"Fuck," gasped Josh as he fell back against the bed.

Nikki lay down next to him, panting, with a wide smirk on her face. She danced her fingers up his chest to the stubble on his face. "Yeah."

He turned in the bed, looking for the clocktower that stood in the center of the Greywood—a replica of the one down in the pilgrim camp. Ruby had constructed both, and with a little help from Yusuf and Rufus, created the timekeeping enchantment which now kept perfect time for both of the magical encampments in the forest.

"Jesus, it's five in the morning?" he muttered.

Nikki giggled. "I really missed you."

They'd been at the New Years party after the show for a couple hours. It was all great fun, but as soon as Josh and Nikki noticed Zoë Portman and Melody Savana practically dragging each other back to their tent, they knew it was time to do the same. It was all Josh could do to actually make it back to the Greywood.

"So…" said Nikki, still tracing circles on his skin, wrapped up pleasantly against his side. "What are you thinking about?"

"I don't have any brain cells left for thinking," muttered Josh.

"Uh-huh." Nikki giggled again. "But seriously?"

That I really don't want to kill the mood, but I hate lying to you. "That I still need to go home."

"...Yeah, I know," said Nikki quietly. She snuggled up tighter around his body. "I'm okay with that now."

"You are?"

"It's not like you're going away forever. Besides, we've got a secret portal."

"It's not that simple, you know," Josh pointed out. "Making those isn't easy."

"You'll be back. I just gave you a great reason to come back." Nikki giggled again, obviously still high on the rush of endorphins. "And once Kendra works out how we can talk to each other, it'll get easier. In the meantime… hey, write a letter or two."

"A letter?" snorted Josh. "Am I in a fucking chick flick now?"

"I'd watch it." Nikki smirked. "Write me once a week. It won't kill you."

Fuck, I don't want to leave her yet. She's gotta get out of here for once, and hey, I've got a way out. "...You want to come visit?" asked Josh, throwing caution to the winds. "Nothing's gonna happen for a while, and I won't be starting school for a week."

"Shit, you're actually going back to school?" Nikki laughed. "The hell do we need school for anymore?"

"I've still got a degree to finish," Josh shot back. "It matters."

"Okay, okay," said Nikki, still grinning. "You sure, though?"

Not even a little bit. My parents are gonna have some words about me and you. "That thing's gonna run out today anyway," he added, glancing at the portable heater, "and fuck if I'm awake enough to refill it."

"So we just call up Kendra for a ride in the middle of the night, huh?"

"It's one PM in London," said Josh. "Perfect time." He concentrated, and soon enough, he found the connection with Lily. A quick tug, and within a minute, there was a door in the wall of their bedroom. Without warning, it swung open.

Nikki promptly sneezed. She giggled. Lily had immediately averted her eyes at the sight of them. Without Nikki's allergy, he wouldn't have had a clue which she was—they were perfectly identical, as their magic had created.

"...Sorry," muttered Josh.

"Please open the door whenever you are ready," said Lily, still pointedly looking away. She retreated inside and closed the door again, but it remained in place rather than disappearing as it usually did.

"Won't Cinza wonder where we are?" asked Nikki as she put on her bra.

"I told her we'd be busy the next few days," said Josh, grinning. "Didn't say with what, though."

Nikki giggled. "I'll bet she got the message."

They dressed. Nikki packed a bag with a few things, and soon enough, they both walked in. Nikki stared uneasily at the edges of the cobblestone path, but she didn't seem to have any of the vertigo she feared. Nonetheless, she clung to Josh's hand as they walked through.

"Back to your room, I suppose?" asked Lily, standing a fair distance away from the sniffling Nikki.

"Yes," said Josh. "Thank you for this."

Lily shot him a look—which Nikki missed, to his relief, as she was starting to fall asleep on his arm—which was a clear reminder not to use their power frivolously. He nodded, and her disapproving glare relented. She led them to the correct door, and it swung open as they approached. Soon enough, Josh and Nikki collapsed into his bed, and the door in his wall was gone.

"You've got a nice bed," she murmured, stretching out under the covers. "I'm sure we'll make good… use of…"

Nikki had already drifted off. Josh might have done the same, except that his phone had a missed call from an unknown number, and from only a few minutes prior.

Nobody can call this number. Nobody knows this number. We've got Cinza's blocking shit from Tezofarl. Their code is supposed to be foolproof, and I've never gotten a single call I didn't want. So who the fuck is this?

