Page 103 of Zero Happily Ever Afters

The academy. The academy that continued changing, growing, evolving into something better. A better brighter version I couldn’t see myself involved in. Not currently. Not until I’d done something about this impending vision. I wouldn’t allow it to become a reality.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Despite the horrid vision, I had a bit of a pep in my step as I walked into Milo’s place, feeling fresher, newer, ready for anything. It was a damn good haircut, long overdue. There was also a serious conversation I needed to have with Milo, something I’d have to tell him before the end of the school year—not that it was much of an ending. But I wanted to celebrate his return to guild work even if it made me anxious. Even if it reminded me of losing Finn. Even if my chest tightened every time I thought back to when he collapsed on stage, surrounded by The Sisters Three, The True Witch, and Theodore Whitlock.

I buried that fear, that worry, because Milo wouldn’t be deterred, and I did support him.

Stepping through the foyer, I fought back the disappointment that came from that lack of a farewell, all the things left unsaid before the school year ended, the months of preparation now lost that my homeroom coven would never get back. Well, they would. They were all dedicated. They’d find time to make up for that lost learning. I hoped, at the very least.

Milo shimmied across the living room to the kitchen, adding a bit of levitation for a real pep in his step as music blasted from every room of the penthouse.

He’d changed his suit, no jacket, tie, or dress shoes—definitely his way of unwinding for the evening. His blond hair was curly and slightly damp, clearly shower-fresh from the smell of his body wash.

I kept quiet, enjoying the swagger of his hips as he floated around the kitchen island, meal prepping for the week, because for some god-awful reason he genuinely enjoyed chopping, washing, sorting, cooking, and organizing a bunch of fruits and veggies for snacks during long workdays.

Work. Milo was back to work, taking on cases, preparing for how to capture Theodore Whitlock, how to infiltrate the Celestial Coven, how to fight against The True Witch.

I swallowed the wafting trepidation. Not merely mine but the fear nearby, too. With my mind floating throughout the entire city, it became somewhat second nature to sync to certain emotions. Then they struck me harder, heavier, so much fucking worse.

Okay, maybe I wasn’t quite ready for this conversation.

“Where’s Ben?” I asked, not sensing his surface thoughts anywhere in the building.

“He’s chilling with my acolytes tonight. Figured big case stuff going on today, plus…” Milo turned off the stereo, clinging to the song lyrics freshly plastered in his mind, humming softly before he smirked. “You know they all got an apartment together?”

“Your acolytes?”

“Yeah, and you know that’s because—”

“They aren’t paid,” I interrupted. “The system is cruel? Guilds are greedy and use loopholes to exploit free labor for years? Capitalism is the ultimate magic?”

“No.” Milo’s face fell flat, thoughts fizzling into disappointment. “Sad face. I was gonna say ‘cause they have confusing feelings to work out. My version was Three’s Companypoly vibes. Your version makes me feel bad about the economy. Sadder face.”

“And maybe for exploiting your acolytes?”

“I’m not exploiting them. I’ve been handing them top-tier cases while working this Global Guild investigation.”

“And babysitting duty.”

Milo frowned, a pouty, sour expression that showed he hadn’t really seen it that way, but he was too stubborn to admit I had a point. Too stubborn to even think it, the song lyrics played louder along his surface thoughts.

“We’re gonna have to get him a real nanny soon.”

“We?” Milo asked.

“You, sorry.” My face warmed, flustered a bit by the very confusing situation. And it was confusing. Milo had taken Benjamin in temporarily for the sake of a case, for the chance to offer the kid some stability. Now, though, even as everything continued spiraling toward potential chaos, things seemed to have unfolded better for the kid. I wasn’t sure if it was Milo’s doing, if it was Milo’s hope, but I sensed Milo had no intention of letting Ben slip through the cracks of the system. “Whatever. I just included myself in the equation in case you needed help. Whatever. What do I care? It’s whatever.”

“Alrighty, you’ve clearly got zero fucks to give orwhatever.” Milo smirked in his annoyingly minxy way, surface thoughts revealing the conversation he’d had with Ben about staying longer, about the conversation Ben had with me, about how I’d offered him a manifestation wrapped in the form of a persona to protect him if the ocean ever returned.

“Maybe I give one or two fucks.” I shrugged. “Whatever.”

Milo’s eyes fluttered momentarily as he wrapped his thoughts around visions—some still fractured and tumbling chaotically around Milo’s mind. “I also sort of figured we’d need to have a serious convo.”

Damn. He knew what I wanted to discuss. Of course he did. He was Milo fucking Evergreen. He knew everything about me, everything I’d ever contemplated.

“And that hair has serious convo written all over it.”

“You don’t like it?” I ran my hand through the back, feeling the short buzz before reaching the ruffled top.

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