Chapter One

I awoke to the sound of nothing. Not a buzzing thought. Not a humming musing. Not a weird dream latched onto my telepathy from some random nearby mind sorting through their subconscious bullshit. Nope. The singular joy of a full night’s rest woke me.

Milo had curled himself into one of the body pillows, practically hugging the life out of the plushy cushion. I smirked. This blissful slumber didn’t even require his embrace. And from the cuddling stranglehold he had on the pillow, I considered myself fortunate I’d avoided his spooning for the night. The third night in a row where I slept with utter ease, thanks in great part to Milo dragging me out of the city for a second time this summer.

Admittedly, when Milo suggested a three-day weekend before the kickoff to the school year, I remained skeptical, considering our first vacation that I helped him plan involved a cruise that turned into an impromptu ‘Enchanter Evergreen saves the day’ mission when some deep-sea fiends attempted to disembowel the hull. He claimed to have no clairvoyant knowledge and supposedly improvised his heroic actions, but I very much doubted it—even if his wily surface thoughts supported the story every time I snooped.

Still, after a vacation turned photo op, followed by a whirlwind of events celebrating Milo’s rise into the Global Rankings, I hadn’t had much of a summer break. Everything after Enchanter Evergreen’s induction ceremony was met with Cerberus parties, press arriving to Milo’s simplest missions for Q I mourned Finn and missed him dearly, but I loved each new day with Milo more. There was no more regret. No fear of impending visions, dangerous warlocks, or deadly demons. Despite the excruciating headache settling in, all was right in the world, and I was eager to see what the new school year would bring.