Total pages in book: 151
Estimated words: 147649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 738(@200wpm)___ 591(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 738(@200wpm)___ 591(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
When I open my eyes, I’m in the Jeep.
And when I look to my right, Pie is sitting next to me.
“I’m not a witch. I can’t break your stupid curse.”
“You say that, but yet… here you are. How does that make sense?”
“I don’t know. But I’m not a witch. I don’t know any spells, I can’t concoct any potions. And the breakfast doesn’t count. Tomas told me how to do it. And it was just reciting words and waving my hand over raw food. I will not be helpful in any other capacity. So what we should do is—”
“Oh, you’ve been thinking about this, have you?”
“It was a quiet drive back, so yes, I had time to think. And I was thinking… we should just find another witch to help you.”
I almost snort. “Should we? Should we do that?”
“Yes. One who does have some actual magic.”
“What about your bird?”
“What about her?”
“She’s not magic?”
“She’s a psychosis. My personal hallucination. So no. She’s not magic.”
“Then why can I see her?”
“You don’t see her. That’s not my bird up in the ceiling.”
“Just some random bird, huh?”
“Yep. Just another random bird.”
I smile. Big. Because this, I think, might be the moment I fell in love with Pie. “OK. Fine. She’s not magic, you’re not magic, but you’ve stumbled into a magical person in town?”
“Exactly!” She sits up straight and claps her hands. “Oh, my God. You’re not going to believe this.”
“You’re right, I’m not.”
“But that sheriff? He’s your guy! Not me!”
I almost frown. I think that’s what I did the first time we had this conversation. But there’s no way I can manage a frown. Not even if my life depended on it.
“Why are you smiling like that?”
“What?”
“You’re… smirking. Why are you smirking?”
I pull the Jeep over on the side of the road.
“What are you doing? Why are you stopping?”
I don’t know how this works. This is not how the hallways behaved in all the other times I’ve experienced them. So I don’t know why I’m here, and why she’s here, and why this is a memory, and why I can change it.
But then again, I never did visit myself up in the hallways, did I?
If this conversation is different than the original—and it is now, because I didn’t continue the banter and she didn’t confess to kissing Russ Roth—then what happens to the present?
I look over at her. “Pie?”
“What?”
“I love you.”
She huffs. “What?”
“Listen, I know you think you like that sheriff, but he’s not your type.”
“How—”
“He’s not. OK? Just trust me. You and me?” I point to us. “We’re the real thing.”
“What?” She practically gasps out the word. “What are you talking about?”
“You kissed the sheriff.”
“Um…”
“You did. You told me.”
“I literally didn’t.”
I sigh and lean back in my seat, smiling so big as I look out the windshield. We’re in the forest and the sanctuary is nearby. This part of the road is all glamoured to keep it private from any wandering hikers.
I turn the Jeep off, open my door, and get out.
“What are you doing?”
I close the door, walk around the Jeep, and open her door.
“What’s going on?”
I offer her my hand. “Come on.”
She pulls away, shrinking back from me. “No. Get back in the Jeep. Let’s go. The food—”
“Fuck the food.”
“What? What about your provisions?”
“You’re the only provision I need, Pie. Just you.”
She smiles then, her defenses temporarily on hold. We were not friends in this part of our beginning. She still kinda hated me. Minutes from now, in the original version of this day, she will find out about her debt and everything about Pie Vita will change.
She will be vulnerable, and sad, and tired of losing.
But right now, she’s vibrant, and happy, and maybe even a little bit satisfied.
I don’t even mind that this satisfaction comes from her planned date with the sheriff of Granite Springs and subsequent curse-breaking—if only for herself, and not me.
I don’t care what makes her happy.
I just want her to be happy.
“Do you trust me?”
She makes a face. “Why would I ever trust you? You tricked me into breaking your curse.”
“I literally didn’t.”
She’s caught off guard for a moment, confused, but not in a bad way. Not the way she was the first time this happened.
“‘A story of a monster’s curse. A Book of Debt and a spelling verse.’”
Her eyes narrow. “What?”
“‘Blood, and horns, and doors, and trees. You and me, forever free.’”
“Why are you… what are you doing?”
“That’s my vow. I just made it up.”
“Ooookay. Should I know what that means?”
“No. We haven’t had this conversation yet.”
“Should I know what that means?”
I simply smile. And I can’t see this smile, but I can feel this smile, and I know it’s something different. Even for her, a woman who hasn’t even known me a full day, she can tell that something has suddenly changed.
She twirls a single finger in the air. “Is this… something magical right now?”