"I can't believe you dragged me all the way to California for a pointless five minute meeting!" Helio moaned. He leaned against the peeling wall of their shared motel room, twirling Lexi's origami heart between his fingers.

Blaze sat down on the bed; it squeaked like a dying mouse and released a cloud of dust into the air. "It wasn't that bad," he said, but he knew he was just making excuses. The meeting had been useless. He had thought the Congregation had at least a general idea of what had happened and maybe even a tentative plan on how to fix it, but it was apparent they had no clue. And that wasn't going to help his situation one bit. "At least Lira Fallon had some actual ideas. She handled things much better than Carsten and Naven did, at least. And Wheeler hardly said a word."

"They're all useless," Helio said, unbuttoning his shirt. "We shouldn't have come here; we should have just stayed in New York, as far from these stupid politicians as possible."

"Well it's too late for that now." Blaze felt a throbbing in his side, a pulse of pressure that made him feel slightly nauseous. It had been bothering him since the meeting. "God my stomach hurts."

"Probably the bad air in here. Sorry about the motel room," Celery apologized, carefully pulling back the comforter to reveal a set of off-white sheets. "I can't exactly magick up a nicer room, and I don't have a lot of cash on hand seeing as I had to book a separate room for Kayden and Lexi. You two don't mind sharing a bed, right?"

"It's fine," Blaze said. He and Helio had had a number of "sleepovers" when they were younger. After a night of building pillow forts and eating homemade cookies, they would either sleep on separate couches in Blaze's living room or collapse on the floor out of pure exhaustion. They had never shared a bed, and Blaze would have preferred to keep it that way, but Celery had done so much for him in the past twenty-four hours that he didn't have it in him to complain.

"Too bad we couldn't book one big room," Helio said. "Lexi is hot; I'd have no problem sharing a bed with her." His eyes glinted. "I bet you she's a she-wolf in bed."

"We get it, she's hot," Blaze said wearily, taking off his shirt. "I don't need the disgusting images in my head."

"Disgusting?" Helio clicked his tongue and stripped down to his boxers. He tossed his clothes from the day onto a peeling dresser in the corner. "You're just mad you can't tap her cousin."

Blaze laughed dryly, undoing his belt and slipping off his pants. "Yeah, that's it. Sexual frustration is definitely my biggest concern right now."

"Stop it you two," Celery warned. He set the outdated alarm clock on the side table for 7:00am. "Tomorrow I'm going to the teaching conference, and you won't be allowed in. So you guys will have to get along without me."

"No problem, Celery. We'll find some way to keep ourselves entertained as magic violently disintegrates around us," Helio said, bounding into bed. Looking up at Blaze, he patted the space next to him. His hazel eyes flashed in the flickering lightning. "Ready to cuddle?"

"Helio, shut the—"

"Stop it," Celery bit, climbing into his own bed. "Go to sleep."

"Fine," Helio conceded, reaching over to turn off the lamp. "Good night."

Blaze climbed into bed as darkness pervaded the room, carefully leaving a large space between him and Helio. The cool covers felt nice on his bare chest, but his stomach still throbbed. He rubbed it anxiously. I can't be getting sick now, he thought. He hated how things always seemed to happen to him at the most inopportune moments. Like blowing up that building, he thought grimly.

Initially he had felt bad for dragging Kayden into this mess. But now he also felt relieved. It was nice to have someone else around, someone who didn't drive him up the wall as much as Helio did. Despite her occasional moodiness, he enjoyed talking with her, and she definitely wasn't bad to look at—after all, his subconscious had deemed her attractive enough to shatter several large windows. He suddenly remembered how on the day he had cast the Bonding Oath she had lost her balance and fallen into him, knocking them both to the floor of her bedroom. As she landed onto his chest, her long hair had tickled his face...

The next thing he knew, Blaze was gripping the doorknob that led into the hallway. He let go with a jerk, as if the knob had burned him. "Shit!" he swore just as someone in the room let out a loud snore. He didn't remember getting out of bed.

Blaze glanced at his wrist; the symbol was glowing bright green. It's the Bonding Oath, he thought. It's making me like her. It's making me want to get close to her. He turned around to go back to bed, but a spasm of pain shot throughout his stomach. He doubled over and bit down on his tongue as the symbol glowed more fiercely.

This stomachache is because of her, he realized with a start. Being apart was beginning to physically hurt him.

He didn't care if it made him look desperate or weak. He rushed back to the door, unlatched the bolt, and opened it wide.

"Ahh!" Kayden jumped.

Blaze's heart pounded in his chest. Kayden was standing in the hall right outside of the door, her hand extended as if she had been about to reach for the doorknob. Her long hair was ruffled and her feet were bare.

"What are you doing in the hall?" he demanded, his voice louder than he expected.

"Probably the same thing as you," she bit. "My stomach was killing me. We got too far apart. I couldn't take it anymore."

Blaze stared at her. "You knew about this? About the whole stomach connection thing?"