Quietly—so as not to wake his parents or his brothers, he had no doubts Nikki would sleep through anything at this point—he called back.

"Hello?"

"...Josh, right?"

Josh was wide awake immediately. He sighed with relief. "Hailey?"

Her voice was a bit scratchy from the bad connection, but it was still audibly her. "Yeah. Sorry I haven't called, I didn't have your number on my new phone. Finally got it from Alden, who got it from… well, that's a long story."

"Where are you, anyway?"

"Georgia."

"...Georgia?"

"Yeah." A loud whistling sound in the background. "They just announced new weather predictions. You probably didn't see them yet… wait, why are you up so early anyway?"

"You called me like twenty minutes ago."

"Well yeah, but then I remembered you were probably out late last night, so I hung up right away." Hailey laughed. "Guess I was wrong?"

"...I haven't gone to sleep yet."

"...Holy crap. What kind of parties were you at?"

Josh laughed, and hurriedly stifled himself. "What are you doing in Georgia?"

"There's a huge winter storm coming. They keep thinking it's gonna get worse like every hour. I figure this is probably the best place for me right now."

"...Huh. Makes sense, I guess." He glanced at the screen, as if the story he'd read the day before would still be there. It jogged his memory either way. "I heard about that building fire you put out. Felt like old times, huh?"

"Something like that," said Hailey.

"Oh god… I'm sorry," said Josh. "I didn't mean to—"

"It's fine," she said, and her patient tone made it clear she was telling the truth. "Jessica wouldn't want me to mope about it. Don't feel like you have to tiptoe around anything around me. It was a pretty rough fire though. Barely got everybody out okay."

"They got a photo of you, too," said Josh. "Still looking great, Hales."

"Thanks," said Hailey, and Josh could practically hear her smile through the phone. "Kinda sucks that the cops still gotta try to arrest me though. They look the other way til I'm done, then tell me to leave if there's no cameras around, or make a big show of it if there are. I mean, I knew it'd be like that, but… ugh."

"We're still working on that," said Josh. "I got in touch with Jefferson Baux by email a couple days ago. He's hopeful."

"Cool." A huge gust of wind blasted the phone microphone. Josh pulled it away from his ear until it subsided. "Sorry, had to take a weird dive. You still there?"

"Still here." Josh glanced at Nikki, asleep on the bed beside him, and felt his own exhaustion mounting. "So you're good, then?"

"...Yeah," said Hailey, and Josh felt every little bit of contentment in her voice as she did. "I'm good. I'm doing what I always wanted to do, and now I'm doing it right. I'm okay."

I'm jealous as all hell. Wish I had my life figured out like that. "Glad to hear it."

"Wow, what am I doing? You've been awake since last night. Go to sleep!"

Josh laughed. "Okay, fine." He started to take off his clothes, but kept the phone to his ear. "Listen, I'm gonna be out of the ritual zone for a while. Call me anytime."

"...Got it," said Hailey. Josh was taken aback by how few questions she asked. He was so used to everyone being curious, everyone wanting all the answers—Hailey simply took him at face value without another word. "Now go to sleep!"

"Night, Hales. Good luck out there."

Josh plugged in his phone and finished undressing. He pulled the covers tight around himself and Nikki, only briefly wondering if his family would break the age-old family taboo against opening anyone's bedroom door before they'd walked out in the morning. None of those worries stuck around long. Instead, Josh's brain was stuck on a single thought—how the hell can I be like her?

He wanted the sort of peace Hailey Winscombe had found. She'd been through hell—a worse hell than Josh had ever known—but she'd ended up one of the most calm and put-together people he knew. She seemed genuinely happy these days, even if she was an internationally wanted fugitive always on the move with no real home to go back to.

As Josh drifted off to sleep, wrapped up tight in bed with his girlfriend, visions of the world flashed through his mind. He'd tried to imagine so many ways the magical community might develop, but forecasting wasn't his strong suit—ironic for a business major, to his bitter amusement. Still, at the end of the day, he'd found himself in one of the most influential positions in the world, with the ear of nearly every major player on the board, either directly or only a few steps away.

And I'm just a black kid in Norwalk who's worried about his parents finding out about the white girl in his bed. How the fuck did I end up here?

He hated the job, but nobody else could do it. It fell to him. No matter how he had landed his position, Joshua Miller made up his mind in the early hours of twenty-nineteen: he'd do his best to help the world to a better place… so long as he stayed as far away from the spotlight as he could get.