Luc didn’t feel cold as her mind raced, barely aware as Tobias pressed a warm mug of hot chocolate into her hands. He passed another to Marie, then finally to Maisey as he sat down beside her on the couch. She cuddled up to him from beneath her blankets, nested in a pile of quilts.

  “We should sign up for the grade two test,” Luc blurted out, turning her attention to Marie.

  Marie looked up from her mug of steaming hot chocolate, whipped cream clinging to her upper lip. Like Maisey, she had quilts tucked around her too, each of them homemade by Mama Barnes, though she wasn’t as wrapped up in them. Tobias had given a few to Luc as well, but she hadn’t bothered to climb beneath them. There was too much going through her mind to want to sit that still.

  “Are you sure?” Marie asked, instead of jumping in excitement. Luc wasn’t sure why she was hesitating now, she’d been pushing to take the grade two test practically since becoming a magical girl. But now that she was ready, Marie wanted to wait?

  “More than ready,” Luc said. She still didn’t fully understand the significance of the different grades, though she was sure Marie would explain if she asked, but today had only proved they were ready. “I’m ready to do more. Aren’t you? I don’t want to do this without you.”

  It was as if Luc had said the magic words. Marie nodded like she couldn’t help herself, thick curls bounding around her shoulders. The smile spreading across her lips brought butterflies to Luc’s stomach, fluttering happily as her gaze slid across the room to Maisey. Marie might have been her rival and partner first, but Maisey had joined them and she couldn’t just ignore her.

  The blond girl stared at her, then shifted further down into her throne of blankets. “No thanks, I’m good.”

  “Really?” Luc wasn’t sure what else to say. She didn’t want to leave Maisey behind and on her own, and she wasn’t sure how much overlap they’d be able to have once she and Marie took the next step.

  “I’m not ready, you two have been doing this a lot longer than me,” Maisey said. “Besides, I don’t want any more responsibility.”

  For the first time since meeting Rainbow Blade, Luc slowed down. Her mind stopped racing, attention settling fully on Maisey in front of her. She didn’t want to just leave her behind.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Maisey said, catching Luc’s eyes. “I’ll be fine. And Tobias is gonna become a magical girl now too, so I’ll have company.”

  “Am I?” Tobias asked, raising his eyebrows.

  “You are,” Maisey said with a little nod.

  “I think I need magic for that first.”

  “Which is why you’re going to accept magic the next time it comes for you,” Maisey said. “And then you’ll be able to join me and we’ll be as much of a power couple as Limit and Gadget.”

  “And what happened to the Limit, Gadget, Fold relationship?”

  Maisey thought about it for a moment. “Well, we can either break up dramatically, or he can join us. I’m really okay with either one.”

  “Guess I have to go get some magical powers then,” Tobias said with a shrug and a crooked grin. He kissed her on the cheek, then settled in beside her, turning his attention to the rest of the room. “Guess it’s settled then. Though I have no idea how I’m supposed to get those powers.”

  “Magic already has an interest in you,” Luc said. “You just have to accept it.”

  “That’s not how it works,” Marie said, nose crinkling. “Magic isn’t sentient.”

  “That’s not been my experience,” Luc said to her before looking back at Tobias. “Next time magic shows up near you, I won’t help you. Should pick up some powers then.”

  “And hopefully not die.”

  She rolled her eyes. “You won’t die.”

  Luc settled back into her seat, finally letting herself take a sip of the hot chocolate. It had cooled down significantly but still tasted good, thick and warming, chocolate coating the back of her throat. With all that decided, the last thing they needed to figure out was when they could take the actual grade two mage test.

  She twisted toward Marie, leaning halfway across the couch toward her. “Can you sign us up for the grade two test?”

  “Already on it,” Marie said, without looking up from her phone. “There’s only one problem.”

  “What’s that?”

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  “The next test isn’t until February.”

  Luc groaned and slumped back against the couch. Why did the next test have to be so far away? She didn’t want to wait months to do more; she was ready now.

  “Guess that means until then, we’re still a team,” Maisey said with a wink.

  ******

  Thanksgiving came and went, and then Christmas. The jobs stayed the same, the only occasional breaks in routine when they took the night off to support Tobias and Mason at their basketball games. Luc continued to gather support from the community, and work on tools in her downtime, readying herself for the next stage in her career.

  She loved her car full of scraps and her ability to think on her feet, but to do more, she needed to be ready for more. She didn’t wait to make tools after she’d pulled up to a job. She had them locked and loaded, armed and ready for just about anything thrown their way.

  Everything except for the confetti cannons that went off the moment Luc opened her apartment door.

  A yelp escaped her lips at the explosion, closely followed by shouts of surprise from Marie, Tobias, Maisey, and Mason from inside her apartment.

