She stroked her hand on his chest. “You know, you’re much too trusting.”

“Am I?”

“Here you are in a witch’s lair at night, and you assume I’m going to remove that spell?”

“You aren’t?”

She rose up on her knees and almost but didn’t quite kiss his lips. “Maybe I’m going to make it stronger instead.”

“That would be bad,” he said, taking her in his arms.

“I told you I am.”

He pulled her down to the mattress, holding her against his chest. “Bad witches like to be on top, if I remember correctly.”

“You have a good memory.”

“It’s been painfully good.”

“I can fix that.” She stripped off her tank top.

“I feel better already. Your magic is strong.”

“You have no idea. Ready for more?”

“Why ask when your spell has me in unconditional surrender?”

“I seem to remember you have some pretty strong magic of your own.”

“You knew?” he asked.

“I knew. That was no toy pony you hid in my pocket.” She pinned him beneath the weight of her body. “May the best magic win.”

PART FOUR

DAUGHTER OF RAVEN

1

Raven stood a foot away from the wooden fence. She was always careful when she went to the boundary. She made sure her feet didn’t touch a piece of grass that leaned over onto Jackie’s land.

Jackie’s family was busy, hurrying in and out of the house. None of them noticed her standing at the fence. They were packing their car for a long camping trip. To Colorado—Rocky Mountain National Park—Jackie’s mother had told Raven on the last day of school.

Raven watched Jackie’s new father, Mr. Danner, arrange things in the back of the SUV. He’d been Raven’s gym teacher for three years, starting when Raven was in third grade. He and Ms. Taft fell in love right away and married the summer after Jackie finished elementary school.

Jackie came out of the house and gave something to Mr. Danner that made him laugh and pat Jackie on the shoulder. Raven was glad Jackie and Huck had a nice man like Mr. Danner for a father. And Ms. Taft was very happy. Her name was Ms. Danner now—because she hadn’t wanted to keep her ex-husband’s name, Jackie said. Jackie called himself Jack Danner. He had told his friends to call him Jack since fifth grade, but his family still called him Jackie. Raven did, too. He was a lot bigger now, but he would always be Jackie to her.

Raven stepped closer to the fence when Reece came out of the house with Huck. He must have slept over, and the Danners would take him home as they left town.

Reece immediately noticed her. He said something to Huck, and both boys jogged across the lawn toward her.

“Checking out the greener grass on the other side of the fence?” Reece said.

“I guess so,” she said.

Huck looked sad and angry, as he always did when anything about the fence was mentioned. Reece, of course, had made it into a joke since the day she’d told them she couldn’t put one foot on the other side.

“When do you leave for Montana?” Huck asked.

“Tomorrow,” she said.

“Why is everyone going to see more of this nature shit?” Reece said, gesturing at the fields and trees. “If I could get out of here, I’d go to New York City.”

“I’ll go with,” Huck said.

Reece held up his hand for a high five. “Road trip. First one of us who gets a car.”

Huck slapped his hand and looked over his shoulder. “Speaking of trips, I have to get more stuff into the car before Jackie takes up all the space that’s left.”

“Hair products?” Reece said.

Huck snorted. “Yeah, and clothes.”

“Jackie is into hair and fashion these days. He was quite the stud of sixth grade,” Reece said to Raven.

Raven hardly knew anything about Jackie now. She saw him only briefly on the rare occasions his mother brought him to the elementary school.

“I gotta go,” Huck said. “Have a good summer.”

“You too,” she said.

Reece stayed when Huck jogged back to the house. He leaned his arms on the top board of the old wood fence. “You know this is ridiculous, right?”

“What is?” she asked, though she knew.

“This fence thing. Just come over here. Say hi to Jackie.”

“I made a promise. You know that.”

“You were seven when Maleficent made that decree. You’re old enough to know it’s bullshit now.”

“Stop calling her that.”

He sighed and ducked through the opening in the fence. He sat in the long grass, and she settled next to him.

“How’s it going with her?”

“Okay.”

He looked in her eyes. “You can tell me the truth, you know. I live with my own version of Maleficent.”

“There’s nothing to say.”

“There are volumes to say, I bet.”

She watched a grasshopper climb up a grass stem. If she were still seven, she’d think it might be one of Mama’s spies. She didn’t worry about that so much anymore. But she wouldn’t be surprised if Mama were watching her from the trees.