Swaard was dead. Eduardo's killer was dead, and Luz should have felt triumph. The man who had ruined her life was gone. And, bonus, she didn't have to worry about having Swaard's blood on her hands, because Agent Johnston had killed him in a very pure case of self-defense. Luz shuddered to think of all the horrible things that would have happened to Amity if Swaard had been successful in kidnapping her. Death would have been among the more favorable outcomes.

So why didn't she feel happy? She felt…empty. She felt like she should have felt something, but she didn't. Was it because she suspected that Swaard was actually still alive? No, that wasn't the case. He was obviously quite dead. Agent Johnston had put several bullets into his back and watched him bleed out. So what could it be?

"Maybe it's just a case of anticlimax?" Dustin suggested when Luz brought all this up at a therapy session. "I mean, he killed your father. You had this big confrontation with him in New York. And now, someone else kills him. You probably thought you were going to be the one to do it."

"I couldn't," Luz said. "I'm not a killer…well, not a murderer, at any rate." She crossed her arms and looked around her nervously, suddenly petrified that Dustin was going to take it the wrong way. Qualifying statements like "I'm not a killer" didn't exactly make one look good.

But Dustin just nodded. "I get that. But I bet some part of you thought you'd end up killing him anyway. Not murdering him, as you said. But you figured that it was going to come down to you or him and, in self-defense, you'd have to kill him. Am I getting warmer?"

Luz nodded. She wasn't sure if he was completely right, but it sounded right. "Believe it or not, I've been there," Dustin said. "Remember when I told you about my friend who got experimented on? Yeah, well, the guy responsible for that…I was pretty sure it was going to come down to my friends or him. And then he got eaten by a demogorgon."

"What in God's name is a demogorgon?"

Dustin shuddered. "Trust me, you do not want to know. And I don't want to talk about it. Just remember to focus on the positives here. You're safer now that he's gone. And his death sent a message to Blight: Don't screw with us. We can fight back."

"Or it sent the message that if you want something done right, you do it yourself," Luz shot back. "Speaking of which, are there any techniques you can teach me to resist mind control?"

"No," Dustin said firmly. "That's a skillset way outside my wheelhouse. Without knowing exactly how Blight's mental magic works, any advice I gave you could wind up being very wrong."

Luz sulked. She had suspected the answer for a while, but it was disappointing to hear out loud. Maybe there were some people on the oracle track who could help her. She tried to remember any advice any of her oracle teachers had given her on the subject, but nothing was coming to mind. It was probably a more advanced topic. Maybe Näkijä, the head of the oracle track, could help her. Definitely a question for later. "I…think I'm ready to talk about Lucia now."

Dustin's eyes lit up. Clearly, he'd been wanting to talk about Lucia for ages, but he had been respecting Luz's wishes and not bringing her up. Luz was grateful for it. Lucia was…a touchy subject. "I've encountered Lucia four times," Luz began. "The first time, Amity was with me. We went into my mind to get video footage of my memories of being born."

Dustin blinked a couple of times. "Wait, you can do that?"

"We actually did!" Luz said, beaming with pride at her awesome girlfriend's magical prowess. "But first we had to face down Lucia. She knocked me unconscious with a taser, and then almost tortured Amity. She thought I was in a coma and I had hallucinated the Boiling Isles. She thought she could figure out how to wake me up."

Dustin raised an eyebrow. "You still think that?"

Luz shook her head. "And neither does Lucia. Amity persuaded her otherwise. Lucia…hates herself. I guess that means I hate myself." It was true, she knew. There had always been a part of her that thought everyone else was right, and she was just the freak Luzer everyone had always said she was. But that part of her wasn't getting a say anymore. "She said she didn't deserve all the great things that had happened to me."

"She's wrong," Dustin said immediately. "I know it may be hard for you to believe. Or maybe it's easy for you to believe. But you should hear it from an unbiased outside observer either way: You do deserve good things to happen to you."

Luz smiled at him. She wasn't used to compliments still. "Thank you. Uh, anyway, the other three times were in the alternate universe. The first time, Näkijä – that's one of my teachers at Hexside – and I went into my head because I needed to recover the memories of my encounter with Zoe that she'd made me forget." Luz gave a soft chuckle. "It went pretty well. I mean, she shot Näkijä, but then I healed her, and we got the memories I needed."

She did not want to think about the next time she ran into Lucia. It was one of the worst moments of her life, and there was some stiff competition for that slot. "Uh, the second time, Amity Serrano and Willow went into my mind. Willow had gotten really suspicious of me and she was going to kill me, so Amity went into my mind to show Willow that I wasn't a threat." She laughed caustically. "Lucia tried to stop them from finding the truth, but she failed. Amity figured it out. I broke her heart."

Luz felt something wet on her cheek and touched it and she found she was crying. "I just…I didn't want anyone to get hurt, Dustin. But she did, and it was my fault. I still love her…I'll never see her again, and I've tried to stop loving her, but I can't."

Dustin let her cry in silence for a while. "You shouldn't," he said eventually. "I think you have a misconception about grief – and, yes, you can still mourn Amity Serrano, even though she's not dead. She's lost to you forever, and you're mourning, and that's okay. But you think grief is something to be overcome. It's not. You will always feel sad about those you've lost. The important thing is not to let that sadness get in the way of you living your life."

Luz sighed. "I'm…trying."

"The fact that you're willing to talk about these things is a very good thing, Luz," Dustin pointed out. "To speak to a therapist takes incredible courage even under normal circumstances. But the amount of courage you had, knowing that your issues could very well be taken as delusions – which I assure you, I don't believe in the slightest – well, it just boggles the mind."

There was silence in the room for a few moments. No one seemed to know what to say. "You said there was a fourth time?" Dustin prompted her eventually.

"Oh, right! Yeah, that was when we led the assault on Zoe's palace. She laid this nasty psychic assault on me…seriously dark shit. I, uh, I'm really not ready to talk about that."

"That's perfectly all right," Dustin assured her.

"Anyway, Lucia took over for a while, just long enough to block the assault and get me out of danger. It was like I was a passenger in my own mind. But I knew I could override anything she did. It wasn't like I was a Controller or something." Dustin looked confused. Ah, yes, Luz forgot not everyone had read Animorphs. "Reference to a nerd thing, no need to worry."

