by Gina LaManna
“I kept thinking in my head I just wanted to be a Ranger. And, well...” She shrugged helplessly. “This happened.”
“I guess he’s made an impression on you.”
“Real funny, Lily. Now, fix me before it’s too...” She trailed off as a shadow appeared behind her. “It’s too late, isn’t it?”
A throat cleared behind Zin.
“Oh, um, hello,” I said, as the real Ranger X appeared under the flickering torch light. “How are you?”
X didn’t respond, staring down at his Mini Me. “Who is that?”
“Nobody,” I said, spinning the real Ranger X around and sending him off with a little shove. “Go wish Poppy a happy birthday.”
“I already did.”
“Go, again.”
He began to march away, still shooting confused glances over his shoulder.
“What do I do?” Zin squeaked. “This is mortifying! He can’t know that it was me.”
“Go into the kitchen—there’s a bright yellow jug in the fridge. Looks and tastes like lemonade. It’ll take care of all of...” I hesitated, running a hand in circles before her. “This.”
Zin whimpered. “Even you can’t stop smiling.”
“I’m not smiling,” I said, with a huge smile on my face. “It’s not a smile.”
Zin threw her hands up, shoved around me, and marched toward the kitchen. Ainsley tottered over after her, dressed like a flamingo. Then, a procession began with Hettie, dressed as a motorcycle mama, then Mimsey, a bird watcher, and Trinket...who looked to have no costume at all.
The sisters were already back to arguing over whether the hor d’oeuvres had been served too early or too late, too crispy or too soft. Hettie didn’t seem to care either way, since I’d watched her dump two plates of them straight into her purse.
The party had been a hit. I had yet to drink the potion, and I wasn’t sure if I planned on it. Someone had to make sure the supplies didn’t run out and the drinks stayed fresh. My party, my job.
“Y’all think you’re getting out of this costume party, but you’re not,” Poppy said, shuffling over with two drinks in hand. Behind her trailed Ranger X, as if on a leash. “Even Chuck over there is getting into the spirit. His spirit animal is an elephant.”
I glanced at the gnome who, with a disgruntled look on his face, was examining a trunk that extended longer than his arms.
“Come on,” Poppy said. “Drink up.”
“I will if you will,” I said, raising a glass to X.
He wrinkled his nose. “I don’t think so. Best if I stay on duty.”
“Uh, I work dispatch,” Poppy said. “I see the schedule, and there are plenty of people on duty. Drink up.”
I took his hand, urged him on with a big smile. “Please?”
Reluctantly, he clinked his glass against mine, then downed it in a few gulps. I followed suit.
“What’s wrong with him?” Poppy watched Ranger X. “And what is your costume, Lily?”
I’d felt the tingle of the potion changing me, but I couldn’t tell what I’d become. Glancing at Ranger X, I, too, couldn’t see a change. “Did you grab the right potion?”
“Oh, wait,” Poppy said with a short laugh. “I see X’s change. But you, Lily...I don’t understand.”
“What’s X’s change?” I demanded. “Have you figured out what mine is?”
“You’ll figure it out!” Poppy linked her arm through mine. “Lily, come with me. X, can you give us a minute? Why don’t you hang out here while I borrow Lily, and you can...” She paused, looking coy. “Ring in my birthday!”
“What are you doing?” I asked, once she pulled me into the storeroom and we’d gained a bit of privacy. “What’s so important you’re not outside enjoying your own party?”
She opened her mouth to respond, but Zin stumbled in then, her Ranger X costume shrinking rapidly. Poppy watched, her mouth hanging open, until Zin returned to her normal black clothing.
“What was that?” Poppy asked, stifling a giggle as she looked to me. “Was she dressed as Ranger—”
“Shut up,” Zin snapped. “I need to talk to you both about something.”
“Okay, go ahead, then.” Poppy paused as Gus stumbled into the storeroom dressed as a pirate. He barely glanced our way. “Unless it’s private.”
“It’s private.”
“Who are you?” Zin asked, surveying my costume change.
