Page 67 of Bombshell

Pulling my magic away from the brand new barrier around the town, I felt a sudden onset of dizziness. “Whoa, head rush.”

“You’ll get used to it,” Sourcie said as she floated into my line of vision. “From now on it’s your job to maintain the barrier, Effie,mazel tov!”

I frowned. “You’re Jewish?”

Sourcie shrugged. “My druid was and he had a long time to teach me Yiddish, amongstotherthings if you catch my drift.”

There was enough innuendo in the tiny woman’s words that I knew not to ask any further questions.

I glanced over to where Alexander was still passed out. “What are the chances he still has a job with Arsenio?”

“Slim to none,” Dallan said without missing a beat. “And I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets kicked out of his coven too.”

“Great, just great,” I muttered. “I don’t suppose we can give him a job at the shop can we? He can help enchant the ink or something.”

Dallan sighed heavily. “Do we have to?”

I shot him a look and he just sighed again. “Finebut if he tries to extract even an ounce of ink from me he’s getting chucked into the ocean.”

Grinning, I planted a long, languid kiss on his lips. “I love you.”

“Well, I sure hope so, Lass, because I’m afraid we’re stuck together forever.”

“And I’m here too,” Sourcie cut in. “I’m also here and stuck forever with you both.”

Dallan and I exchanged a look.

Well, I guess there are worse fates for us to have, Lass,Dallan whispered in my mind and I laughed, pulling him in for another kiss.

I can also hear what’s in your mind, Sourcie, who I could tell was just going to relish being a pain in my ass, whispered.

“Go away,” Dallan and I said together, ignoring the woman’s grumbling completely as we stared out at the orange sky as the sun started to dip below the horizon.

Epilogue

Two weeks later…

“Alexander, you can’t just test potions in the apartment whenever you want,” I told him as I stared at the mess that my father had made of my old home. I’d moved everything down into the Grotto, so Alexander had been using it as his workspace.

Our new resident ink and tattoo equipment enchanter left a lot to be desired.

After he had indeed been fired and booted from the mayor’s mansionandhis coven Alexander was definitely going through some things. I wasn’t sure if it could be called a midlife crisis, but that was the only way I could describe the man in front of me right now.

“It wasn’t meant to explode, Euphemia,” Alexander told me, his hair standing on end from the residual magic still hovering in the room. His fashion sense had also taken a hit ever since he moved into one of the apartments above the Dive. The man was currently wearing board shorts and a Hawaiian shirt that looked like it desperately needed a wash. Long gone were thetailored suits and snobby expressions that had been a staple of my childhood and in their place was, well, a beach bum.

“Yes, but you didn’t and haven’t been taking my magic into account at all so of course shit’s going to explode,” I grumbled with frustration. “Can’t you do all of your potions things in the apartment thatyoulive in?”

“Well I am here enchanting everything you ask of me, Euphemia. Besides, I want to be closer to you so we can make up for lost time.”

That was another thing that was different about Alexander Finch since that day in the cave.

Gone was the emotionally constipated father-figure who could barely crack a smile at me and in his place was this stranger who was now grinning at me like the sun shined out of my ass.

I was a little worried that the rock he took to the head that day in the cave had scrambled his brains like an egg. That or he’d been abducted by aliens and there was a pod person standing in front of me. I wasn’t sure which answer made the most sense.

But that would also mean that the rest of the residents of Port Haven must have also taken a rock to the dome because they were treating me completely differently than before. One day I was the weird half-breed that people avoided and the next I was the savior of Port Haven. People actuallysmiledat me when I walked around town.

It was terrifying not to mention really fucking annoying.

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