Page 94 of Jingle Spells

“I wish we had more time,” she whispered finally.

Eventually, Delilah’s sense of responsibility became too heavy a weight. They dressed, stealing kisses between buttons and zippers, reluctant to break the spell of the night before.

The inn’s dining room was serving a tourist-friendly breakfast buffet, complete with pancakes shaped like witch hats and orange juice labeled “Magic Potion.” Scarlett and Nate were already at a table, heads bent together in hushed conversation that stopped abruptly when they spotted Delilah and Jasper.

“Well, well, well,” Scarlett drawled, her eyes dancing with mischief. “Look who’s here.”

“Morning,” Delilah replied, sliding into a chair with as much dignity as she could muster. But a flush rose to her cheeks.

“Sleep well?” Nate asked, his expression perfectly innocent except for the slight twitch at the corner of his mouth.

“Or at all?” Scarlett asked, mock-innocently.

Delilah reached for the pot of coffee at the center of the table, desperate for caffeine and a change of subject. As she poured, she noticed an old lamp on the sideboard behind Scarlett, one she didn’t recognize from the inn’s usual decor. It was ornate, made of tarnished brass with a dusty shade that had certainly seen better days.

“What’s that?” she asked, nodding toward it. “More additions to the ‘authentic witch experience’?”

Scarlett glanced back. “No idea. It was here when we came down.”

Curious, Delilah rose and went to examine it. “Since when did we have oil lamps in the dining room?” She reached to turn it on, but nothing happened. “Great, another thing in this place that’s broken.”

She gave the lamp a little shake. “Typical. Everything’s falling apart, and we’re stuck having breakfast surrounded by plastic cauldrons and⁠—”

The lamp shuddered in her hands, growing suddenly warm, then hot. Delilah dropped it with a yelp, jumping back as it began to twist and stretch, the brass melting and reforming into limbs, the shade collapsing into long, dark hair.

In seconds, where the lamp had been, a woman now stood—lanky, with wild hair and wide, delighted eyes.

“Surprise!” she announced, throwing her arms wide.

“Luna!” Delilah and Scarlett shrieked in unison.

“In the flesh. Finally.” Luna grimaced, rolling her shoulders as if working out a cramp. “Do you have any idea how uncomfortable it is to be a lamp for three hours? I think I’ve got a crick in my . . . well, everything.”

Delilah launched herself at her younger sister, nearly knocking them both over with the force of her embrace. Scarlett was right behind her, turning it into a three-way hug that threatened to topple them all to the floor.

“You’re here! You actually came!” Delilah cried.

“Of course I came,” Luna said, squeezing them back. “Sorry it took me a while to get all your messages. Karpathos isn’t exactly known for great communications.”

“Karpathos?” Scarlett pulled back to look at her sister. “What, like the Greek island? What were you doing there?”

“Studying with a coven that worships Proteus,” Luna explained, as if it were obvious. “Actually, you’d really have enjoyed it, Del. Proteus was a god who hated talking to strangers so much he used to shapeshift so they couldn’t find him. He’d become a lion, or a tree, or water, even. Just to avoid humans and their stupid questions.”

Delilah grinned. “Sounds like my kind of guy.”

“The Proteans were teaching me shapeshifting, but I had to come here before I finished my lessons. So I’m not exactly great at it yet. Which you might have noticed when I got stuck as a lamp.”

“A lamp,” Jasper repeated faintly from the table, looking like he was seriously questioning his sanity. “The sister was a lamp.”

Luna’s attention snapped to him, her eyes narrowing with interest. “And who might this be?”

“Jasper Hopkins,” Delilah said, suddenly feeling shy. “He’s the county archivist. And, um . . . my . . .”

“Boyfriend,” Jasper supplied helpfully, rising to shake Luna’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Boyfriend!” Luna’s eyebrows shot up, her gaze darting between Jasper and Delilah with undisguised delight. “Well, well, well. Looks like I missed quite a lot.”

“You have no idea,” Nate said dryly, the only one at the table who seemed entirely unfazed by a woman transforming from a lamp. “Pull up a chair, Luna. We’ve got apocalypse scenarios to discuss.”