Luke yawned, climbing the stairs to his room in the Guild. He’d adjusted fifty-seven runes, and knew he was going to dream about magic rocks.

  He opened his door to find Maeve waiting for him in skimpy pajamas. Life immediately seemed better.

  And then he was pulled into the Void. Life was pain.

  “Come on, seriously, you had to… Dad?”

  Luke felt his ears go back as he looked around. Instead of Bonnie, his father was standing in front of him. Cali was a few feet away, trapped in two layers of anti-magic cages.

  Calvin smiled sadly at him. “Hey. You didn't keep the book I gave you safe.”

  “The… book? The- I did! I always have it with me!” He hesitated. “It’s in my backpack, only I’ve seen what’s inside.”

  “I’m sorry,” Cali whispered.

  “Either she’s being very loyal in saying you didn't help her carve an illegal set of runes at all, or you left the book somewhere anyone could take and read it,” Calvin said.

  “Not anyone,” Cali said quickly. “It was in the wagon, and we were all together, so only one of us could have read it!”

  Calvin shook his head. “She’s very loyal.”

  “What rune did you copy?” Luke asked her.

  Before she could explain, Calvin tossed Luke a pink stone. A rhodonite. It was inexpertly carved to be a boost stone, but there was something off about it. It had the signs of a transference. And there were two numbers…

  “Oh no,” Luke breathed. “Cali, you asked me about a normal boost, this is- Do you have any idea how dangerous this is? This could have killed you if you’d done it wrong!”

  “I know,” she whimpered from inside her anti-magic boxes.

  “Why?”

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  “I- I just wanted to make sure the animals stayed calm…”

  Calvin was smirking. “You are undeniably your parents’ kid. Avi’s love of animals? Check. Nikki’s ability to circumnavigate universal laws through the power of friendship? Check. No sense of self-preservation? Check. Always acting with pure motives? Double check. Somehow it’s my problem to fix? Haaa… check.” He turned around. “Bonnie!”

  There was silence for a moment, then the goddess appeared, arms crossed.

  “It’ll be fine,” Calvin told her. “Luke is going to burn that rune book, copying nothing out of it. Cali is going to swear on penalty of death to never use charm magic on a sapient being. And I’m going to go home and have dinner with my wife, like the normal, mortal being I am. Ok?”

  Bonnie watched him with narrow eyes.

  Calvin turned. “Right, Luke? Right, Cali?”

  “Right,” Luke said quickly.

  Cali didn't answer. She held her tail, staring at the ground.

  “Right, Cali?”

  She looked up, eyes wide. “Can- Can I promise to never use it for evil instead?”

  “Wait,” Luke said, “can't you just get rid of the magic? Adjust the level down?”

  “That would be against the rules,” Bonnie hissed. She rubbed her face, groaning. “You know what. You know what? To hell with it! I’d love to see what a planet controlled by Nikki’s daughter looks like! I bet crime would be zero, emotional support animals would be mandatory, and dessert would be free! Sure! Leave the kid with god-like charm magic, what’s the worst that could possibly happen? Miss Shenanigans, you don't have to promise me anything, I trust that you’re genetically incapable of hurting any living creature. On purpose, at least.”

  Cali was looking more afraid than ever. “Do… you… know my parents?”

  “Cali, I’m the Goddess Bonnie, I know everyone,” Bonnie said calmly. “That aside, children tend to assume their parents didn't have lives before they were born. You’ve probably never wondered what your mother was like as a young adult, have you?”

  “I…”

  “Right! So! I’ll take this,” Bonnie continued, swiping the burnt boost stone from Luke. “Luke can go set fire to a book, Calvin can continue on with his boring life, and Cali can go show herself worthy of my trust. Which she will never break, or else I’ll have to kill her. And I’ll never regret this. Agreed?”

  They all agreed. She snapped her fingers, and Luke found himself back in his room.

  Maeve was still there, sitting on the bed. Luke smiled at her, hurrying to his backpack.

  “What happened?” she asked. “Everything ok?”

  “Kinda? I’ll explain later,” he said, finding his dad’s old rune book. He flipped through the pages one last time, sighed, and held it out to her. “Could you set fire to this? It can't exist any more.”

  “Are you sure?” Maeve asked.

  “Yeah.”

  A flame appeared over her hand as she took the book. “If you insist…”