“I don’t know,” I confessed. “None of us do.”
“Follow me.” Poppy drew the three of us outside, pointing herself toward the edge of the lake as we huddled near one of the bonfires set into the sand. “Okay, Zin. What is it?”
“I’m not going to be staying with you anymore,” Zin said. “I’m sorry.”
“But I thought—”
“Lily, I love you,” Zin said, “and I appreciate you giving me a place to crash the last few days. But after everything with Poppy, I did some thinking. I’m going to help my mom out for the summer with the kids, and then I’ll look for my own place. I’d like to have some peace and quiet in my off time, and Lily, the bungalow is anything but peaceful!”
Poppy nodded. “Same goes for me. Who knows? I’m trying to get Zin to ask the Witch of the Woods if we can move into her old place.”
“Of course that’s fine, but you’re always welcome with me. Just promise you’ll ask for help before camping out in some abandoned shack.”
“What?” Poppy asked. “Who did that?”
“Never mind,” Zin said. “And I promise.”
“Now it’s my turn to share the news,” Poppy said. “Well, actually, it’s Lily’s news. Did you ever figure out X’s change?”
“I haven’t even figured out my own change.”
“Well...” She winked, then raised her left hand. “Someone had a ring. On his ring finger.”
I shook my head. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that what he desires most is to be with you forever! To get married, Lily,” Poppy said on a huge, dramatic sigh. “Just think. He’s spent all these years—most of his life—being told he can’t. He can’t have ties, can’t have a relationship, can’t fall in love. So, it’s not that far-fetched to imagine that the one thing he’d desire above all else is a permanent commitment.”
“I don’t know,” I said, though my face heated at the thought. “Don’t you think it’s too soon to be thinking about forever?”
“He seems like a man who knows what he wants and goes for it,” Poppy said. “I don’t think there’s any such thing as too soon.”
“I don’t know, I mean...” My heart pounded against my chest. Was it true? Is that what X wanted above all else? “He just gave me a key. He can’t be thinking about permanent attachments yet.”
Zin snorted. “Ranger X handing out a key is the equivalent of a permanent attachment.
Suddenly, I couldn’t breathe. I’d barely come to terms with the fact that I had magical powers, that West Isle Witch blood ran through my veins. I loved Ranger X, absolutely, but the thought of marriage—it seemed, somehow, too soon.
I tried to catch my breath while the party carried on merrily without us. Sophie and Manuel snuck out early, holding hands and so very madly in love. They were ready to be married—not me.
Jonathon, Drew, and Magdalena Sprite had all come as well, checking on Poppy as soon as they arrived. The group had truly bonded during their time in Wishery. Even Belinda had made an appearance, smiling and introducing everyone to her son. It seemed she had already found her life outside the confines of The Faction.
“Our family is so strange,” Poppy muttered as Hettie started a conga line. “She’s almost ninety. Shouldn’t she be playing bridge or something?”
“She’s having fun,” Zin said, a smile on her face. “I like our weird family.”
“Me too,” Poppy said. “And I also like the way Jonathon is looking tonight. Do you think he’ll mind if I hop in the conga line behind him?”
“I’ve
gotta see this,” Zin said.
The two girls rejoined the party, Poppy sliding in line behind Jonathon while Zin pulled several of her siblings to the dance floor. I hung back, not quite ready to participate, as Poppy’s words came flooding back.
Had she been right? Was Ranger X ready to get married now? The thought sent my heart skittering in every direction.
The sound of soft footsteps approached from the side. Whoever made them was unsure, hesitant. Sucked into a daydream, I watched the party, the dancing and eating and drinking, waiting for my visitor to speak.
“Lily?” The voice belonged to Trinket, though it wasn’t her usual snappy tone. “Is that—”
I began to turn toward her, and she reacted instantly. Flailing her arms, stumbling backward, Trinket collapsed to the ground. She tried to struggle, but her smart gray pantsuit restricted her movements as she scrambled away from me, as if she’d seen a ghost.
“Trinket, it’s me,” I told her, reaching out a hand. “Calm down. What’s wrong?”
