pain.

* * *

‘Fuck!’

‘Chug it down, Tee! Jesus, it’s just a bit of rum. What is a small hangover compared to removing a jinx over our heads?!’

Temperance could feel the sand whipped up by the dawn’s blustery wind getting between the silk bodice and her ribs, scratching and tickling her with every slight move she made. She held the glass bottle up to the weak light. ‘I know, I know! I just wish it didn’t have those bits floating in the bottom. Ugh. Fine.’ She put her lips to the rim and swallowed two gulps, retching slightly as she came up for air.

‘Big baby,’ Susie muttered, passing her a water bottle.

‘Could I get a bit of support here, or what?! I know this whole thing is my mess, but I’m also bricking it that I’m not going to be able to clean it up. Now: checklist.’

Susie bit her lip. ‘Wedding dress, check. Robe tie, check. Beanie – with hidden magical powers apparently – check. All inside out, check. Malibu, campfire, beach, sunrise. What else did we do that night?’

‘Stevie was there.’

‘Yeah, but she can’t have contributed to it, can she? Being normal and everything.’

‘Good point. So . . . we held hands and danced around the fire,’ Temperance said reluctantly.

‘We were such tools.’

‘We are such tools. Come on.’ Temperance clambered up off the beach towel, feeling several layers of lace and boning plus the fate of her community pulling at her shoulders. She scrunched up her fingers and let her magic take some of the weight. ‘We just need to do this, and mean it. Abel needs to be free to go home and go back to Cass.’ She shivered. ‘It’s a cold one today.’ She put out her hands, after relaxing her grip and dusting them off on the ivory skirt.

Susie took them and held firmly. ‘I’ll mean it, all right. I’m taking no chances when it comes to our home, or the pub. And you’re going to really mean it too, right?’ She gave her big sister a hard stare.

‘What does that mean?’

‘No lingering hope that if Abel hangs around for longer, that he might remember the good old days more, warm up a bit, forget all about Bath and Karen . . .’

‘It’s Cass. And God no, Suse! He needs to be gone, for both our sakes. I want him gone.’

Susie nodded. ‘OK. Good. Just checking. So, what did we say last time?’

‘It’s too much of a blur. I think we should keep it short and sweet. Punchy, to the point.’

Susie looked up to the sky striped with powdery blue and baby pink, the sun starting to feel its way into the morning air. ‘Abel Gulliver we release you.’

‘Perfect.’ Temperance started moving clockwise around the fire, forcing Susie to amble into the dance too.

‘I feel like such a dick.’

‘That’s not in the chant. Let’s not accidentally cast for an army of giant penises to wash up on the beach, OK? Focus.’

Susie spluttered out a laugh and Temperance couldn’t help but match it for a minute before she cleared her throat and started the chant for real.

‘Abel Gulliver we release you. Abel Gulliver WE release you. Abel Gulliver WE release YOU.’

They moved round and round, both sisters closing their eyes. Temperance felt something click into place and a swirling warmth start to build in her palms, between Susie’s, locking them in. It was like they had put two perfectly matched jigsaw pieces together at long last. They could join their magic and do anything, as a sisterhood. The feeling tingled sharply and spread up her arms, into her shoulders. There was a discreet prickling under her hat, as if now that its powers had been named it was happy to get involved and play its part. Temperance felt a heat circle her hairline and surge along her cheekbone and jaw. She focused on painting the outcome she needed, sent all that tingling heat into her mind’s eye.

She started to imagine Abel walking towards her – why did he have to be half naked in his wetsuit, even in her own mind?! – and now she should let him stroll right past and hop into his van and drive far, far away. She should.

Temperance would let the universe know she was sorry for taking what wasn’t hers, like a toddler sneaking a teddy from the toy shop. She would put the toy back. It wasn’t hers to play with.

With eyes squeezed shut, the sisters twirled around and around, a pulsing energy between their hands, and Temperance felt her head go woozy. Was this magic or was she just getting motion sickness?

She kept trying to piece together the vision in her head, as real as day, willing it into life. She wasn’t conscious of using her powers on the layers of the wedding dress but they were floating up and out, like the undulations of a jellyfish at sea.