Dustin drummed his fingers on the armrest of his chair. "This is all fascinating stuff, Luz. And don't worry; I believe you. Can I talk to her? I bet she's got some interesting things to say."

Luz shook her head. "Like I said before, it's not possible without some advanced spells. And…I don't want to you to talk to Lucia. I didn't know Lucia was a thing when I let Amity into my mind, and I only let Näkijä in my mind because it was an emergency."

"I understand completely," Dustin said. "I know how intimate such a thing is. I'll drop the topic. I don't want to pressure you in any way, Luz. You set the tone and the pace of these discussions. Remember that. Well, what else shall we talk about?"

Luz talked about how happy she'd been since her friends had arrived in the Human Realm. Her nightmares had been rapidly decreasing in frequency, and she was pretty sure now that Dustin's theory had been spot on. Spending time with her friends from the Boiling Isles helped center her and quiet the part of her mind that still wondered occasionally if it had all been real. Not to mention it was so much easier to handle the mockery, insults, and hatred of her classmates when she knew that she had people who would back her up no matter what. Of course, her friends from the human school also did that, but the more help the better.

Once more, her appointment ran longer than it should have. Whenever she got into talking with Dustin, both of them always lost track of time. Going to therapy was one of the best decisions she'd made in ages, she decided. She just wished she'd been seeing Dustin before she came to the Boiling Isles. Maybe her life would have been a lot better if she had. But then again, maybe he would have helped her through the issues that had gotten her sent to Reality Check Camp in the first place, and she never would have gotten to the Boiling Isles.

Would that have been a good thing, she wondered? Avery, Sean, and Caroline would have awaited her regardless in high school. She'd seen firsthand in the alternate universe that chemistry was quite possible between her and Avery. The two of them could have become partners. Maybe they'd even have led a happy life together. Camila would have been happy. Luz would have been happy…

…and Amity would have been miserable. Without having Luz in her life, Amity would never have seen that it was even possible to escape from Odalia's grasp. Amity would have been forced into a loveless marriage. Oh, no, wait, that wouldn't have happened, she suddenly recalled, because the Day of Unity would have ended all life on the Isles and most life on Earth too. Well, that definitely put a nail in the whole life would have been better if Luz had stayed on Earth argument, didn't it?

Luz took the bus back to her hometown and, on impulse, traveled to the cemetery where her father was buried. She'd gone there with Amity back in the spring. She'd hoped desperately that Amity would know some way Eduardo could be resurrected. Her hopes had been for naught.

"Hi, Papi," Luz said. She always talked as if he could hear her. "I miss you still…but you know what? That's okay. I don't want to forget about you…or stop loving you. And it does hurt less, you know. It's not as bad as it used to be." She leaned down and put a hand on the gravestone. "At least you have the satisfaction of knowing your killer is dead…even if the man actually responsible is still at large." She sighed. "I feel so lost sometimes, Papi. This is all so much bigger than me. I didn't ask for any of this."

"Luz," a voice said from behind her. Luz let out a yelp, and turned around, half-expecting Eduardo's ghost to be there, but there was, of course, no ghost. There wasn't even a man. Instead, there was an elderly woman, dressed in severe black clothing. This, Luz realized, with a flash of horror, was Guadalupe Serrano, her grandmother.

"I don't want to talk to you," Luz spat. "Have you been following me?"

Guadalupe looked appalled. Luz wasn't sure whether or not she really meant it. Certainly Camila was a terrible actress, and Luz herself found her acting prowess failing her at critical moments, but who knew if such a thing was even remotely genetic? "No, of course not. Luz, I didn't even know you'd be here at all. I just came to pay respects to mi yerno."

Luz let out a caustic laugh. "Oh, really? If you wanted to respect my father, how's about you stop helping his murderer?" She had seen footage of her grandparents on talk shows with Odalia, spreading her lies to the American public. She pretended as if she hadn't whenever Camila asked her if she had seen them. It was kinder that way.

Guadalupe let out a sad sigh, and for a moment, it was almost frightening how much she looked like Camila. If there was ever a doubt in Luz's mind that this was some imposter, it was erased in that moment. "I know you think you're doing the right thing, Luz, but you're being tricked. God warned us about witchcraft and how dangerous it was. Spending time fornicating with girls…spreading lies…for goodness sake's, Luz, the creature pretending to be your brother literally calls itself the King of Demons!"

Luz stepped forward, a chillingly blank expression on her face. Guadalupe let out a yelp of fear, but stood her ground. "The King of Demons is your grandson, and if you continue disrespecting me, he will unleash his stuffed animal army of darkness upon you. Also, I'm not fornicating with Amity. I mean, does a part of me want to fornicate with her? Oh, yeah. But that part of me is dumb, and it's going to have to wait until I'm 18."

Guadalupe touched Luz's face gently. Luz went rigid. "I just want what's best for you, Luz. Your grandfather and I, we just want to help you."

"Your idea of helping me involves destroying everything and everyone who makes me happy," Luz spat at her. "If either of you contacts me again, I'm telling Eda. You are not going to like what Eda will do to you…but I will."

As Luz walked away, she marveled at how good she felt. Threatening people she hated felt awesome! She should do it more often, she decided.

Since Swaard's death, Agent Johnston had been even more overprotective than usual towards Amity, and there was something about it she didn't like. But she couldn't put her finger on it. He hadn't crossed any lines or violated her privacy in any way. It was his job to keep her safe; he'd actually been officially assigned to protective duty towards her. And yet…Amity's instincts were telling her that something was wrong.

Perhaps it was the fact that he was manifestly acting as a spy while doing so, but he'd been quite open about that fact the whole time, so that wasn't it either. Perhaps it was the fact that he followed her everywhere she went outside the Johnston residence and Luz's school (her school now, she supposed). Although how was he supposed to protect her if she didn't do that?

Well, in all honesty, Amity decided, she was likely overthinking things. Swaard's attack on the Johnston residence, even if it was unsuccessful, had rattled her. Havik was ruthless and conniving, she knew, but she'd have thought that based on his past behavior, he'd try to avoid going up directly against an FBI agent. The government was angry enough at him already. No, Amity was probably just being paranoid. After all, Caroline didn't think anything was wrong, and she knew her father much better than Amity did.

