Page 95 of No Charm Done

“Uh-oh.” Scarlett made a face. “Where’s Margaret now?”

“Excellent question.” Kelly gestured at the spatial anomaly. “She’s simultaneously here and in what I suspect is a subway station in Buenos Aires. Though it could also be a parking garage in Oslo.”

Luna stepped closer and squinted at the anomaly. Sure enough, through the shimmer of broken magic, she could see glimpses of another place. Tiled walls, fluorescent lights, and Margaret’s limbs windmilling like a starfish having a seizure. “Can you get her back?”

“I’m working on it. The problem with collapsed portals is you have to rebuild the entire spell structure, but backwards and— Never mind. As I said, I’m working on it. If you run into Margaret’s mother, don’t mention this.” Kelly made a complicated gesture and the folded space rippled. “Margaret, can you hear me? Try moving toward the brightest light!”

A muffled voice came from somewhere within the anomaly. Might have been agreement. Might have been screaming.

The sisters decided they should probably leave Mama to her rescue operation. As they stepped back outside, Scarlett let out a low whistle. “Well, that’s terrifying.”

“Mama knows what she’s doing,” Luna said, hoping it was true.

“I don’t know about you, but I could really use some lunch after all this mayhem.”

Luna’s stomach chose that moment to growl in agreement. “Shall we hit the Double Double?”

“Toil and Trouble,” Scarlett confirmed.

* * *

The pub was crowded and loud and smelled like Zahir’s fish and chips. Sitting at the best table in the house, treating the place like their personal kingdom, were Ashton Vex and Chuck the Investor. Vex was so smug, he was glowing like a busted nuclear reactor. Chuck was even worse: all loud laughter and expansive gestures, the kind of man who took up double the space any person needed.

“—and that’s why I’m telling you, Ash, this is just the beginning!” His voice boomed across the restaurant. “CastR isn’t just an app, it’s a revolution. We’re talking about democratizing magic! This is bigger than Facebook, bigger than TikTok!”

“I share the vision, Chuck.” Vex smiled, but there was something sharp in it. “Believe me.”

Dayo appeared at their table with plates of food, her expression so professionally pleasant that Luna knew she was furious underneath.

“Your halibut.” She set a plate in front of Vex with slightly more force than necessary. “And your ribeye.”

Vex looked down at his steak and frowned. “This isn’t medium rare.”

“It absolutely is.”

“No, it’s not.” He pushed the plate away. “Take it back.”

Luna watched Dayo’s jaw tighten. “I’m confident that Zahir cooked it exactly as you ordered⁠—”

“Then maybe your chef needs to learn the difference between medium and medium rare,” Vex interrupted. “This is basic culinary⁠—”

“Do not,” Scarlett said, her voice cutting across the restaurant, “finish that sentence.”

Every head in the pub turned.

“Well, well. The Melrose girls, nice to see you.” Vex looked like the cat who’d swallowed the entire canary store. “No hard feelings about the whole CastR situation, I hope? It’s just business.”

“Just business,” Luna repeated flatly. “You’re trying to exploit our town, commodify our magic, and destroy our way of life.”

“Destroy, improve . . . tomato, tomahto. It’s not too late to become an investor, you know. Of course, my new partner here has single-handedly doubled CastR’s value.” At this, Vex raised his wine glass in Chuck’s direction, and the investor clinked with him. “But still, we could make room for the Melrose family. Consider it a peace offering. What do you say?”

“You don’t understand what you’re dealing with,” Luna said, trying to keep her voice level. “Magic isn’t a commodity. You can’t just package and sell it.”

“Everything can be packaged and sold,” Vex said. “That’s what you people don’t get. You women always think too small. Artisanal, handcrafted, exclusive. But the future is scale. Mass production. Market saturation. And in two days, I’m going to prove it. When CastR’s demo goes off without a hitch, and every investor in that audience sees the potential, your little-girl-magic monopoly is going to be a thing of the past.”

Scarlett’s hand moved, as if to cast something terrible. “You smug, entitled⁠—”

Luna caught her sister’s arm. “Don’t. He’s not worth it.”