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As it turned out, she couldn’t wait to share them with me. “I can go over some of them now if you’d like. To start, PSL is no longer a seasonal item. We’ll serve it all year round. And also—”

“I hate to interrupt, especially because I love that idea so much, but there’s something I need to say,” I said, my heart thumping hard in my chest.

Kelley looked at me with concern.

“Nothing’s wrong,” I promised.

“Then what’s going on?” she pressed.

I reached into my purse and took out an empty water bottle. Merlin had helped me prepare the potion I requested, even though he warned me against it more than once. Still, I knew I was making the right decision with this.

I uncapped the water bottle and set it in the middle of the table. Nothing happened. At least that’s how it looked to those who didn’t know it held an invisible form of magic.

“What’s with the empty bottle?” Kelley asked with one eyebrow raised.

“Don’t worry about that,” I said, waiting for her to shift her gaze back to me.

I didn’t continue until her eyes met mine. “This is kind of a weird question, but I want you to tell me the first answer that pops into your head. Okay?”

Kelley shrugged, but said,“Okay.”

“If you could wish for anything, anything in the whole wide world, what would you ask for?”

She snorted.“Like a fairy godmother kind of thing?”

“Something like that,” I answered with a secretive smile. “You don’t have to blurt it out. You can take a moment if you need to, but not much longer. So, tell me, what’s your one big wish?”

A smile blossomed from cheek to cheek.“Well, I guess I—”

“Wait,” I cried, reaching over to the bottle and giving it a good squeeze. “Take a deep breath first,” I instructed, wanting to be sure she breathed it all in.

I watched as Kelley sucked in the invisible gaseous potion, waiting nervously to hear what she would say next.

But she knew exactly what she wanted.“I want to honor my dad’s legacy by making Harold’s House of Coffee the most successful coffee shop this town has ever seen,” she said with a firm-set jaw.

“You will,” I promised her.

After all, I’d just passed on my ask-for-anything familiar spell. Merlin had told me I shouldn’t, because he wouldn’t be able to make another one. And, yeah, now I could never get to be Lady Gaga, or King Arthur, or someone else crazy famous…

But Kelley needed this more than I did, and giving her this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity felt right, considering all she’d lost because of us.

I couldn’t bring Harold back, but I could make sure his daughter was well taken care of in his absence, and that’s exactly what I planned to do.

30

When I came home, I showed both cats the empty bottle I’d used to pass my wish on to Kelley.

“Yup, it’s gone,” Merlin whined, rolling onto his side dramatically. “I can’t believe you gave that away.”

“She’s a good one,” Luna told Merlin as she pressed her body against the side of my leg and shook her sleek white tail. “My familiar destroyed herself by craving power. Yours freely gave it away. You’re a lucky witch.”

“That, I am,” Merlin admitted with a wink. “Even if she is a little bit crazy.”

“What’s done is done,” I said with a shrug. Before I’d gone to see Kelley, Merlin had whipped up an anti-pain potion, taking the hurt out of both my shoulders and my cheek, which meant I could move freely now. “Let’s focus on what we can still hope to change.”

“Are you sure you’re ready to enter Nocturna?” Merlin asked me tersely. “It’s rather overwhelming for a first-timer, especially one so new to magic as you are.”

“I’m sure,” I said, pressing my lips into a tight line. “I’d rather have the knowledge than not.”

“The sun is setting,” Luna said, and we both stared at Merlin, waiting for him to speak.

“Then let’s go,” he acquiesced.

I followed Merlin as he slowly stalked toward the door.

He ran through, but Luna waited for me to open the big door.“Remember, you can do this,” she assured me with a simple smile.

I took in a deep breath and stepped outside into the evening twilight.

Merlin had already seated himself upon the bird bath.“The moment the sun disappears over the horizon, we’ll be able to use the cauldron as a doorway to Nocturna. Shouldn’t be long now.”

“How am I going to fit through that?” I squeaked, studying the small stone fountain.

“Magic, duh!” Luna answered with a laugh and then hopped up beside Merlin.

“Step forward,” he said as he splashed in the water and placed a wet paw on Luna’s forehead.

“Lean in close,” he instructed. When I did, he dipped his paw again and touched it to my head. “Luna will go through first, and I’ll go in last to make sure nothing goes awry.”

“Goes awry? Wait. Does that mean this is dangerous?”

“Don’t worry about it, sweetie,” Luna cooed.

In the distance the sun finished its descent. The cauldron glowed a bright mint green, swallowing Luna whole.

“Whoa, I don’t want to do this!” I whined and took a giant leap back.