“Congratulations, Abby!”
Tears of joy streamed down her face and she wiped them away, looking at the flowers once again. “I win the lottery and all you have to give me is a lousy vase of flowers?”
“Hey, you’re the millionaire. I could have told you to go buy your own flowers.”
We laughed and she replied, “Drinks are on me tonight!”
“I thought you weren’t much of a drinker.”
“I just became a millionaire. I’m buying the good stuff!”
The next month really did become a whirlwind. By Thanksgiving, Abby had already met with a lawyer and financer to discuss how to handle her newfound wealth. She had told no one other than her parents about her winnings and had promptly paid off her own home. She would have paid off her parents’ home as well, but that had already been done years ago. Instead, she paid for an extravagant vacation for them and they were currently in Spain, staying in one of the finest hotels Barcelona had to offer.
She had set up a meeting with an architect to discuss building her gym for children with special needs. For the first time in a long time, she was truly happy.
On the day of Thanksgiving, my family came to my home where I hosted a beautiful meal. Stuffed and sleepy, my family returned to their own homes, leaving Finn and me alone.
“I don’t think I could move if I wanted to,” Finn said, groaning. “That turkey was the best. No, the English trifle. No, wait, I think I liked the deviled eggs the most.” He barely nodded. “Definitely the deviled eggs.”
I looked at the swinging door between the kitchen and dining room that hid the mess I had made while cooking. “There’s still some work to be done.”
“Do you need help?” Finn offered.
“No, it’ll be fine.” I waved my hand and, within seconds, the kitchen was clean and the dishes and pots returned to their places.
An Eraser knocked on the door and I answered it cheerfully. “There’s no need. I’m about to tell him.”
The Eraser looked disappointed. “I haven’t even gotten to eat anything yet. You know I’ve been assigned to be near your situation.”
“There are leftovers in the refrigerator.”
“Thank you,” he said, walking past me and going into the kitchen.
As he rustled around in the kitchen and used magic to reheat his dinner, Finn stared at me in disbelief. “What in the fuck is going on?” he demanded. “I told you,” he said, shaking a finger at me. “I told you that weird stuff happened in this house!” He was backing away from me as he spoke.
“Finn, listen, I’m really sorry that I couldn’t let you know about me. You have no idea how many times I wanted to tell you.”
“What is there to tell? You do weird stuff! I can’t explain it! I just know that it happens!”
“Finn, I’m a witch,” I said slowly. “There are witches and wizards in this world. Until recently, we couldn’t tell anyone but a spouse about us.”
“No, that’s not true. Witchcraft isn’t real.”
“Sure it is,” the Eraser said, entering the living room with a plate hovering in the air in front of him. The knife was slicing his turkey into smaller pieces. “If it wasn’t for your stepsister, you still wouldn’t know about us.”
“What does that mean?” Finn was backed up against the wall now.
“She went to the Council. It’s our version of high court. She secretly sent out Egbert to get a petition signed. Yeah, sorry, I know about Egbert. I saw him when I was having to keep an eye on you. Don’t worry, I didn’t tell the Council that that’s who you used to help you out with them.”
“Who is Egbert?” Finn demanded. “Why were you watching Carmen?”
“Egbert is a pencil who is also a lobbyist,” the Eraser explained.
“Too much too fast,” I warned.
“Then put the tattoo on him so that his brain doesn’t implode. I know he recognizes magic, but this will prevent the overload.”
“Finn, I need to see your forearm.”
“Egbert is a pencil?” Finn was near hysteria now.
“Finn, please,” I insisted, reaching for his arm. “This will make it easier. I promise. You will understand everything.”
While Finn remained motionless, I grabbed his arm and he screamed. “Don’t touch me!”
Quickly, I shoved up his shirt sleeve and ran my hand over his arm. The tattoo burned bright red for a moment before fading into nothing, hiding undetected just beneath his skin.
“You could have done that without burning him,” the Eraser said thickly as he swallowed mashed potatoes.
“I was in a rush,” I replied sharply. “Finn.” I snapped my fingers in front of his face. “Finn, are you still with me?”
Finn sank to the ground, curling his knees up to his chest. “So witchcraft is real and I’m not crazy. Weird things were happening around here.” He looked up at the Eraser. “Why were you watching Carmen? I’ve seen you before, haven’t I?”
The Eraser nodded. “My name is Stanley.”
“I didn’t know that,” I said.
“You never asked,” Stanley replied. Noticing my guilt, he added, “We don’t really give out our names, but I made an exception just now.” He looked at Finn and continued. “I’m an Eraser. I Erase the memories of magic for mortals. See, before your stepsister’s petition, only spouses were allowed to know. Now witches and wizards can tell people that they trust after filling out the proper forms and the people are vetted.”
“You had a background check done on me?”
“It’s part of the process,” I answered simply.
