Page 47 of Enchanted to Meet You

I glanced at the house we’d pulled up in front of. Only a few blocks over from my own, it was nearly twice as large. New construction that straddled two lots, Esther’s house had a wide wraparound porch, a four-car garage, no less than three jack-o’-lanterns grinning maniacally down at us from the front porch, each with a flickering candle inside, and a small sign at the end of the driveway that saidThis Home Protected by AlarmSafe. Every light in the house seemed to be on.

“Thanks for the ride,” Gabby said, brightly, her argument with Esther completely forgotten. “You can let me out here, too. I live next door, but we’re going to do our Spanish homework together.”

“Are your parents home?” Derrick asked quickly.

“Yeah.” Esther undid her seat belt. “My little brother finishes soccer practice about now, so we all eat dinner together late.”

“Good,” he said. “Go inside and tell your parents to set their home alarm. And don’t go out again until daylight.”

“Because of the wolf?” she asked, looking thrilled.

“Because Halloween is on Friday. You never know what might be out there, lurking in the dark.”

“Cool.” Esther sounded delighted. “I’ll text you about meeting up later for mentor stuff, okay, Ms. Gold?”

“Jessica,” I corrected her. “And sure, that would be great. Gabby, get my number from Esther, too, so we can set up a time for you to come in and try on a dress and figure out a work schedule.”

“Oh, my gosh, thank yousomuch, Ms. Gold!” Gabby gushed.

Both girls and the dog leaped from the car as Derrick said, “Good night—and be safe!”

“We will!” they cried, and raced hand in hand up the lawn to the home’s front porch.

“Spanish homework,” Derrick said, as we watched them disappear into the house. “So that’s what the kids are calling sex these days.”

I grinned. “You got that feeling, too, huh?”

“They’re like an old married couple.”

“But more attentive to one another’s feelings. What do you think about Esther? You agree she’s the One, right?”

“No.”

When I threw a startled glance in his direction, speechless with astonishment, I saw that he wasn’t even looking at me. He was concentrating on navigating the night-dark road.

“You’rethe One,” he went on, his gaze still on the road. “Esther is the Bringer of Light.” I felt my shoulders, which had tensed up at hisNo, relax. “I’m here to support and protect you. If you think it’s her, then it’s her. But I will say”—my shoulders tensed up again—“from the moment I met her, she’s shown the same kind of calm presence I’ve seen in previous Bringers of Light I’ve encountered. She wasn’t the least bit concerned about the wolf. More delighted, really.”

I felt my shoulders relax again. Not that I needed his approval. But it was always nice to know your coworkers had your back.

“And do you think Esther’s right?” I asked. “About this guy who’s coming in to judge the Harvest Princesses possibly being a vampire?”

“No, because there’s no such thing as vampires.”

“Oh, okay. So demons exist, but not vampires?”

“Of course demons exist. I’ve seen them. I told you: they’re the tortured souls of those looking to right what they see as their unjust death. But I’ve never seen a vampire. I think they were made up by old Eastern European grannies to frighten children into eating their garlic.”

I rolled my eyes. “Okay.” I’d never encountered a vampire before, either, and Goody Fletcher made no mention of them in her book. But she had plenty to say about evil spirits and demons. “So there’s no significance to the fact that Rosalie Hopkins is looking for nine Harvest Princesses, and nine is such a powerful number in the witching world?”

He raised his eyebrows as he pulled away from the Dodge home. “What are you suggesting?”

“Well, could Esther be right? Maybe not about the judge for the contest being a vampire but... is Rosalie up to something? Could she even—I don’t know—know about the prophecy, and be trying to find the Bringer of Light herself?”

He was shaking his head before the words were fully out of my mouth. “No. Absolutely not.”

“Why not? She’s a council member of the World Council of Witches. Why wouldn’t she have heard about it?”

“Because even if she did, her research would have led her to the same conclusion mine did: thatyou’rethe Chosen One.”