Gus had been raving about human movies and how he could totally match the special effects within with his illusion magic. Amity had gotten so sick of hearing about it and challenged him to put his money where his mouth was by using his magic to help her create a Good Witch Azura fan film. She had expected him to back down, but instead, he eagerly agreed, and, of course, when Luz heard about the idea, it wasn't possible for Amity to back down on her end either. That's why Agent Johnston had driven her to the Harrington residence, where Gus was staring intently at something on a metal structure that looked like it connected to the ground with circular knobs jutting out of it on every side.

"What in the hell is he staring at?" Amity muttered.

"That's a fire hydrant," Agent Johnston responded, a hint of irritation in his tone. He'd usually answered Amity's inquiries about various human things without any hesitation, but these days, he seemed to be weary of her questions. "It connects to the water system. Firefighters open up those knobs and put their hoses in, so they can spray burning buildings with water."

That seemed very rational to Amity, and did not explain in the slightest why Gus was staring at it. "Listen, Amity, I'm not sure you should be here. I know the Harrington girl is a good friend of Luz's –"

Amity glared at him. "They're not a girl. They're nonbinary." Agent Johnston rolled his eyes. "If you're going to stalk me everywhere I go, the least you can do is refer to my friends by the right pronouns."

Agent Johnston clenched his fist momentarily, and then nodded. "Fine. But it's not…them I'm worried about. Her – their father is known as a crackpot around these parts. There's some whispers that he interfered with certain government operations back in the 1980s."

Amity blinked. "He would have been a teenager back then. Your sources need their heads examined. And why do you say he's a crackpot? Because he believes in other universes and magic? Newsflash, Agent Johnston: Those things are real. Look, I'm going to get Gus before his eyes dry out."

She got out of the car. Why in the Isles was Agent Johnston trying to turn her against Steve? He'd been nothing but polite to her during his time in the Isles and kept all of Luz's secrets. And besides, if he had been unreliable, he wouldn't have been chosen to be part of the exchange program in the first place. "Gus, what in the ever loving Titan are you doing?"

"I'm having a staring contest with this monster," Gus said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the entire universe.

Amity put her hand at the side of her head, closed her eyes, and successfully resisted her instincts to scream at Gus. When she opened her eyes again, she said patiently, "Gus, it's not a monster. It's a fire hydrant."

"Aha!" Gus said with a triumphant smile. "A fire hydra! I knew it!" Good friends, Amity knew, didn't shake their friends until they'd come to their senses, but it was becoming increasingly tempting. Fire hydras were exceptionally cunning predators with camouflage ability, but they didn't have shapeshifting powers like basilisks. There was no way this thing could be a fire hydra.

"Gus," Amity said, making it clear from her tone of voice that she was rapidly losing her patience. Gus gulped. "This is an inanimate object. You cannot win a staring contest with it."

Gus sulked, but nonetheless blinked and allowed Amity to bring him to the car. Sean and Avery weren't coming with them. Amity didn't know where they were. It wasn't her business either. It wasn't as if she had a responsibility to keep track of their whereabouts every moment of every day like Agent Johnston unfortunately seemed to think he had for her.

Amity's mood was much improved when Agent Johnston drove them into downtown Bellevue. Bellevue, she discovered, was a much smaller city than Seattle, but it definitely resembled Seattle in its most concentrated areas. Moreover, it was rapidly expanding, with massive construction devices prominent in the skyline. Agent Johnston drove them to the city's central park, where Luz was waiting for them in front of an artificial lake, complete with an artificial waterfall.

"THIS IS GOING TO BE SO COOL!" Luz said, heedless of the fact that her loud tone of voice were causing Amity's sensitive ears to ring. Amity pointed at her ears pointedly, and Luz gave a sheepish grin.

Agent Johnston stood by a tree a good distance away, filming them with his phone as their prearranged cameraman. (If he was going to be following her, Amity informed him, he might as well make himself useful.) Amity had to give him credit; he knew how to blend into the background pretty well. With his casual clothing and suddenly normal looking demeanor, no one would have pegged him for a badass government agent.

With the waterfall a prominent fixture of the park, it had been decided that Luz and Amity would act out the famous love confession scene. As if there had been any other choice, really. Gus used his illusion magic and then…

…and then it was as if she was there, at the Waterfall of Fatality. The waterfall that had once been rather mundane looking now looked like it was roaring, gushing sparkling liquid, a luminescent cyan color. It had looked different in Amity's imagination; Gus had based it off of some fanart he'd seen. (They'd gotten the artist's permission to use the image in the film.) Gus had been right, as galling as it was for Amity to admit that. He could use his illusion magic for filmmaking. It was also a very impressive bit of magic too. Amity hoped he wasn't going to strain himself too much.

People were openly gawking at the sight. They had planned on that. The one flaw in the original plan had been the fact that Gus would never be able to prove that he was using his illusion magic with the movie alone, because there was nothing he could do that couldn't be duplicated with CGI now. So they'd decided to do it in a public place with word of mouth backing up the video. When they were done filming it, Caroline would put it on her YouTube channel, which had basically become the unofficial Boiling Isles YouTube channel since their visit to the Demon Realm.

Gus cast another spell and Luz and Amity were suddenly wearing outfits that were exactly like the ones Azura and Hecate respectively wore on the cover art of the books. (Since Hecate was Amity's favorite character, she had dibs on dressing up as her.) In fact, Luz looked exactly like Azura did on the cover art, and Amity presumed it was the same for herself and Hecate. Amity touched her illusory round ears and was startled to see that they felt round. They weren't actually round, but her brain thought it was experiencing sensations that indicated that they were and ignored all evidence to the contrary. Only illusion witches of great skill could trick the brain into thinking they were encountering something tangible.

"Hecate, erstwhile foe, mighty warrioress, and fair maiden…" Luz actually blushed at this last comment, which was definitely not something Azura would do. "…I thank thee for standing beside me at this moment."

Amity walked over to Luz, pride all over her face. It was, in fact, taking all of her self-control not to kiss Luz's brains out at this point. She just looked so sexy dressed up as Azura. "Speak not of gratitude, my paragon. Though a dark witch I am, I owed you a life debt, and the mighty witch Hecate always pays her debts."

Luz gave Amity a teasing smile that made her heart thunder in her chest. "Is that all this is to you, enchantress? A paying of a debt? Or…perhaps another motivation lies behind it?"

