“It was more of a hunch,” he says, “but it worked! She Matlocked this demon into submission. It was like watching someone play chess with Death.”
“What’s Matlock?” Simon asks.
Baz is still shocked. “You summoned a demon?”
“I executed a research-based plan,” I say.
“She summoned a demon!” Shepard looks so proud, it’s making me blush.
“In her living room! And didn’t even blink!”
Simon leans into me, knocking my shoulder with his. “That sounds like Penny.”
“So no one is cursed…” Baz says.
“Just you, babe,” Simon says.
Baz shakes his head. “We left you alone for a week, Bunce…”
Simon grins at Shepard. “This calls for a celebration! We need to celebrate.”
The rest of us frown at him. “We don’t need to celebrate,” I say. “We need to get to the bottom of this spell that was cast on you.”
“There’s no bottom to get to.” Simon is emphatic. “I’m already there.
Smith cast a spell on me, it didn’t work—end of story. Literal, actual end of story. I’m not a mage.”
“Snow—” Baz chides.
“Seriously, can we focus on someone else for once?” Simon looks at Shepard. “Shep! You’re not going to hell anymore! And you don’t have to wear a jacket in the middle of June. Do you know how jealous I am?”
Shepard smiles at Simon. Baz and I are looking at each other cryptically again. I think we’re agreeing not to let Simon change the subject like this …
（We should really come up with some hand signals or something.） “Perhaps Snow is right…” Baz says carefully.
I shake my head.
Baz goes on. “If you really outwitted a demon, Bunce, that’s one for the history books.” The corner of his mouth quirks up. It’s very nearly fond.
I roll my eyes. “It wasn’t that impressive.”
“Balls to that,” Simon says. “They’re going to teach a class about you at Watford someday.”
“To Penelope,” Shepard says gently, holding his teacup in the air. “My hero.”
Simon raises his cup. “Mine, too!”
“A very fierce magician,” Baz says, toasting. “I don’t mind saying.”
My cheeks feel very warm. And my eyes are burning. This really isn’t the time for this. “It was no trouble. I didn’t even have to get out my gem.”
62
BAZ
We celebrate by ordering pizza and listening to Penelope and Shepard argue about exactly how she managed to get him out of what was apparently a beastly awful engagement.
I’m not surprised that Bunce vanquished a demon with only a Normal for backup, but she still should have asked for our help. We definitely could have used hers. Keeping Snow out of trouble is a two-man job. I can’t do it by myself—look what happened tonight.
What did happen?
Simon doesn’t seem … materially damaged. But he was already emotionally compromised; the last thing he needed was the shiny new Chosen One kicking him while he was down.
What a feather that would have been in Smith-Richards’s cap—if he’d patched up the old golden boy and paraded him in front of the entire World of Mages. What an endorsement.
Now no one will know that Smith-Richards failed. Only Simon, and he blames himself.
Thank magic Bunce came back when she did. Snow is soaking her up like sunshine. It’s going to take them two weeks to catch up on the week they spent apart. After an hour or so, I excuse myself from the merry reunion to hunt. Simon attempts to come along, but I don’t want to pull him away from Penelope. “Stay. I’ll be right back.”
I don’t have to go far. Snow lives near a canal now, and the rats are abundant. I may even catch an otter. I decide to stuff myself while I’m out here. Sometimes, if I fill myself to the brim, I can skip hunting for a whole day. I can pretend I’m still human.
It doesn’t really mean anything that Smith-Richards’s spell failed … We don’t even know what his spell does or how it works. This isn’t conclusive proof that Simon was never a mage …
As much as he’d like that, I think. It would help him settle into this Normal life he’s trying to build for himself. He’s got me playing Normal, too. I’ve already stopped offering to cast spells around the flat.
Bunce hasn’t got the memo yet. She’s had her gem out every five minutes since she arrived. She tried to spell the pizza delivery person, but I insisted on paying. （“Thank God,” Shepard said. “She’s gone full Butch Cassidy this week.”）