“She went through a lot to change our rules because of you. You’re her stepbrother and she cares about you. She hated that she had to lie to you about magic.”
“Is this true?”
“It’s true,” I said. “I wanted to tell you so many times, but I wasn’t allowed.”
“Then why did you ask me to move in with you?”
“Because you needed the help. You’re family. We help each other. Look at you now, Finn. You’re doing what you enjoy. You’re happy, right?” I looked hopefully at my stepbrother. Everything that I had done for him so far was to guide him the best way that I knew how to the path that he needed to take. I didn’t want Simon’s prediction to come true and have him end up sad and alone.
“You couldn’t have done that without her help, Finn,” Stanley said. “You’d still be struggling and lost without her.”
“That’s enough, Stanley,” I said, my voice low. I was not going to tell Finn about my job as an Influencer.
“I was just trying to be helpful. I suppose you don’t need me anymore, do you?”
“Probably not.”
“Care if I make myself a doggy bag?” Without waiting for a response, he returned to the kitchen. There was a loud popping noise as he disappeared.
“He’s been showing up and taking away my memories?”
“He alters them. It’s his job. It is people like him that help keep our secret.”
“So you’re a witch,” Finn said slowly.
“That tattoo won’t allow you to tell anyone else.”
“I won’t tell anyone,” he promised. “Is Evelyn one, too?”
“She is, but Lewis doesn’t know.”
“Why not?”
I leaned over and grasped Finn’s hand to help him to his feet. “I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “I hope she’ll tell him one day. Until then, she’ll continue hiding her magic from him.”
“Will I feel hazy anymore?”
“Without an Eraser to mess with your memories, you’ll feel fine.”
He paced around the dining room table, thinking. “You can just go anywhere you want, whenever you want?”
“Yes.”
“So when I said you haven’t seen your friends in a while, that wasn’t true, was it?”
“No. I see them often.”
“You can create whatever you want? You don’t even have to cook, do
you?”
“I don’t, but I enjoy it sometimes. If I’m recreating something specific, it doesn’t always come out as good as the way a trained chef would make it.”
There was another bout of silence. “Is my guitar real?”
“Of course it’s real.”
“No, I mean, is it really a ’59 Les Paul?”
“I went to the music store and took photos of one so that I could replicate it exactly,” I conceded.
“So it’s not actually real?”
“It would pass for one if someone inspected it.”
“Oh.” He ran his hand over his thinning hair. “I’m okay with this.”
“Are you? You can ask whatever you want if it will help you understand this better.”
“No, no. My guitar is still awesome. That’s what really matters.” He flashed a smile. “Thank you for telling me.”
“You’re welcome.”
He pointed to his head. “Do you think you could help me out with this?”
“You want me to give you back your hair?” I asked, a little surprised.
Finn shook his head. “No, that wouldn’t look natural. I was hoping you could create some more hats for me to cover it up. That’s more my style, anyway. Goes with the guitar.”
I disagreed that a North Carolina Panthers hat matched a classic electric guitar, but who was I to judge my stepbrother’s wishes?
Gnomes mingled with the guests, joyfully offering beverages and appetizers. Stanley plucked his favorite spinach and artichoke pinwheel from a gnome’s tray and stuffed all of it into his mouth. Realizing the gnome had already moved on to another guest, he tracked him down to retrieve more food.
“He’s an interesting character, isn’t he?” Enid said, poorly attempting to be nonchalant.
“Go talk to him. You’re driving me crazy just staring at him like some schoolgirl.” Tess shooed away our friend and looked back at me. “What do you think of your New Year’s Eve party?”
“You took Mrs. Crouch’s gnomes again,” I complained.
“They were so great at your housewarming party last year that I thought they would like to help again.”
“Tess, you dressed them in shimmering gold and silver metallic outfits,” I said flatly.
“I did and they look fabulous! Gold and silver are like neutrals.”
“They look like they just came from Vegas’s version of The Wizard of Oz.” Siobhan had sidled next to me. “I see you invited Percy. It’s a little awkward.” She shifted her weight uncomfortably from one foot to the other.
“You broke up almost a year ago. Besides, you’re the one who invited my boss.”
“You like your boss,” she pointed out.
“I do,” I said, smiling. We watched as Simon and Cindy performed robot dance moves on the dance floor. “They’re so cute when they try to outdance each other.”
“I don’t know if that’s really dancing,” Siobhan said.
“You just stand there and shake your ass when you dance,” Tess interjected. “That isn’t dancing either.”
“At least I know how to move my hips instead of looking like some sort of stiff piece of cardboard.”