Amity sneered at Luz. "Another motivation? It is unusual for one so bathed in the light to speak so evasively. Speak clearly, my paragon, or cease to speak; I care not which you choose."

Luz looked nervous for a few seconds. Was she that good of an actress, or was this bringing back bad memories? Just as Amity was about to ask her if she needed to stop, Luz said, "Then plain speaking I shall deliver to you, sorceress mine. The truth is…for many a moon, ever since we fought at the Bog of Immediate Regret…I have felt feelings I thought I could not feel for anyone, much less a dark witch. You were so cold, yet I knew…a heart yet beat behind that icy exterior. And then, when we ran into each other at the Overlibrary…"

Amity blinked. Luz was going off-script. What was she doing? Azura and Hecate had never been in the Overlibrary at the same time. In fact, Hecate had never been in the Overlibrary at all. But Amity and Luz had been in a library together before, she suddenly realized. "When my mischievous siblings deceived you into helping them prank me most maliciously," Amity teased her.

Luz looked down at her feet, looking briefly ashamed, but then she charged ahead. "I saw you for how you truly are, enchantress Hecate. I saw a strong, warm heart beat within you. It was then that I knew…I wanted to be your friend."

Amity squeezed Luz's hands. "For me, it was when we met once more in the Hinged Mountains that I realized this, paragon Luz – Azura! – that I saw your strength, your courage. For my whole life long, I had been told by my parents that light witches were weak. But I saw greatness within you. And I must say…it was then that I noticed not just your internal beauty, but also your external beauty."

Luz blushed. It was even cuter now that she looked like Azura. "Uh, yeah? That early? I mean, I thank you, Hecate. I was honored by your trust upon that mountain, as I was honored to be tu valiente defensora – er, your fearless champion when we slew Phobos together at the Dance of Eternal Night. Even though at that point your heart belonged to another."

If they had not been in public, Amity would have stopped the whole thing right then and there to finally tell Luz that, yes, despite her increasingly ridiculous assertions to the contrary, she had been Amity's Grom crush. But the last thing she wanted to do was put her girlfriend on the spot while she was being watched. Besides, Luz was on a roll, and Amity was very curious as to where she was going with all this.

"Let us speak not of what could have been, my dear," Amity said, letting her fingers caress Luz's cheek teasingly. "All that needs to be said is that our dance battle against Phobos ignited my heart. I am embarrassed to think of the fool I made of myself in the weeks thereafter, especially during our battle against the three-eyed ogress in defense of your best friend."

Luz let out a soft laugh. "All is forgiven, Lady Hecate. If I may speak in confidence…it was really cute." Amity could feel her cheeks burning red. "But the moment when I knew I was truly enamored with you is when you saved me from the Dark Lich."

"And the fact that I said 'stay away from my Azura' didn't cause you to think that maybe I had a thing for you, my lovably oblivious paragon?" Amity said teasingly.

"No," Luz admitted. "The idea that a beautiful dark witch would be enamored of a freak…er, a light witch…well, it simply was not something I was able to consider. But then I conquered my fears and asked to court you."

Amity gave her a huge smile. "And I said yes. And since then, we have faced many dangers at each other's side, and my love for you has only grown."

Luz reached into her pocket and removed a small box. It was not illusory, Amity suddenly realized. Whatever in that box was very real. "When you asked my mother for my hand in marriage, she rightly denied you solely based on our young age. Yet in my culture, we have a tradition of giving promise rings." She opened the box and took out a modest looking, yet very pretty looking ring. It had probably not cost Luz an excessive amount of money, yet it was also no small trifle either.

"A promise ring," Luz went on, "signifies our commitment to one another. It is not an engagement ring, yet one might say we would be engaged to be engaged. Amity Blight…" Amity blinked. She'd thought Luz was truly offering her a promise ring in her own unique way, but it was still somewhat startling to hear confirmation of it by having her slip out of character. "…would you take this promise ring as a sign of my endless love for you, and as a symbol of the future I seek to build with you together?"

Amity eagerly took the ring and placed it upon the same finger she'd seen Camila wear her own ring on. "Luz Noceda, nothing would give me greater happiness." And without another word, she practically pounced on Luz's lips with the most passionate kiss she'd ever given her.

"Now that's entertainment," Agent Johnston quipped right after he stopped filming. Amity didn't even bother glaring at him. Right now, everything was perfect, and nothing could spoil it. Luz had made her a promise, and Amity would do anything at all to make sure she could keep it.

Camila was very fond of Steve. Actually, since he had taken on the responsibility of hosting Gus, helped save Luz's life multiple times (even if it had been a parallel version of him), given Sean a home, and given Camila a job, she pretty much adored him. But he was definitely eccentric to say the least, and so, in her experience, were his friends. So despite the fact that Sinclair & Broadchurch PLLC was one of the most highly regarded law firms in the entire Pacific Northwest, Camila had been expecting Lucas Sinclair to be equally eccentric.

Well, if he was, he certainly did a good job of hiding it. The man who was one of the area's most highly regarded lawyers had approached her case against the hospital with nothing but professionalism and a keen attention to detail. As Steve had foreseen, Sinclair had happily taken the case pro bono. He was genuinely enraged by the discrimination the hospital administration had shown. However, he did warn her that it was possible he might not be able to win the case, as the law was not exactly kind to people in polyamorous relationships, and discrimination for such a thing had not been yet ruled as illegal.

Sinclair was doing everything he could to get Camila's job back, though, and he was feeling very optimistic that they'd be able to settle the case out of court, if for no other reason than for the hospital to avoid bad publicity. Camila was pleased to hear it, but right now, she had much more important legal problems. Namely the stupid custody battle between her and her idiotic parents. If Camila had known they'd come out of the woodwork, she'd have moved to the Boiling Isles. Or even Pluto. God, she hated her parents, and she was confident the feeling was mutual.

Sinclair would not himself be handling the custody case, as his specialty was in not family law, but he had dropped by Camila's house to have an informal interview about any liabilities the Serranos might know about Camila. Unfortunately, there was a fair bit of it – Camila had been quite the juvenile delinquent back in her teenage years, motivated by a desire to rebel against her parents. Luz's shenanigans at school were nothing compared to what she'd gotten up to. Drug usage, beating a homophobic bully black and blue, even some light arson. And those were the things she'd just gotten caught doing.