She stared at my hand as if it were cursed, stumbling to her feet without my help. “It’s—you’re...her.”
“Who?”
At my question, Trinket’s face crumpled, her eyes pooling with tears. “Lily, how can you not know?”
Finally, Trinket rested her hands on my shoulders and gently guided me forward. She brought me to the edge of the lake and urged me to peer into it. Into the pure water at our feet, reflecting the night sky, the stars behind us, and...my face. The face that should be mine, rather, and now belonged to another.
“Delilah,” Trinket said, raising a hand to touch my cheek. “Oh, Lily, you look just like her.”
“But my wish...” I hesitated. “I wasn’t supposed to change. When I drank the Long Isle Iced Tea, I wished only to be surrounded by my family—I wished for us all to be happy and healthy and safe. I didn’t want to change, and I didn’t try to.”
Trinket’s face flickered, revealing a light behind her eyes that I hadn’t seen before. “You are truly incredible, Lily. Your potion must be stronger than you’d ever imagined. It must read the contents of your heart, the wishes, the questions that you can’t hide.”
“What good does that do? I wanted it to be a fun party trick not...” I kicked at the water, sending my mother’s reflection scattering in every direction. “I didn’t want this.”
Trinket took my hand and knelt down. I went with her, and together we stared at my new face—her face—in the water. It moved with every ripple, every breath of the tide, but the similarities were there; we had the same eyes, the same curve of smile, but her hair was curlier than mine, and lighter. She had been beautiful.
“She was beautiful,” Trinket echoed, as if reading my mind. “Just like you.”
“But why?”
“We don’t really know how we lost her,” Trinket said. “And Lily—”
I froze at the sharp inhalation of Trinket’s voice. “What is it?”
She stopped abruptly, reaching for my neck. Before, I’d been wearing a heart locket that had been passed down from my mother—a locket meant to protect me from harm. Normally it shone gold, but now, it glowed blue.
“A prophesy,” she breathed. “Lily, I think...I think it’s trying to tell you something.”
“But what?!”
Trinket reached for my neck, her fingers grasping for the glowing blue locket. She swiped, but instead of connecting with the chain around my neck, her hand sailed right through it. The illusion was severed. It broke into a million pieces, fragments of diamonds sending mirages of color in every direction of the lake’s reflection. By the time Trinket recoiled her hand, the transformation was over.
I had returned to Lily, and my mother, once again, was gone.
“I think it was trying to tell you something,” Trinket whispered. “Drink another round of the potion. Let me see her again.”
“I—I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Lily, I need to see her. It’s been so long.”
“Not now. I don’t think it’s a good idea. The potion isn’t meant to be used continually for too long. A person can start...losing themselves if that’s the case.”
“But—”
“Tonight is about Poppy,” I reminded her. “And family. And being together. Go back to the party, Trinket. I think we should keep this to ourselves—at least, for now. We don’t know that it means anything. Maybe it’s just my missing her, my curiosity, my not knowing that slipped out.”
“I don’t think so.”
But Trinket didn’t argue. Shaky, she backed away with only a slight nod of agreement. As she stumbled back toward the party, she turned, glancing back once, and then twice, then a third time, before she realized Delilah was gone for good.
“Making a wish?” A deep voice spoke in a hushed tone behind me. Ranger X came to stand next to me, not yet touching, just looking at the sky. “I didn’t believe your little chant, at first.”
“And now?”
“Now...” A crooked smile tilted his lips upward. “I guess we’ll see.”
Still reeling from the shock of discovering my mother’s face in my reflection, I couldn’t respond with my normal light-hearted banter. Ranger X seemed to sense this and took my hand, leading me further away from the rowdy conga line behind us. Our bare feet kicked up the sugar-white sand on the beach, sending sprays of powder in a soft puff before us.
He stopped near the edge of the water, just beyond the waves threatening to inch over our toes. The bright night reflected against the lake, casting a magical sort of glow around us. Away from the party, silence encased us.
