Page 17 of Zero Happily Ever Afters

With that, Milo took off alongside Gladiatrix, and both snickered and smirked as Ronald shouted at them to come back.

I kept close to Milo, enjoying the warm buzz radiating throughout him. Emotions were high, filled with excitement and energy. He focused on his casting, hoping to impress Gladiatrix. I hadn’t realized, but her flight movement was absolutely flawless. Milo studied her long, sleek hair with a perfectly tied high bun and side part that didn’t move a bit through their flight. She kept focused telekinesis around her body, basically bubbling herself with magic as a barrier that left her unaffected by the wind of flying. It also likely shielded her from surprise attacks.

“So, why didn’t your agent come?” Gladiatrix asked, pulling Milo from his observations.

“I don’t think my guild master wanted to send our PR team on a mission that’d last this long.”

“No, not your guild rep, your rep?”

Milo didn’t know how to answer. He’d never had personal representation. Guilds did all of that for their witches, helping them navigate their public image and careers.

“As a Global Guild member, you’re gonna want your own representation.”

He thought about how Ronald Macdonald and all those serving at his behest awaited Milo’s arrival, but in actuality, it dawned on him that they worked for Gladiatrix, preparing every place to serve as a stage for her arrival.

“Look, guilds are lovely, but they’re out for their best interest. You’re a potentially high commodity. Ranked one hundred in the whole world, which means everyone should know your name by now.”

Milo sheepishly smiled, honored and embarrassed that Gladiatrix knew his global ranking offhand. It paled in comparison to hers. He hadn’t felt this small and young since working as an intern while still attending Gemini Academy. It was a bizarre and humbling feeling to realize how much room he still had to grow.

“Yet not one person glanced in your direction during my photo op,” Gladiatrix continued.

Milo hadn’t taken offense to that. He actually enjoyed the break that came from not being in the spotlight, not being the biggest name in the room, not being the one whose every breath was studied.

“You should be a household name, and with the right agent, you will be.”

“Your agent taking clients?” he joked.

“Sure, if you’re looking to relocate to DC.” She spun in the air, posing, the wind blowing on her back, ruffling her golden cape, but careful not to touch a single hair on her head. “He doesn’t usually travel with his enchanters, but I am his…”

“Biggest client.”

“First client.” She smiled. “And the biggest, but a girl’s gotta stay humble.”

Milo didn’t want to relocate, though. He didn’t want to grow so big that he’d outgrow his home. Chicago was the grandest stage he’d ever stepped onto, and the idea of walking away from it… No. The only reason he even agreed to this mission, to leave the city, was to protect his home. There were unknown pieces moving in ways he’d never seen, which happened because of my magic. That damn rogue manifestation—persona, whatever—had shifted fates Milo delicately balanced, making potential futures he couldn’t account for, and he believed that the only way to save everyone, to offer the happiest ever after that aftered for everyone, was with the assistance of the Global Guild. Thebest witches in the world could guarantee Milo’s home remained safe and sound. But the best witches in the world didn’t hand out favors.

He wouldn’t whore out Chicago’s independence, making them reliant on the Global Guild, on the government’s whims. But a favor for a favor… That was something the greatest guild did for their members, and as a member, an official member helping them solve a difficult case, he could rely on the same if and when the time came.

“You mentioned the magic at use earlier,” Milo said, drawing his attention back to the case at hand. “I’ve never known of a branch that could kill so many people at once.”

“I’m unsure of the full extent of the magic myself,” Gladiatrix explained. “I merely know the name and basics thanks to the case files.”

“Oceanic Collapse.” Milo nodded with a serious expression, recalling the name Gladiatrix mentioned upon her arrival. Then Milo’s face fell into an awkward grin, and he rubbed the back of his head playfully to add some boyish charm. Feigned embarrassment which,dammit, looked really cute on him. “I didn’t get that far in the case files.”

“No worries. You’re better off. It was mostly an accounting of the fatalities since this witch landed in the country.”

Milo’s chest tightened, heart pounding harder, and he wondered how heavy the burden of pinpointing a witch so lethal would be. He worried he couldn’t handle the weight, the pressure of standing alongside some of the top-ranked witches. The burden and fear and stress ate away at me, too. Partly because I couldn’t fathom a threat so imposing that the best enchanters were tasked with finding and ending it, and partly because I couldn’t imagine life without Milo or a foe this strong.

I took a deep breath. Even as the air didn’t fill my lungs, the false sensation helped center my focus. Milo would be fine. He’dtaken down countless warlocks and demons that stalked the streets of Chicago. He’d taken down a devil, not once but twice. He’d survived the pain of losing Finn and never wavered from it. He was the strongest person I knew, and he walked alongside champions for this case.

“Milo will be fine,” I whispered to myself.

“I will be fine.” His bright blue eyes widened. “I need to stop worrying.”

I loosened my attachment to Milo. Not by much. I didn’t have the energy to untether my telepathy, but enough to where my worries wouldn’t pass to him. I didn’t want him to have my doubts in the back of his head. I loved him far too much to burden him in that way.

The pair continued their flight, passing over an abandoned town. An empty suburb—no lights, no life. Milo’s psychic energy and mine noted as much. He didn’t sense an inkling of possible futures in the air, and the only thoughts I heard came from Milo and Gladiatrix.

“This is where it happened,” Milo said, catching sight of a few nearby threads, fates not snuffed out by the recent massacre.

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