In any event, Camila cleaned up her act once she got to college and got some distance from her parents. The court records were sealed since she'd been charged as a juvenile. She certainly had no desire to discuss them with anyone, much less Luz. Yet…she probably should have, she knew. It was likely that when Luz started to act up in school, Camila had assumed that Luz was walking down the same path she did. True, she may well have been right, but their mutual failure of communication during that period had caused their relationship to fracture deeply. Camila wondered how much suffering Luz could have avoided if they'd both been forthright with one another.

Camila had confidence that Sinclair's firm would be able to adjudicate her case successfully. They'd gotten Steve custody of his child, after all, despite the fact that their mother, though an enbyphobic bigot, was much more respectable seeming than the operator of an occult library. And, of course, the custody system had an inherent bias towards mothers to boot. But S & B's premiere family law attorney had accomplished what even the firm's fiercest competitors had to concede had been a ridiculously impressive legal tour de force and won the case.

But still, rummaging through her past brought back some bad memories. After a particularly difficult discussion of the last time she'd ever spoken with her parents, Camila had excused herself to the kitchen, ostensibly to get herself a glass of water, but really to just collect herself.

When she returned a few minutes later, she found Sinclair watching a video on his phone. "Your daughter's trending," he commented mildly.

"My daughter is always trending these days," Camila pointed out. "I don't care about whatever ridiculous rumors are being spread about her. They're all lies anyway."

"No, it's not that," Sinclair responded. "It's about a video she posted. Here, take a look."

Sinclair gave her his phone and Camila watched a video of Gus using his illusion magic to allow Luz and Amity to reenact a scene from one of the Good Witch Azura novels. She was shocked when Luz went off script to recap her relationship with Amity in the most melodramatic matter possible, and then gave Amity a promise ring. It was just so ridiculously cute! And very much in character for Luz. Camila just thanked her lucky stars that her daughter had found a girl who not only tolerated such a grand, dramatic gesture, but loved it.

"It's so lovely to see the two of them in love," Camila said fondly. "I can't wait until the day when I can call Amity nuera."

Granted, Camila was a trifle disappointed that Luz had not informed Camila of her intentions to give a promise ring to Amity. But Luz had probably just done it on the spur of the moment, inspired by the atmosphere of the scene. By the looks of it, she'd acquired the ring in the Boiling Isles (in fact, Eda had probably given it to her from the copious loot in the imperial vaults). Probably, Luz had been planning on informing Camila before she'd impulsively given the ring to Amity.

At least, Camila hoped so. But a small part of her wondered if a part of Luz still distrusted her despite all the effort they'd put into rebuilding her relationship.

"Well, I think I have everything I need," Sinclair said, after a few moments of watching Camila get lost in thought.

Camila cleared her throat, slightly embarrassed. "Thank you once again for your help, Mr. Sinclair. You're a good man to help me out like this."

"No problem," Sinclair said, and they shook hands. "It's the right thing to do, that's all." Ah, if only it was that simple for everyone else.

Just as Sinclair was walking out the door, Agent Johnston's car drove up to the curb. Amity and Luz practically carried Gus out of the car, while Agent Johnston stayed inside. Was it Camila's imagination or was he staring at her? It must have been her imagination, she concluded a moment later, because now he was looking at Gus concernedly. And there was a great deal to be concerned about, because Gus was barely able to move on his own two feet and he looked very much like he was drunk or high.

"Soon may the Wellerman come to bring us sugar and tea and rum!" Gus sang in a surprisingly resonant voice, and, yes, he was intoxicated in some way. It was unmistakable. "One day when the tonguing is done, we'll take our leave and go!"

Camila put her hands on her hips and gave Luz a disapproving look. "Turns out pepperoni gets witches high," Luz explained. "Who knew?"

Amity proceeded to explain that after they had finished recording in the park, they'd gone to Bellevue Square, the shopping mall across the street, to get some lunch at a pizza restaurant and show Gus around the place. Unfortunately, as Luz had said, pepperoni did indeed get witches high, and they'd had to leave the mall before they caused a scene. Camila believed her story. It wasn't as if they'd have managed to get their hands on drugs with Agent Johnston watching them like a hawk.

"Hey, guess what?" Gus slurred. "I know the answer to life, the universe, and everything! Want to hear it? It's –" and then he abruptly fell asleep standing up with his eyes open with absolutely no transition whatsoever. Camila could only tell he was asleep by the loud snoring he was doing.

"I'll just…take him up to my room to sleep it off," Luz said.

Fortunately, Willow was at the movies with Vee and Clara so the room would be empty. The three of them had been absolutely inseparable as of late. Camila even wondered if Willow and Vee were planning on inviting Clara into their relationship. Though, of course, that was their business and it wasn't Camila's place to interfere in any way.

"Well, I'll just be going now," Sinclair said. Camila let out a yelp; she'd forgotten he was even there. "Don't worry! We'll win the custody case, I'm sure of it."

Camila nodded approvingly as Sinclair left the house and then turned to see Amity staring at her with an expression of abject horror on her face. "Custody case?! What custody case?"

Oh, dear. Camila had assumed that Luz had informed Amity about the custody case, so she hadn't bothered to do it herself. But Luz had either chosen to not burden Amity with the details or just plain forgotten to tell her. Both options, knowing Luz, were equally plausible. Either way, Camila would now be saddled with the responsibility of telling the girl who was engaged to be engaged to be her daughter-in-law of what was going on. Grand.

"My parents are suing for custody of Luz," Camila informed her. "I have an exceptionally good lawyer – Lucas Sinclair, the man who just left here. We're going to win, I assure you."

Amity's hands started trembling. And no wonder. She knew just as well as Camila did that the Serranos had taken up with Odalia and probably would deliver Luz straight into Odalia's clutches, unknowing of the danger the bitch posed to Luz. "They can't do that to you! You're a good mother!"

Camila gave her a confident smile. "I appreciate the vote of confidence, Amity. I'm sure I'm going to win here. As you've said, I've done a good job of raising Luz, and there's no evidence to prove otherwise."

A desperate look came into Amity's eyes. "I can help you."

Camila laughed. "Oh, cariño, that's so nice of you, but unless you have some training in human law you've been hiding, I think it's best we leave this to the professionals!"

