Chloe’s mouth went dry. She stared at Zoe, then at Melinda, and back again, her voice coming out as little more than a whisper. “Wait a second… This is your girlfriend, Mel? The one you’ve been telling me about all this time?”

Zoe’s eyes softened, guilt and affection flickering across her face. “Yh,” she admitted quietly. “This is Mel.”

She turned, almost instinctively, to the witch seated like a queen in the armchair. Her expression shifted into something Chloe had ...