Kiss and Spell (Enchanted, Inc.) (34 page)

“Is that something that interests you, Miss Chandler?” Merlin asked.

“Yeah, I think it does,” I said. “Just as long as I don’t have to make coffee anymore.” Merlin looked completely blank, since that was another of the trivial details I’d omitted, but Owen and I laughed.

We returned downstairs, where the elves who wanted to return to their realm were already going through the portal. Two of them took Sylvester through between them, using something that looked like the elvish version of the wizards’ silver chains as restraints. Every so often, a few people came through from the other side, blinking and looking a little confused.

When I went back to the stereo to retrieve Jake’s iPod, I was surprised to find my purse and Owen’s coat in a pile under the stereo table. It looked like they’d just tossed their captives’ personal effects aside. That meant I still had my apartment keys, ID, and credit cards and he had his wallet and phone. We’d gone through all that and hadn’t lost anything but a week.

But I wasn’t quite ready to return to normal reality yet. I’d spent the entire time I was a prisoner wanting to get home, and now I found myself thinking a little longingly of the world I’d left. Well, mostly my apartment. I’d gotten used to having that lovely brownstone apartment all to myself. Going back to sharing a two-bedroom in an old tenement building with three other people was going to be a real adjustment.

While the others were still wrapping things up, I went back up the stairs to the roof for perhaps the last bit of peace and quiet I’d probably have for a long time. But when I reached the roof door, I found that it had started raining.

“What was that about dancing on a rooftop in the rain?” Owen’s voice said from behind me.

“It’s a romantic movie cliché,” I replied.

“Still, don’t you think we should give it a try? We hit all the other clichés. Why not that one? They’re even playing our song.”

“I didn’t know we had a song. And where did they get the music? They aren’t using the enchanted iPod, are they?”

“I think they’re singing.”

I listened for a moment before I realized that what I was hearing was a hundred elves singing a Bee Gees song. “Okay, in that case, we have to try dancing,” I said, turning to face him. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

He took my hand and led me onto the roof. It was only a light rain, just enough to make my skin tingle where it touched, which felt a lot like magic surrounding me. Owen took me into his arms, making my skin tingle in a totally different way, and we moved to the unearthly sound of the elven chorus singing “How Deep Is Your Love.”

“Well, that was interesting,” I said after a while.

“Dancing on the rooftop in the rain?”

“No, though I am starting to see the appeal. But I meant everything that’s just happened to us.”

“Then ‘interesting’ is the understatement of the century.”

“I don’t even know what to make of it. It’s almost like a dream. Now that we’re back in the real New York, it doesn’t seem like it was real, and yet it’s more real to me right now than my real life.”

“Do you know what I find most amazing about that whole experience?”

“What?”

“That even when they made us forget not only each other but who we really were, we still somehow found each other and knew we belonged together. It happened all over again when we weren’t even ourselves, and I’m pretty sure that wasn’t their plan.”

“Florence did help nudge things along.”

“But did she really make that much difference? She mostly planted doubts about the other guy.”

“So I suppose that means we really do belong together,” I said, feeling my heart fluttering a little as I rested my head on his shoulder.

“It does seem rather inevitable, doesn’t it?”

“I don’t mind,” I said with a smile.

“I was hoping you felt that way.” He loosened his hold on me, then with a casual wave of his hand, he started a small shower of sparks, like the ones we’d created in the bookstore. As useful as magic could be, that little trick was the one I thought I’d miss the most.

And then my heart leapt into my throat when he went down onto one knee. With another wave of his hand, a glowing circle of light appeared in his palm. “Since it seems like we’ll end up together no matter where or who we are, that we love each other in any realm we visit, will you marry me and make it official?”

It wasn’t the way I’d ever imagined being proposed to, but it was exactly what fit for Owen. It was private, magical, and meaningful. I couldn’t seem to find the words to respond, so I nodded and held my hand out so he could slide the glowing circle onto my finger.

“This is just a placeholder,” he said, his voice shaking a little. “We’ll go shopping for a real ring.”

I pulled him to his feet, then kissed him as showers of sparks continued to fall around us. It seemed that the romantic comedy the elves had forced us into had reached its happy ending.

The strains of “Too Much Heaven” floated up the stairwell as the elves began a new song. “I guess that’s the closing credits,” Owen whispered.

“Thank goodness I ended up with Mr. Right,” I responded. “And we’ll live happily ever after.”

About The Author

Shanna Swendson is the author of the Enchanted Inc. series of humorous contemporary fantasy novels, including
Enchanted, Inc.
,
Once Upon Stilettos
,
Damsel Under Stress, Don’t Hex with Texas
,
Much Ado About Magic,
No Quest For The Wicked,
and
Kiss and Spell
. She’s also contributed essays to a number of books on pop culture topics, including
Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl, I Learned from Judy Blume
,
Serenity Found
,
Perfectly Plum
and
So Say We All
. When she’s not writing, she’s usually discussing books and television on the Internet, singing in or directing choirs, taking ballet classes or attempting to learn Italian cooking. She lives in Irving, Texas, with several hardy houseplants and a lot of books.

Visit her Website at
shannaswendson.com
.