"I figured it out at the meeting," Kayden said. "The spell is getting stronger. I wouldn't be surprised if in a few days we wake up and we're magically joined at the hip."

Blaze watched as Kayden shifted her focus down to her bare feet. Her toes were unpainted and her pale skin contrasted with the dirty green carpeting. "Hey," she said, looking up. He couldn't tell in the darkness, but he thought her cheeks were flushed. "Can we go into a room? This hallway is disgusting. I feel like I'm going to catch an STD just standing here."

"Yeah, sure," Blaze said, opening the door wider and then pausing. "Actually, Helio and I are sharing a bed."

He saw her teeth flash and a smirk play on her lips. "And you thought Lexi and I were the gay couple."

"Shut up," he said, but he knew she had gotten him.

"Let's hit up my room. Lexi and I got separate beds." She paused. "And bring your book."

Blaze stared at her. "My book?"

"The spell book," she clarified. "You know, the crappy one. Almost killed you in fourth grade."

"First year," he corrected. "I'll get it out. One sec."

He felt a sharp pull on his navel as he retreated into the room and dug the book out of his bag. Then, rejoining Kayden in the hall, he shut the door and they made their way around a corner into her room.

This room was a bit better than the one he was staying in. The air wasn't nearly as musty and the comforters looked as if they had been washed in the last century. Lexi was sleeping in one of the full-sized beds, her hair covering most of her face and leaving it in deep shadows.

Kayden flicked on the light carelessly, but Lexi didn't budge.

"She won't...?"

"Wake up?" Kayden finished. "Nah. Heavy sleeper. Slept through your whole visit, remember?"

"Right."

Blaze watched as Kayden sat on the empty bed cross-legged. When he didn't join her after a second, she gave him a look. "Worried about cooties?"

"More like bedbugs." But he sat beside her anyway. "So," he asked, holding the book towards her, "why did you want me to bring my spell book?"

"I was thinking about how it's weird that it wasn't wiped clean." She took it and rifled through the pages thoughtfully. "Even now after the meeting it still has everything in it, and the Congregation said they wiped all the spell books, not just some." She glanced at him. "Is this thing even real?"

"You mean does it work?" Blaze asked. "Yeah, it does. I mean, it always seemed to have some misprints in it, but ignoring that, you got results. I just didn't trust it half of the time."

Kayden flipped to the title page. "A Progressive Book of Magic," she read. "By Walter and Elise Voyle. Weird title."

"Weird book," Blaze said, stifling a yawn.

"Who are Walter and Elise Voyle?"

"The authors obviously. But they're nothing special, not famous or anything. I don't know anything about them, save that they're probably alive."

"What makes you think that?" Kayden asked.

Blaze tapped the cover. "Old editions typically don't list their authors. The first spell book I owned was written over three hundred years ago. Handwritten. Leather binding. No author listed." He could still see it in his mind's eye; it had been a stunning book. "My parents gave it to me the morning of my seventh birthday. But I couldn't control my powers and that night all the candles on my cake exploded. The book was ash before they could even sing 'Happy Birthday.'"

Kayden stifled a laugh with her hand. "Nice."

Blaze grinned despite himself. "That book cost a fortune. My father was furious. But I needed a spell book for school, so my parents bought me this. It was supposed to be a replacement for the time being until I went out and bought my own, but I started sneaking my father's and didn't bother."

"But for some reason, when the Congregation wiped all the books clean, it didn't work on yours," Kayden said thoughtfully. "Is there a spell on your book? Did you do anything to protect it?"

Blaze rolled his eyes. "As if any spell I cast could protect anything from the Congregation. They have the most talented potestas in the world working for them. They'd be able to overcome any spell I had placed on this thing in a second. Not that I did," he added pointedly.

"Sorry," Kayden said. She flipped through a few more pages, her fingertips resting lightly on the pages. "Well, maybe not just your copy was saved. Maybe every copy of this book was."

"I don't know anyone else who has this book," Blaze said, thinking back to his days at Sir Mallard's. "It's a possibility. But why does it matter?"

"The Congregation wiped spell books clean to protect everyone from the magic warp that's messing with all the spells."

"Yeah...?" Blaze said. He didn't know where she was going with this, and she looked at him sharply, half annoyed, but half... excited? "What's that look for?" he asked.

She smiled. "Maybe they didn't wipe this book because the spells in it are okay. Maybe the answer to our problem," she said, pointing to his wrist, "has been in this book all along."

Blaze stared at her for a moment. She looked so excited; it was the most animated he had ever seen her. He took the book and began to rifle through it himself. The pages were sleek and shiny. The spine was stiff from lack of use.

"Maybe the Congregation just hasn't gotten around to reviewing this one yet," he suggested, trying to stay rational. "I mean, not many people own this book. Most wizards don't trust the new editions, and it could be last on their priority list."

"I think we should try a spell out and see if it works," Kayden said, her green eyes bright. Hopeful.