I laughed and took another sip of my wine. My house was packed with friends and family, all happily chatting or dancing to celebrate the New Year. Finn was deep in conversation with Roach, who had returned to spend the holidays with his family. Roach’s band was expanding, but not nearly as much as Finn’s business. Another student had been drafted into a new band that was already gaining success and Finn was looking into studios to rent to accommodate his new clientele. They looked at him as some sort of guitar guru who, after working with him, could go onto greater things. He was magical to them and I was extremely proud of my stepbrother.
Abby joined us, her cheeks flushed with excitement. “The architect is finished! Now there will be a bid process and we can get this project off the ground!”
“Are you going to continue to teach?” Tess asked.
“I will until the end of the school year. Then I can really focus on Play the Spectrum Kid’s Gym.” She hesitated. “What do you think of the name?”
“It’s wonderful,” I said warmly.
“You know,” Abby began coyly, “I finally solved my Lauren Lennox issue.”
“How did you accomplish that?”
She smiled wickedly. “She approached me before Christmas break and told me that she had heard that I was going to open this gym for children with special needs. She told me how great of a teacher she was and that I would be lucky to have her working for me once I got it opened.” Abby paused dramatically. “I told her to go to hell.”
My eyes widened with surprise. “Abby!”
“It felt so good to say that! I don’t think she’ll give me any more problems for the rest of the school year.”
I hugged my friend. “I am so happy for you. You’ve gotten everything you wanted.”
“I couldn’t have done this without you. Seriously.”
“You had it in you already. You just needed someone to pull it out of you.”
She smiled. “What about you? What do you want?”
“World peace,” I said, my eyes twinkling.
“That’s her beauty pageant answer,” Siobhan said. “It’s because she’s not even sure what she wants. She might need a Muse.” Mischief glinted in her eyes.
Through the window, I saw snow swirling and I excused myself. Outside, Lenny had already formed. “Thanks for inviting me to your party,” he quipped.
“You puddled in my kitchen and in my car.”
“You could have put a plastic bag around my base,” the snowman suggested.
“I’ve already got my neighbor’s gnomes in there and some of the guests assume they’re little people. How would I explain a living, breathing snowman?”
“I’m going to have a party and only invite snowmen and snowwomen. No humans allowed.” He crossed his stick arms and nodded sharply.
“What if I transform you into a gnome? Temporarily?”
“I like being a snowman. Don’t try to change me,” he replied stubbornly.
“I was just trying to help. What did you need, Lenny?”
“Fate wants you to know what a great job you did with Abby and Finn. You were right on schedule with them.”
“It took a little over a year.”
He shrugged. “These things take time. You can’t expect to change someone overnight. Guidance takes a while.”
I pushed my shoulders back, standing straighter with pride. “Please thank Fate for me for their praise.” I couldn’t hide the grin on my face.
“The android is going to keep doing your old job, though we’re going to tell people what she really is and probably rename her Lucy or something. I think people realized it wasn’t actually you.”
“Gee, you think?” I asked sardonically. “I don’t know why we couldn’t have just gone with my cover that I use here, that I work from home for the permit office.”
Lenny tilted his head curiously. “How about that,” he murmured. “That would have been easier than having Sam build a replica of you. Well, hindsight is twenty-twenty, right?” He chuckled to himself.
“Is there anything else you need, Lenny? I have a party to get back to.”
“Fate has a new assignment for you.”
“Already?”
He scowled. “Yes, already. This is Fate we’re talking about here.” He glossed over the details, promising to fill in the rest the next day.
“Why not just finish telling me now?” I asked.
He peered over my shoulder and into the window filled with people having a good time. “I’ll take you up on your offer. But I don’t want to be a gnome. Those outfits are too damn frilly.”
“That was Tess’s doing.”
He grunted. “You can turn me into a leprechaun.”
“You know I can’t just give you a pot of gold.”
“No? You can’t blame a snowman for trying.”
I rested my hands on the top of his head and, in a flash, he had morphed into a leprechaun. He hopped around happily, even jumping to click his heels together. “This is nice!”
“I’m glad you’re satisfied.”
“How long until I turn back into a snowman?”
“I gave you until six o’clock in the morning.”
“What if I make a lady friend tonight?”
I groaned. “Lenny,” I started.
“I’m just pulling your rainbow. Get it? I said rainbow because I’m a leprechaun!” Lenny laughed gleefully and rushed inside my home.
I lingered behind, thinking about the year’s events. My new assignment was to begin immediately and I pondered where I would be one year from today. With a smile, I returned to my party.
Stephanie Grey is a graduate of East Tennessee State University with a degree in journalism. Writing has always been her passion, and she enjoys exploring different genres. Her debut novel, The Immortal Prudence Blackwood about an immortal hunting serial killers, earned rave reviews from readers and is quickly becoming a cult favorite. When she’s not writing, she enjoys spending time with her husband, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, visiting museums, reading, and playing with her cat. One day she may even turn into a crazy cat lady because nothing in life is interesting without a little bit of crazy.
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