Page 56 of The Witch is Back

“Is he choking?” Leah slipped off her stool and made to go to him.

Bastian’s shoulders abruptly relaxed and he shuddered. “Keep forgetting,” he muttered. “Stupid.”

Leah cocked an eyebrow. “Could he be allergic to some of the special ingredients?”

“I don’t think so.” Emma put out a hand. “Bastian? You okay?”

He glanced up and smiled, as if the past few minutes hadn’t happened. “Hi.”

She smiled back, unable to help it.

Tia cleared her throat. “You didn’t really answer my question. Can she trust you?”

Enough. “This isn’t your business,” Emma returned, irritated.

“You’re my friend. It kind of is.”

“So if I went to find Henry?”

Warning darkened Tia’s face. “Not the same thing.”

“Yeah, it is.”

Bastian clapped his hands to get their attention. “It’s fine, Emma,” he told her, finally picking up the cookie Leah was all but shoving at him. “She’s your friend. She’s annoying as hell. But she has a point.”

Emma stared at him. She had no words. Again.

“Still.” He chewed thoughtfully. “Some things should stay private. Like what we’re going to do about sex.”

Leah chuckled. “Aw, man, he is so wasted.”

He had to be. She’d never seen a man this chatty. This...

Honest.

The word clicked the light bulb in her head and her hand shot out, grabbed Tia’s arm. “You need to come talk to me.”

“I’m still talking to Bastian.”

“No, you’re done.” Emma dragged her over to the far side of the bar, where she whirled on her. “What did you do?”

“What?”

“Nobody gets that honest without a little help. Man, I should have seen it earlier.”

Tia folded her arms. A dead giveaway. “What?”

“You put a truth potion in his cosmo, didn’t you?”

Tia’s chin lifted. “So?”

Oh, jeez. Emma was tempted to put her head in her hands. “What the hell? That breaks about ten thousand codes of ethics.”

“Please, witches don’t have ethics.”

It chafed because she was right.

“And I had to know the truth. What his intentions are. What his real feelings are. I’m worried.”

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