“I found her standing on tiptoes, scanning a shelf that was indeed next to a painting of a dude on a horse. I thought he looked awfully irritated for a guy in such a spiffy ermine cape.”

“Did your dad say anything about Nick and Daisy?""He-" I started. Then I caught a blur out of the corner of my eye, and something landed in the fountain with a resounding splash, drenching me and Jenna in a wave of pink water.Nick surfaced, tossing his head back and sending dropets flying. If a demon and a vampire both staring at him with identical looks of "WTF,dude?" bothered him, he didn't show it.Instead,he gave his usualy creepy grin and asked, "Did one of you lovely ladies say my name?""Yeah," I said,glaring at him as I wrung water out of my braid. "We were just saying, 'Man,I wish Nick would fling himself into the fountain like a nut job and totally ruin our clothes.' So thanks for that.""Sophie's right," Daisy said, coming to stand next to the fountain. Apparently, wherever Nick was, she was right behind. "Tell them you're sorry." Her words might have sounded sterner if she hadn't been looking at Nick like he was something tasty to eat. God,they were weird.Nick sloshed through the water until he was right in front of me and Jenna. "That's actually why I came out here, my darling," he said to Daisy. "Sophie, I was a jerk to you yesterday."He didn't actually say 'jerk," but another word that was way more accurate. I just raised my eyebrows and waited for him to continue.”

“For a second I thought about saying, "Yes, please, let's catch the next ferry out of this freak show.”

“Whatever. I can't even imagine having a fiance.""You probably have one, you know."I stared at him. "Excuse me?""Your dad is a really important guy. I'm sure he made a match for you when you were thirteen."I didn't even want to get into that. The thought that there was some warlock out there who was planning on making me his missus one day was too much to handle. What if he was here at Hecate? What if I knew the guy? Oh God, what if it was that kid with bad breath who sat right behind me in Magical Evolution?I made a mental note to ask my mom about all of this as soon as I decided to speak to her again.”

“I clutched at his shoulders, raising up on my tiptoes, and kissed him with everything I had in me. As the kiss deepened, we held each other tighter, so I didn't know if the pounding heartbeat I felt was mine or his.”

“Cal," he said by way of explanation. "I owe that guy, like, a mountain of burgers. It's getting embarrassing.”

“What else did he say?”She screwed up her face. “Oh, some weird thing about telling you that he still feels the same way about that tent, and he promises to say it to you in person next time he sees you.”I gave a bark of laughter that was more of a sob. “That asshat,” I blubbered.Elodie nodded in sympathy. “Such an asshat.”