Five

CHIARA

“MOTHER, we’ll have to do something so I can take off from work for me to fly to where this guy is,” I say.

But she just waves her hand dismissively. “Consider it all done. We have a cover ready for you, and you’ll not have to lift a finger.”

“Yes… though I wish you’d given me a proper warning. I’ll have to make sure my writers are taken care of.”

“Darling, it’s not like you’ll be leaving for a whole year. It’s just going to be a day or two.”

“Oh.” I blink. “Okay. I guess we can manage that.” I am frowning a little, because I am expecting it will take a longer time to talk to someone with a name like Gideon Swan, who is a notorious hermit billionaire, about Magickals, and that he is one.

My mother is still talking, adding a few more details, then I hear something that catches me.

“Nooo,” I wail. “I’m not going to Louisiana! You know how much I hate the humidity there!”

“It won’t be so bad this time of year,” she soothes, brushing aside my refueled objections. “Your birthday is