Page 161 of Love Spells: And Other Non-Refundable Magic
I leave the three of them and take the stairs up to my room two at a time, suddenly afraid that if I slow down, I’ll find another reason to think about this when I’ve already done enough thinking.
My laptop is on my desk.
For three days, there has been nothing beneath Primavera’s name.
I open her original order. The five hundred dollars has been sitting there between us since the beginning, attached to a spell I don’t believe in and a woman I do.
Issue Refund.
I stare at it. Yes, this feels exactly right.
CHAPTER 44
THE THIRD FAIRY
7:52 PM
The Third Fairy
Ready for the next step?
You started beneath the moon’s silver light, searching for something just out of sight.
So under the moon, you’ll return once more, to see what all this searching was for.
Climb Queen Anne where the city lies low, and the Needle stands tall in the evening glow.
You’ve noticed. You’ve wanted. You’ve chosen what’s true.
Now believe in the love that’s been waiting for you.
And when you find her, there’s one thing to do:
A true love’s kiss,
and the spell will break, too.
CHAPTER 45
MERRYWEATHER
“You have got to be fucking kidding me.”
I hold my phone closer to my face, as if the additional three inches might reveal that I have misunderstood what is very clearly written on the screen.
The refund arrives at 7:37 on a Thursday night, while I’m sitting on the couch pretending to watch television with Aurora pressed against my thigh.
I know I’m pretending because I have no idea what the show is about, despite having already rewound it numerous times, and because every few minutes I reach for my phone with the vague expectation that something might have changed since the last time I looked.
For three days, nothing has.
And now there’s a refund on my Whisp account.
“What the fuck?”
Aurora’s ears flatten in protest as I straighten in my seat.
I read the notification again, because I have now become the kind of person who can spend months demanding hundreds of dollars back and then be personally offended when someone actually gives it to me.
