The Ninepenny Element Read online

  “The what—”

  “I’ll tell you later,” Verity said to Dan, over her brother’s pained grumbles. “Anyway. It might be important. Making the Family more accessible. Maybe even checking into some things that need checking in on. Someone like Kermit should’ve been noticed already, at least the first time he tried something. And apparently he had a spell book. I’d rather that didn’t happen again.”

  “Sorry,” Sterling said. “I haven’t been here that long, either. But I should’ve tried harder to pick up things like that.”

  “It’s not your fault. But maybe with both of us it’ll be easier. We can talk to your local coven and figure out improvements to their detection methods, if they’re cool with that…One thing I don’t know is what Mom will say.”

  “Mom?” Sterling said. “She’ll be thrilled that you’re happy. And she’s got like fifty of the cousins hanging around just waiting for her to give them something to do. They’ll all be thrilled, too.”

  “True.”

  “If you need a meeting space…” Lia said. “If any of you…if you want a—a coven branch in the city, not just what I’m gathering is the headquarters upstate…you know I’m a real estate lawyer, right?”

  Verity and Sterling looked at each other.

  “It’s not a bad idea,” Dan said. “I mean, everything you’ve just said, that’ll need some space, won’t it? Space for training, or storage, or a library, if you’re collecting magical books.”

  “It’s not a bad idea,” Verity said. “It’s…I could. Yeah. All of that.”

  “So you’ll stay,” Lia said.

  “I’ll stay.” Verity took her hand, rubbed a thumb over the back of it: tracing the shape of her, the weight, the tangibility. Feeling silver brush against her own arm: the ninepenny element, the sweetheart gift, the guarding token. “I’ll tell you guys the pancake batter story, too. But yeah, I think…this sounds right. This feels like…what I should be doing, maybe. At least trying. And I want to.” She met Lia’s gaze with her own, with that hand in hers. “To try.”

  “I’m not going anywhere,” Lia said. “I’ve just found out magic’s real. I want to know everything. I want to help. And this feels right for me, too.” She squeezed Verity’s hand; her fingers were long and firm, and city lights played rainbows across her hair, still loose and falling past her shoulders. “This, I mean. This feels right. With you.”

  “It does,” Verity said back, “with you,” and kissed her right there on the sidewalk, under the velvet of night and the bustle of the city and the laughing applause from her brother; Lia kissed like promises, like a future in motion, like magic.

  THE END

  Author’s Note

  I’m so excited about this one—my first f/f paranormal, so thank you for reading, and for sharing Verity and Lia’s story with me! The ninth wood and ninepenny references are real, at least in terms of magical belief and folklore—a good starting point is, as always, Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, and the older the edition, the better. (I’ve got two. One’s the version with the Foreword by the great Sir Terry Pratchett. His The Folklore of Discworld, co-authored with folklorist Jacqueline Simpson, is also marvelous for exploring fantasy with folkloric roots.) Richard Kieckhefer’s Magic in the Middle Ages is good for medieval charms and spells and enchanted objects.

  If you’re curious about Sterling and Dan’s story, that can be found in Elemental, also available from JMS Books. That story made me want to know more about Sterling’s older sister and give her a story of her own, and she and Lia have a future to build, now. And if there’s a third one, well—Cousin Robert and his weather-talents might deserve a happy ending too…

  Most of my stories have playlists, or at least songs I associate with them—which you can find on my website!—and this one’s no different. Here are a few:

  The Regrettes, “Juicebox Baby”

  The Ramones, “Sheena Is a Punk Rocker”

  Green Day, “Church on Sunday”

  Tegan and Sara, “Closer”

  The Interrupters featuring Rancid, “Got Each Other”

  ABOUT K.L. NOONE

  K.L. Noone loves fantasy, romance, cats, far too sweet coffee, and happy endings! She is also the author of Port in a Storm and its upcoming sequel, available from Less Than Three Press, and numerous short romances with Ellora’s Cave and Circlet Press. Her fantasy fiction has appeared in Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Sword and Sorceress anthologies.

  With her Professor Hat on, she teaches college students about Shakespeare and superhero comics, and has published academic articles and essays on Neil Gaiman’s adaptations of Beowulf, Welsh mythology in modern fantasy, and Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels.

  For more information, visit twitter.com/KristinNoone.

  ABOUT JMS BOOKS LLC

  JMS Books LLC is a small queer press with competitive royalty rates publishing LGBT romance, erotic romance, and young adult fiction. Visit jms-books.com for our latest releases and submission guidelines!