  “Happy Birthday!” Marie shouted as she surged forward, grabbing the still stunning Luc and pulling her into a hug.

  She let herself get pulled along, stumbling into her apartment. She wasn’t sure how they’d gotten in or when they’d had a chance to decorate, but streamers and colored lights filled the room, along with a cake with candles just waiting to be lit.

  “How did you know?” Luc asked, giving her head a shake. “I didn’t say anything.”

  “You think we’re just going to let your eighteenth birthday pass without celebrating anything?” Maisey asked. “Not a chance.”

  “That still doesn’t explain how you knew it was my birthday,” Luc said. “Or how you got into my house.”

  “That one is easy,” Marie said. “Mason picked the lock.”

  “And I snooped,” Maisey said with a proud smile. “It’s not like it’s hard to figure out when your birthday is.”

  Luc opened her mouth to protest again when Tobias jumped in. “Just accept it,” he said. He swooped around behind her, putting both hands on her shoulders and guiding her further into the room. “And sit down. I made dinner.”

  Sure enough, they’d not only broken into her apartment, Tobias had cooked dinner. The warm, savory scent of spaghetti sauce filled the room, along with fresh garlic bread and even a chocolate cake.

  Luc stared at it all with wide eyes as she took a seat, going through the motions to accept the plate passed her way. It was all more than she could deal with.

  Birthdays… Birthdays had never been kind to her. Her mother had never wanted to celebrate the day Luc ruined her life, not to mention, celebrations were expensive. The only reason she remembered her birthday at all was the ongoing countdown until her eighteenth—she was an adult now, which meant she could finally, truly escape.

  Not that she needed to.

  Her shoulders relaxed as she dug into her food, the knot of tension she’d been carrying around for years fading away. There was nothing left to run from, no desperate escape she needed to make tonight. Her birthday could just be her birthday, and at the end of the night, she’d still be living here, she’d still have this career she’d built, and these friends.

  A sigh slipped from her lips as she ducked her head, staring pointedly down at her plate. “Thank you, guys. For making my birthday nice, for once.”

  “What a depressing way to word that,” Tobias muttered, and Luc rolled her eyes.

  Maisey elbowed him in the side before grinning across the table at Luc. “Of course! And it’s not over yet. We have presents.”

  A groan escaped before she could stop it. “Please, no.”

  Marie pressed against her arm as Maisey hopped out of her seat, darting across the room to grab a large paper gift bag. “Don’t worry,” she said, her eyes twinkling as Luc glanced her way. “I didn’t get you a present. I know you hate that sort of thing.”

  A rush went through her as she closed the sparse distance between them, leaving a quick kiss against her lips before she settled back against Marie’s arm. Maybe Marie really did understand her.

  Despite her reluctance, Luc opened her presents, thanking them for every book or tool they bought her, before hugging each of them goodbye and kicking them out of her house.

  Marie tugged on her sleeve as Luc shut the door after Tobias. “Guess I should go too.”

  “Or you could stay,” Luc said, and bit down on the words the moment they left her mouth. Marie hadn’t stayed the night since Luc had gotten the apartment, and even then, they hadn’t done anything. They hadn’t done anything but kiss, maybe they still wouldn’t, maybe Marie wouldn’t want to because none of this was serious to her—

  Marie surged across the room, hands taking Luc by the waist and pulling her in. Luc sighed into Marie’s lips as they touched, melting into her as the kiss deepened.

  She tipped up onto her toes, leveraging herself closer to Marie. The girl’s lips parted and Luc took the invitation, slipping her tongue into Marie’s mouth.

  A soft gasp escaped Marie. She pulled back, resting their foreheads together as Luc’s chest heaved, waiting for a sign.

  Soft fingers ran from Luc’s hips and up the side of her body to cup her face, tilting it back for another kiss. Luc allowed Marie to move her how she saw fit, pliable under her gentle fingertips.

  Marie’s lips parted, and Luc prepared for another kiss, not for Marie to speak.

  “I love you,” she whispered, and kissed her again.

  Luc froze for an instant as the words struck and sank in. She loves me?

  Marie paused and pulled back as Luc froze. Internally, she cursed herself. Did Marie expect her to say it back? How could she? She’d never said… those words to anyone. Never had anyone say them to her. They weren’t words that belonged to her; they were dangerous, unattainable. She couldn’t say them back, and Marie would be angry, and—

  “Are you okay?” Marie stared down at her with concern. “We can slow down. I don’t need to stay.”

  “No!” Luc blurted out, grabbing Marie’s hand before she could pull away. “Stay. Stay.”

  The smile that had begun to fade reemerged as Luc clung to her. “Okay,” Marie said, squeezing their entwined fingers. “I’ll stay.”

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