"We can find a glyph for you to use the Empathy Spell on them," Amity offered and Camila froze.

The Empathy Spell was an exceptionally advanced bard spell Amity had singlehandedly invented. According to Raine, Amity's tutor in bard magic, it was one of the most impressive feats of bard magic invented in living memory, if not the most impressive. As its name suggested, it made one experience whatever memories the caster had chosen for them to experience, complete with the emotions and thoughts the caster felt when they were experiencing it.

Amity had invented it as a means to defend herself against her mother…or so she said. But Camila suspected there was another motivation. She suspected Amity had invented the spell to fix her mother, to show Odalia the consequences of her abusive actions firsthand and thus force her to become the mother she always should have been. The Empathy Spell, either way, was dangerous in the wrong hands, and Camila didn't trust herself to not be one of those hands.

"Amity, there's no need for such drastic measures," Camila said carefully. "I trust Mr. Sinclair. You should too."

"No!" Amity screamed, and Camila jumped at the sheer force of the word. "They can't do this to you! It isn't fair! It isn't right! SHE SHOULD LOVE ME!" Amity gasped as she processed the words that had just come out of her mouth. "I mean…they should love you…"

Camila helped Amity to the couch, just as she did back when she'd gotten the poor girl to finally understand that her parents had never loved her and never would. "Oh, mija…I'm so sorry they treated you like that. But the Empathy Spell is not the answer, and I don't think it'd work anyway. Your mother is just pure evil, Amity. I'm sorry, but she is."

"Why couldn't she love me?" Amity said, struggling to hold back her tears. "I know it wasn't anything I did…I know that now. But…why? A mother should love her daughter! That's the way the world works!"

"I know, sweetie," Camila said, as she stroked Amity's hair. "I know. I don't understand it either. But I love you. That won't change, ever. Even if you break up with Luz, that won't change. My love for you is not contingent on your being Luz's girlfriend, do you understand that?"

Amity nodded, but she was lying. Not to Camila, but to herself. She didn't truly believe that. Well, Camila would repeat the sentiment as many times as it took for it to sink in. "It's going to be fine. I'll make sure of that. Now I need to go upstairs and look over Gus. Are you going to be okay down here?" Amity nodded. Camila decided to take her at her word.

"You're a strong girl, Amity," Camila said as she stood up. "I know it doesn't feel like that. But to have gone through as much as you have and still be standing proudly…it takes incredible strength. There's no one I'd rather have promised to my daughter."

"Thank you," Amity said softly.

It was rare that Willow didn't know what to do these days. She was a strong, confident witch who was regarded by her tutors as one of the most talented plant witches of her generation. Normally, she knew a way forward in any situation, whether it was reassuring her lovable but insecure best friend that, no, for the last time, Amity would never dump her for her Grom crush (seriously, why had Amity not cleared up that misunderstanding yet?) or helping her datemate through xyr trauma. But Willow had to admit that when it came to Clara MacKinnon, she was flummoxed.

Vee had tried every trick in xyr flirting arsenal on the cheerleader. Willow had given xyr some suggestions of her own. Hell, she'd even gone to Edric and Emira for advice. After all, the twins were champion flirters; Willow had even briefly developed a crush on Edric once upon a time, which had quickly faded when she learned that he was a) gay and b) the brother of her ex-best friend. But even their advice had failed miserably. Clara seemed completely unable to understand that Vee's flirting wasn't meant as platonic.

It was almost a Luz level of obliviousness, really. In fact, Willow wondered if Clara's obliviousness had caused Luz to get a crush on Clara back in the day, having sensed a kindred spirit. Luz herself was no help in trying to figure out how to get Vee to win Clara's heart. Her advice consisted of blatantly obvious statements like "don't turn your eyelids inside out; she hates it when people do that." Like, duh, Luz. In any case, Luz's still burning hatred of Clara meant that any advice she would have given was likely suspect anyway. And it wasn't as if Luz had succeeded in winning Clara's heart in the first place.

Willow had even tried to flirt with Clara herself, just to see if maybe it was something specific to Vee that was causing Clara to fail to see what was going on. She didn't really have any feelings for Clara herself, but Clara was pretty and there were far worse things Willow could be doing with her time than flirting with a pretty girl. But her attempts to flirt had gone even worse than Vee's. Clara had accused her of playing games with her, whatever that meant, and stormed off in a huff.

"I just don't get it, Avery," Willow complained to them while they were ostensibly supposed to be discussing the Gilded Age in their social studies class. Fortunately, Avery had such a good reputation as a good student in the class that Mr. Renault never checked to see if they were actually discussing the material. "What are we doing wrong? We've both been really obvious about our flirting! At least…I think we were. But then again, so did Amity. Why doesn't Clara understand that Vee wants her to be xyr girlfriend?"

Avery tilted their head. "Did xe actually tell her that? I mean, does Clara know that it's okay with you if Vee has two girlfriends?"

Willow frowned. "Uh, no, actually. But it was pretty obvious."

Avery shook their head. "Remember, Clara is human. Humans largely don't do polyamory. A lot of humans think it's immoral, and monogamy is so keyed into our social fabric that the idea that Vee isn't trying to cheat on you probably hasn't occurred to her."

"I must be the dumbest witch in the universe for not seeing that," Willow lamented. "What am I going to do?"

"Just talk it out," Avery said. "It's pretty easy for misinterpretations to occur between humans because so much of human interaction is subtle and based off of body language and tone of voice. Since the two of you are not human, it's only natural that you'd miss these things. Vee has to make it clear what xe wants from Clara, and you have to make it clear you're okay with it."

"I'm not hearing a lot of talk about the Crédit Mobilier scandal over there, Mx. Harrington!" Mr. Renault called out, and Avery quickly redirected the conversation to academic matters.

Between classes, Willow informed Vee of what Avery had told her. Vee admitted that their advice sounded quite likely. Like Willow, xe felt bad for not having realized it before. Willow assured xyr it wasn't xyr fault – they really didn't have any prior knowledge of polyamory's status in the Human Realm. Camila had seemed to take to her own polyamorous relationship with Raine and Eda like a fenghuang took to water. But Willow was unaware of exactly how that relationship had developed and failed to realize it might have been an exception.

