A coil of smoke rose from the toaster, and Eve coughed. Aunt Nicki popped out of her chair and bustled over to the counter. She dumped the toaster upside down over a plate. Her toast, plus a shower of ember-like crumbs, fell onto the plate. “I think that’s a record for number of words spoken by you at once.”

“But you aren’t going to answer me.” Eve didn’t have to phrase it as a question. She knew it was a fact.

“You should kiss the one you like kissing,” Aunt Nicki said. “Don’t kiss the other one.”

“Okay.” Eve sipped her orange juice. “Thanks.”

Aunt Nicki stared at her again. “You’re welcome.”

At 7:30 a.m., Eve stuck the key she’d found on her dresser into the lock on the library door and was mildly surprised when it worked. The door slid open. She hoped it was a sign that today would go well.

Behind her, Zach charged up the stairs. He had a paper bag—bagels, she guessed—in one hand. He skidded to a stop next to her. “Hey,” he said casually, as if he hadn’t been running to catch her.

“Hi,” Eve said.

The library doors slid shut and then open again as Eve and Zach continued to stand, staring at each other, in sight of the sensor. She knew what they were both thinking about: the kiss, the flying.

A black car pulled into the library lot and parked under a tree, the same one as yesterday. No one got out of the car. She suddenly felt exposed. The library was tucked away from the street. Trees blocked the view. With another glance at the black car, she ducked inside. Zach hurried in with her, and the door slid shut again behind them. Eve wished she could lock it. But no, this was a public place. A WitSec-approved place, she reminded herself.

Inside, the library was quiet. Shadows were layered in a pattern on the floor. Eve headed for the light switches and flipped them on.

Everything looked the same as yesterday.

Good, she thought. She wanted routine. Nice, safe, boring, wonderful routine.

Zach fetched the overnight book-return bin and then opened the bagel bag. “Breakfast?” he offered. She accepted the everything bagel. Seeds rained on the circulation desk, and Eve bit into it. She still didn’t like it. She ate it anyway. This is what I need, she told herself. Normalcy.

Zach didn’t eat his.

“You don’t want it?” Eve asked.

“All I want is to kiss you again.”

“Oh.” Eve wiped her lips with a paper napkin, cleared the crumbs from the desk, and straightened a few books on a cart. “You want to kiss me because you want to see if we fly.” When he didn’t answer, she looked at him. “You don’t lie,” she reminded him.

“Just think! If I’m right and we’re, you know, magic together—”

“We’re not,” she cut in. Or at least he wasn’t. He couldn’t be. He was from this world, and Malcolm and Aidan had both said there was no magic in this world … unless they’d lied, but she couldn’t think of any reason for them to lie about this.

“I didn’t hallucinate,” Zach said. “Yes, I read a lot. Watch a lot of TV. Play a few video games if I think the story line is worth it. But I’ve never had a problem separating reality from fantasy.” He held up one finger. “One kiss. If we don’t fly, I leave you alone.”

Eve shook her head. Malcolm had told her not to do magic outside the agency—plus she didn’t want to lose consciousness here. “It’s too dangerous.”

“Aha! You didn’t say it didn’t happen!”

“Zach …”

“Worst case, we hit the ceiling. Bash a few light fixtures. Plummet from the ceiling. So we’ll kiss over carpet just in case. Or, ooh, we can make a landing cushion out of the pillows from the chairs in the reading room!” Grabbing her hand, he yanked her out of the lobby and through the reference area. He hit the lights for the reading room, an octagonal wood-paneled room with chairs in every corner. Zach began to toss the chair pillows into the center of the room.

“I don’t think …,” Eve began.

“Cannonball!” He jumped into the air and landed on his butt on one of the pillows.

She laughed. She couldn’t help it. His joy was infectious.

He stood up, his expression uncharacteristically serious. “Flying isn’t the only reason I want to kiss you. You are all I think about. You are exactly what my life has been missing. You are what I have always wanted. You are magic, with or without the flying.”

“But you’d prefer with the flying.”

“It would be a cool bonus, that’s all I’m saying.”

She laughed again.

He crossed to her, close without touching. “Say no because you don’t like me that way. Say no because you didn’t enjoy kissing me. But don’t say no because you’re afraid.”

She looked into his eyes, his warm, wonderful eyes, and wondered if she could trust him. “You don’t know what I’m afraid of,” she said softly.

“Then tell me. And I’ll tell you why you shouldn’t be scared.”

It was such an innocent statement, said by someone who didn’t know fear. His innocent fearlessness was beautiful, and she wanted suddenly to feel that fearlessness too. Stepping forward, she put her arms around his neck. He wrapped his around her waist. She felt her heart beat faster. Or maybe it was his. Both of their hearts beat fast through their shirts, against each other.

She touched her lips to his.

No magic, she thought to herself. Don’t fly.

She breathed with him as they kissed—and then the feel of the floor faded away. His grip around her waist tightened. She broke the kiss and looked down. They were several feet above the pillows.

Floating like feathers, they drifted down. Landing on pillows, they lost their balance and toppled over, clinging to each other. Entangled, they lay silent for a moment.

“Whoa,” Zach said, breathless. “Wow.”

“Wow,” Eve agreed. She hadn’t lost consciousness. She hadn’t had a vision. She hadn’t even felt herself use magic at all. In fact, she’d focused on the opposite.

“Did you know you had magic kisses?”

“Last night Aidan kissed me, and we didn’t fly.” She watched his face as she said it, unsure if he’d be upset that she’d kissed someone else. But she didn’t want to lie to him when she didn’t have to—she already had to lie to him about so much.

His face didn’t change, but she felt his arms stiffen around her. “Who’s Aidan?”

“A boy who thinks I’m supposed to be kissing him.”

Drawing away from her, Zach sat up in the middle of the pillows. “And what do you think?” His voice was careful, measured.

Eve sat up next to him. “I think I’d rather kiss you.”

“Oh. Well, that’s okay, then. But you’ll excuse me if I’m still a little bit jealous. Is this Aidan good looking?”

Eve shrugged. “Yes.”

“Well, this just gets better and better.” Zach pushed away the pillows and stood up. He tossed the pillows toward the chairs. “Buff guy? Likely to beat me up? Not that I wouldn’t fight for you. I totally would. You are completely fight worthy.”

She put her hand on his wrist, stopping him from chucking the next pillow. “Zach?”

“Sorry, but it’s somewhat of a shock to kiss the girl of your dreams and then find out she already has a boyfriend. I kind of wish you’d told me that earlier, except that I probably wouldn’t have kissed you, and there goes fodder for my dreams for the next decade.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “Did you mean what you said? You’d rather kiss me?”

She nodded. “You don’t play games.”

“Great. What a rousing endorsement next to Pretty Boy.” He took a deep breath. “Sorry, sorry, sorry. Jealousy is ugly, isn’t it? I’ll stop. You’re here with me. That’s good.” He tried a smile.

She saw him try, and she touched his cheek. “Kiss me again,” she suggested.

A real smile lit up his face. “Yes, ma’am.” He leaned in toward her. As his lips pressed against hers, she heard paper rustle, and she felt wind in her hair. Her feet stayed firmly on the carpet, but she felt something brush against her back. She broke away.