The kiss came from nowhere. My eyes had been fixed on the starlight dancing in the water when X’s lips, soft and sweet, met mine. It lasted longer than I’d expected, his touches tender, sugary sweet, and tasting of Long Isle Iced Tea.
When he finally pulled away, he left me wobbly against him. I couldn’t help but grin sleepily. “That was nice.”
Ranger X murmured an agreement, tucking me to his side as we listened to the steady beats from the party mixed with the underlying pulse of the water. “What’d you wish for this time?”
“I wasn’t making a wish,” I said, leaning against his chest. My fingers traced a pattern over his white shirt, feeling the firm muscles underneath. “I don’t need a wish right now, so I didn’t make one. I left them for someone else, someone who needs one more than I do.”
“I shouldn’t be surprised,” he said, a flicker of understanding passing in a shadow across his face. “Is there nothing more that you want?”
My arms linked around his body as I thought hard, but I couldn’t come up with anything I needed. Wanted, maybe, but not needed. I wanted to find out what the glowing orb around my neck had been, and why I’d transformed into my mother, but I didn’t need to know. Not now, at least, not yet.
So, I shook my head. “I’m happy. My family is safe and together, you and I are here—what more is there?”
“You don’t sound very happy.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, leaning my head against him. “I’m confused.”
His expression pinched, and he cinched his fingers tighter to my waist. “What’s wrong?”
Startled, I found tears pricking the backs of my eyes, and I blinked, fighting them back. Ranger X’s eyes, dark and serious, landed on mine in concern.
I looked up at this man who I’d seen face the worst of evils without so much as flinching, yet now, here he stood with fear in his eyes.
“Are you worried about...this?” He raised a hand, the ring still sparkling there. “You don’t need to be—I don’t need...I do need you, Lily, but I’m not going to rush you into anything.”
“Why did we drink the potion?” I asked my voice hoarse. “It made everything more complicated. I changed into my mother, X. I didn’t get a ring. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. All this means is that when they took you from me, it made everything perfectly clear,” Ranger X
said, speaking in a gravelly voice. “I didn’t know how to...to understand it. To deal with it, all of it—us, our lives having become so entwined, my happiness so linked to yours.”
“Cannon, it’s okay. We’ll figure it out together, and—”
“I know,” he said, his gaze steady as he met mine. “I knew I loved you before, Lily, but I didn’t know how much. When I realized there was a chance you might never come back...”
He hesitated, and my heart constricted for him as he struggled to find the words. Even after he coughed and started again, the hoarseness lingered.
“I love you more than this world, more than this life,” he said. “I never imagined that I would think of marriage—with anyone.”
My limbs shook. Every inch of my body tensed as he stepped away, glancing down at his feet before returning those dark chocolate eyes to mine.
“I know what I want, what I need, and the truth is...” His eyes gleamed with certainty. When he spoke next, it was with the utmost confidence. “I can’t live without you.”
The tears pricking my eyes turned into small pools, and I trembled under his gaze. “You don’t want to marry me,” I told him, a sob scratching at my throat. “You don’t—you can’t want to. Not after what happened with Lucian.”
Ranger X’s eyes opened in alarm. “What are you talking about?”
“You didn’t hear his scream.” I closed my eyes, hearing the cry as if my father was kneeling before me, breaking a piece of my soul off with his pain. “I hurt someone, and I hurt him badly. Do you not know what I do? What I am?”
“Of course, Lily—”
“I’m the Mixologist,” I cried. “The only rule I have is to Do Good. I didn’t do anything good back there, X, I hurt my own father!”
“You stood up to a man who is causing an entire civilization harm. Sometimes, to protect those we love,” he said, speaking from a place that knew this struggle well, “we have to do things we aren’t proud of.”
“That’s your job. Mine is to Do Good. To protect the world, to make it better. If I start using my powers to hurt others...” I gasped, my chest tightening with pain. “I’m no better than him.”
Ranger X held me, my shoulders wracked with sobs as my worst fears were realized—that my father and I shared more than simple DNA. That I would be like him, the enemy I’d sworn to defeat.