Touch of Magic (37 page)

She grasped at safe ground, where they wouldn't
have to reveal too much of themselves and where
they could ignore the magnitude of the threshold
they were crossing.

"I don't know. I've had a pretty good offer to look
for water in the Sahara." She plunged a hand into
her pocket. "Tell you what we can do. We can flip a coin."

Ellery stared for an instant, then sparked with the
realization that she was at least partly teasing.

"Uh-uh." His eyes were narrowing with mistrust.
He detained her fingers in his, and she felt their
intensity. "We'll use my quarter."

"Your quarter," said Channing agreeably.

An equilibrium was being struck -- one they both
understood, one they could modify through the
years. They had been through a lot together. They
would go through a lot more before they were fin
ished.

A few of the bar's nearest occupants were turning
to watch. Ellery rooted through his pocket.

"And I call," he said, pulling back the coin he'd pro
duced as she was about to grasp it.

"You call," she agreed.

He paused.

"You can't be serious. You're going to keep up
your work hunting water? And do magic? And work for
Oliver?"

"Well, I don't have a hobby, Ellery. Quit stalling."
She took the coin.

She knew where she fit now. She was a Stuart.
And she wasn't alone.

As Ellery watched, she flipped the coin. It glittered up in a shining arc, with Ellery's gaze nailed
to it.

"Heads!" he said.

He stole a look at her. They shared a grin.

Ellery's eyes jumped back to the quarter.

It tumbled down and down.

And then...

...in front of Ellery's eyes...

...
in midair...

...it disappeared.

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