Blaze thought about Helio turning the chalk dust into gold, and the flakes disintegrating into ash; he thought about Carlos lying on a stretcher in the rain. He shook his head. "I don't think it's safe."

Kayden's eyes flashed. "If we don't try it, we'll be stuck like this forever."

He felt her burning stare and heard the angry tone of her voice, but he couldn't look at her. He didn't want to be bound to Kayden indefinitely, but the thought of casting a spell terrified him. He had seen the results of magic gone wrong, and it made his stomach twist. Even now, his mind played a memory of Carlos writing out the fire rune on the classroom floor, his face wrought with determination.

That was yesterday morning, he thought, willing himself not to throw up. Just one day ago. One day.

Blaze sat there in silence for a full minute, beating back the memories and the nausea, before he forced himself to look at her face. "There's... a reason I don't want to try this out on my own," he said.

Kayden rolled her eyes. "Because it's 'dangerous.' Listen, I know—"

"I saw someone die yesterday," Blaze said, and Kayden's mouth immediately snapped shut. "And not just from faraway or on the news. He was walking right next to me, and he started choking on nothing. I..." His throat felt tight. "I tried to help him, but it was too late."

For a moment, Kayden said absolutely nothing. When she finally spoke, her voice was low. "I didn't know. I'm... I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to be so..." She hesitated. "Did you know him well?"

"Not really," Blaze admitted. "He was a kid at Sir Mallard's school. I volunteered there yesterday and when he was walking home with me, he tried to say an incantation to summon fire. And... the spell went wrong." He looked down. "I think the spell used the oxygen in his lungs to fuel the fire, suffocating him. And he died right in front of me on a sidewalk." He shook his head. "This shift is dangerous, and I don't want to try a spell unless we're absolutely sure it'll work."

"That's completely reasonable," Kayden said quietly. "I'm sorry for pushing you."

"It's fine. You didn't know."

There was a moment of silence so complete that after another few minutes, Blaze felt forced to break it. He began to flip through the spell book, listening to the rustling of the pages. Incantations, rune diagrams, and long lists of ingredients taunted him, shining in crisp back type. Eventually he reached the beginning of the book, where there was nothing but a copyright.

Kayden's hand suddenly darted out, pointing at the text. "Wait a minute. Look at the publishing company!"

Blaze followed her finger. "Voyle Publishing," he read, the name striking a chord. "Voyle, as in the authors?"

"But look at the address," Kayden said, prodding at the page. "It's in Los Angeles." She turned towards him. "Maybe we can go there and see if someone can explain why this book hasn't been wiped clean."

"Celery is going to be at a teacher's conference tomorrow," Blaze said slowly. "We could go while he's out."

Kayden grinned widely. "Beats staying here in this crappy motel all day! And we might actually learn something about this book."

"Well then, it sounds like we have a plan for tomorrow." Blaze grinned back at her; he couldn't help it. Her smile was contagious, a glimmer of teeth and lips that fit her face much better than her usual scowl.

But as quickly as it had arrived, the smile faded. She nodded slowly—once—and leaned back onto the bed. As her eyes floated to the ceiling, she whispered, "Maybe this will actually pan out."

The way she said it made Blaze look down at her. "What is it?" he asked.

She hesitated. "I know it's stupid," she said after a moment, "but sometimes I feel like this shift is all my fault."

"How do you figure that?"

She shrugged. "Because I wished for it. I mean, I didn't wish for magic to disintegrate or anything but... After you cast the Bonding Oath and disappeared out my window, I thought I'd never see another magical thing again. So I started wishing that I were involved somehow. I just didn't expect for all of this to happen."

"I don't think any of us did," Blaze said truthfully. "But it's not your fault. We all wish for things, but just hoping for something doesn't mean it'll come true." Blaze looked down at her, at her green eyes and pale skin. His eyes trailed along her neck, where her hair tickled skin, and then to her lips, small and thin and pink.

He stood up quickly, trying to shove those thoughts away before the hotel room caught on fire; magic was too unpredictable right now for his mind to wander. He couldn't lose control again. "I'm exhausted. I think I'm going to head back to the room."

Kayden jolted upwards, shooting him a glare. "And give me stomach cramps all night?"

Blaze had completely forgotten about that. "Er..."

"Here." Kayden scooted over, leaving him plenty of room in the full size bed. When he continued to stand, she stared at him confusedly for a moment before her face melted into a look of horror and embarrassment. "I don't want you to feel awkward or anything," she rambled. "I mean, I'll stay on my—"

"No, it's fine," Blaze interrupted, feeling his face flush as well. "You're right. This makes more sense." Carefully he climbed into the bed, making sure to leave a good-sized space between them. Then he leaned over and flicked off the lamp. "Good night," he said into the darkness.

"Good night, Blaze," came the response from his side.

And as much as he knew it was just the Bonding Oath messing with his mind, he couldn't help but wish that he could hold her in his arms, cradling her as they fell asleep.