At lunch, they ate with Clara once more. It was actually Willow's turn to eat with Luz, but she knew she had to be with her datemate to get things moving. She'd make it up to Luz later. Besides, ever since Luz had given Amity a promise ring, the two of them had been even more obsessed with one another than usual; she'd probably barely notice Willow was gone.

"Um, so, Clara, it's come to my attention that you might have misunderstood some of my recent comments and actions recently," Vee began.

"Okay," Clara said uncertainly. "What do you mean?"

"Clara, do you know what a polyamorous relationship means?" Willow asked her.

Clara frowned and thought about it for a while. "It means…you love multiple people?" It seemed that she had puzzled out the definition from the poly part meaning multiple and amorous part being associated with love, and she did not sound remotely certain.

"In a sense," Willow confirmed. "Relationships where multiple people date are fairly common in the Isles. Luz's mother is in one, as you might have heard."

Clara blinked. "I just assumed that was another lie." Willow could definitely see how she'd think that. After all, Camila had never publicly confirmed whether it was true, and it definitely sounded like something humans would have made up to slander her, especially when there were many disgusting lies also being told about Camila's supposed promiscuity.

"It's not," Willow said. "But please don't tell anyone. I'm not sure whether Camila is ready to go public with it or not." Clara nodded. Willow knew she wouldn't tell anyone.

Vee reached out and squeezed Clara's hand. Clara blushed. "I've started to feel things for you, Clara…romantic things. I like you. I think you're smart and pretty and really nice, and I'd like to go on a date with you."

Clara looked over at Willow. "And you're okay with this?"

Willow nodded. "Yes. I'm perfectly fine with Vee having multiple partners, so long as I approve them first. I know you and Luz have a…checkered past. But I believe you've changed, and you've been really kind to Vee since xyr arrival. If you make xyr happy, that's enough for me."

Clara closed her eyes, looking like she was still have some difficulty processing the whole thing. Willow couldn't blame her. It was quite a shift in her worldview. She just hoped Clara would be kinder if she rejected Vee than she was when rejecting Luz. It was still strange thinking of how cruel Clara once was. Willow just couldn't envision Clara acting so cruelly. She believed Luz, of course, but still…it was just strange.

"So…does that mean I'd be dating you too?" Clara asked Willow.

Willow had not considered that possibility. She thought about it now. It didn't seem to hold too much appeal for her. But then again, she couldn't be entirely certain unless she went on a date with Clara herself to see if they were compatible. She could certainly think of worse things to be doing with her evening than going on a date with a pretty girl, especially one that Vee was so fond of. "I'm not sure," Willow said eventually. "But I'd be willing to go on a date with you, just to see if we have any chemistry."

Clara shook her head. "Um, no offense, Willow, but…I don't think I'm interested. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings."

"No, not at all!" Willow assured her. "It's okay. I totally understand."

Clara looked Vee in the eyes and then looked shocked at herself for doing so. "Hey, the Harry Potter books were wrong. Basilisks don't turn people to stone when you look them in the eye." Wait, was that why no one would make eye contact with Vee? "Uh, anyway…this is a lot to process. I, um…I don't really know if I'm ready to say I want to be your girlfriend, Vee…but I'd kind of like to go on a date with you to see if it'll work?"

Vee bounced in xyr seat, joy clearly visible in every facial feature xe possessed. "Yay! Oh, it's gonna be awesome! We're gonna have a great time!"

"Um…but please don't tell my parents it's a date," Clara requested. "I'm not sure they'd understand…and they don't need to know until we know where we stand." Vee nodded.

"Let's wait a few days," Clara suggested. "I still need time to think about this. Thanks for letting me know, Vee. I know that must have taken courage. Look, I've got to go to the library and check out a few books. Have fun without me!" She got up from the table and walked away, a little faster than she would have otherwise.

"I have a date with Clara," Vee said dreamily, and then xyr eyes widened. "Oh my Titan, Willow, I have a date with Clara! What am I going to do? I have to impress her or she'll never want to be my girlfriend!"

Willow put a calming hand on her datemate's shoulder. "It's going to be okay, Vee. We'll figure this out together."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Willow was about to say something else when she saw several kids descend upon Luz's table, two girls and two boys. Luz suddenly got a very panicked look in her eyes and Willow readied a nasty plant spell just in case they tried to hurt her.

"Hey, Luz," a redheaded girl said with a grin. "How's it hanging?"

Luz blinked repeatedly. "Um, fine, Jessica. Did you need something?"

Jessica looked annoyed for a second, but then it was gone and a relaxed, friendly look was on her face. "Well, actually, Ben here's hosting a party at his place next week, and we wanted to invite you."

Luz actually laughed out loud. "You want to invite me? The Luzer dyke? Don't think I forgot about all those rumors you spread about me, Jessica!"

A look of guilt that looked almost genuine, but not quite formed on Jessica's face. Unfortunately, it looked like Luz was falling for it hook, line, and sinker. "Yeah, I was a real jerk. We all were." The other three students nodded in agreement. "I was stupid, okay? And wrong. We shouldn't have treated you that way. Can't you give us another chance?"

Willow groaned audibly. Luz loved giving people second chances, even those who didn't seem particularly worthy of it. While sometimes it worked out for her, such as with Amity, it often led to her getting hurt as well. "I…I don't know. How do I know it's not a trap?"

"My dad's gonna be there," one of the boys said. "He's a cop. Ask him; I'll give you his number." He wrote the number on a sheet of paper. Luz was looking convinced now.

"I really am sorry, Luz," Jessica said, her voice filled with remorse, none of which Willow believed in the slightest. "I want to be a better person. We'll have a fun time at the party, I promise."

Luz looked at the sheet of paper, hope dancing in her eyes, and Willow knew right then and there that they'd lost her. "I…um, I'd need to clear it with my mom, but…yeah, it sounds fun. What about my friends?" She gestured at her table and Willow's, encompassing both her Demon Realm and Human Realm friends.

Jessica grimaced, but nodded. "Yeah, sure. Why not? The more the merrier." The four of them walked away. Willow quickly sat down across from Luz, intending to tell her that it was a trap, but Sean beat her to the punch.

"Luz, this has trap written all over it. Even it's not, they're just giving you the time of day because you're the princess of the Boiling Isles, not because you're Luz!"

"Well, maybe I don't mind that!" Luz snapped. "I've always wanted to hang out with the cool kids, and I'm going to go to this party whether you like it or not!"

Caroline looked betrayed. "You're saying we're not cool?"

"No, no, I meant popular," Luz said, but that didn't assuage Caroline's objection at all, Willow could tell. "And you're invited too! I've always wanted to do this, and I'm not going to let anything stand in my way! I am going to that party and I'm going to have an awesome time and I'm going to show them, finally, that I'm worth it! It's all going to be fine. Look, if something happens, I can just leave. No harm, no foul."

Willow hoped she was right. But she couldn't help but wonder if Luz's so-called new friends had something more sinister in mind.

Camila had worried that she wouldn't do a good job of helping to run the newly renamed Pacific Northwest Parapsychological Library, but her worries had proven to be for naught. She'd handled angry patrons with her usual skill (she'd certainly run into her fair share of those as a nurse, especially in these uncivil times), she'd been able to answer even the most esoteric inquiries with perfect ease, and she'd even come up with new and inventive shelving methods to make the books even easier to find than before. Steve had not been exaggerating about the influx of cash, as they were able to set up in a very centrally located part of Bellevue, not all that far from Bellevue Square. The space itself was not that much larger than the previous building in Ballard, but it was cleaner and more respectable looking.

And business was certainly booming. Anyone could waltz in off the street and browse through the books, but to check them out, one had to purchase a membership, and business was through the roof. Steve credited Camila for a significant portion of that, but Camila felt he was just being hyperbolic. People were just much more interested in magic and the occult than they ever had been, thanks to the revelation of the Demon Realm's existence.

And yet, it still bothered Camila to be peddling books about things that she was pretty sure were false like tarot cards and auras and opening the third eye. There was nothing special about the third eye; she knew that from Luz's tales of Boscha's bullying.

"Steve, don't take this the wrong way," she told her employer one day, "but how can you justify having books in here that you know are…well, bullshit?"

Steve looked somewhat disappointed in her. "Camila, do you know where you'd find these books in a public library?"

Camila shook her head. In the trash would have been her answer, but that sounded way too meanspirited. "Filed under section 130 of the Dewey Decimal System. In the nonfiction section. Because it's not our job as librarians to make those kind of judgment calls. Sure, a lot of this stuff is probably crap, but people want to know about it, and maybe it's not. I've learned not to assume. You thought all of it was crap before Luz told you about the Demon Realm, after all."

Well, when he put it that way, Camila felt like she had been pretty narrowminded. "I'm sorry, Steve, I didn't mean to offend you."

Steve waved a hand airily. "No worries. I've gotten worse. You know, Charles Fort, one of the most noted parapsychologists, once said, 'If there is an underlying oneness of all things, then it doesn't matter where we begin, whether with stars or the laws of supplies of demand or frogs or Napoleon Bonaparte. One measures a circle beginning anywhere.'"

Camila could understand where Fort meant by that comment. The world was full of mysteries and there were many, many ways of dealing with it. It wasn't really for Camila to judge how other people approached the world, so long as their beliefs weren't hurting others. The people who came to the library were looking for answers, and Steve did his best to direct them to the books that he thought would help them. Could Camila truly disprove the things in the books she had contempt for? No, she could not. So why not give them the benefit of the doubt? It wasn't as if she had to believe in them.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of the bell over the door, and then Eda and Raine walked into the library. Camila rubbed her eyes, worried she was hallucinating for a second, but no. Her girlfriend and partner were both standing right there!

"Oh, wow!" Steve said, practically bouncing on his feet with excitement. "Prime Minister Clawthorne, Mx. Whispers, it's an honor! Oh, your girlfriend's been doing a great job here, a total model employee." He looked over at Raine. "I don't know how long you'll be in town for, but my child would really like to meet you. They really look up to you. There aren't a lot of nonbinary role models out there, you know."

Raine looked very flattered. "Well, I'd be happy to meet with them too. Luz speaks very highly of them."

Eda swept up Camila in an almost bone-crushing hug and a kiss that made Camila briefly forget her surroundings for a few moments, such was its intensity. Raine followed suit, though in a more gentle manner, as was their nature. "It's so good to see you both!" Camila said, a huge smile on her face.

"Yeah, sorry we haven't been around more," Eda said. "It's been a busy time. But we wanted to make this trip to let you know we haven't forgotten about our awesome girlfriend!"

"Picking up some tips from Amity, I see," Camila said teasingly. "Oh, of course I know you haven't forgotten me! I've been very busy myself, unfortunately."

Eda's face darkened. "With your stupid parents. I heard about that. You want me to…"

"Absolutely not, Edalyn," Camila said. Eda looked scared. Camila only busted out Eda's full name when she was very, very serious. "This matter must be handled within the confines of the law. It'll all work out, I'm confident of that."

Eda nodded at Raine, who took out three tickets from their pocket. "I've heard from Luz that you enjoy baseball." Actually, Camila was ambivalent towards baseball, although she had certainly pretended otherwise when around the absolutely fanatical baseball fan that was Eduardo, which was almost certainly where Luz had gotten that impression in the first place. Still, it did sound like a fun time taking in a baseball game with Eda and Raine.

"We want to take you on a date," Eda said. "And…if it's all right with you, we want to sort of make that our public announcement of our relationship. I want the humans to know I've got the best girlfriend ever!"

If Camila had not let it slip to her accursed boss and, perforce, to the world at large, that she was in a relationship with Eda and Raine, there would have been no way she would have wanted to reveal their relationship like that. But the cat was out of the bag, and this seemed like a good way to take back control of the situation. It was better to be upfront about these things rather than continue to let rumors that could, potentially, bias a judge against her in the custody hearing circulate.

"Okay," Camila said, after thinking about it for so long that Eda and Raine were starting to look seriously worried. "That sounds very good, actually."

"Well, we'll just wait until you're off from work, and then we can take you out to dinner," Raine said.

Steve suddenly gave a cunning smile. "Actually, how about we make a deal? Sign some autographs for me, and I'll let you have her for the rest of the afternoon. We'll probably make more money out of them than we could by having Camila here anyway."

Eda and Raine both eagerly acquiesced to his terms and started signing away. "Thank you, Steve," Camila said, her tone making it clear that it was not just that incident she was thanking him for, but also every other act of kindness he'd shown Camila and her family.

"No problem, Camila. What are friends for?"