"Perfection," Zoe Matthews sighed contentedly as she leaned back against the chair, took a sip of her iced latte, and sank her perfect white teeth into one of Zack’s great eggs Benedict.

Marie Laveau stood in the open kitchen doorway, bright light streaming into the hallway behind her. "Are you sure you don’t want to come shopping with us, sweetie?"

"No, thanks," Zoe told her half cousin and shook her head, which caused her long dark hair to slide across her shoulder.

"You’re going to miss a great storewide sale," Marie tempted.

Zoe rolled her eyes. "Which is perfectly fine because I’ve already got my credit card stretched to its limit." She sighed. "It’s probably for the best."

Marie nodded. Zoe was right. She couldn’t afford to be the spendthrift she had been before. With the 24/7 demonic attacks and the damages caused, Zoe simply couldn’t splurge on something that she probably wouldn’t even need. Once, she even had to replace Zane’s very new and very expensive laptop – which pretty much crimped her bank account – when she’d accidentally blown it up while testing new vanquishing potions.

"Okay," Marie shrugged as a car horn bleated. She looked out of the open window and saw Zane standing beside their family SUV, reaching through the driver’s side window to honk the horn. He held up his hands in a So are we going or not? gesture.

Kit’s head popped out of the car’s back window. "Come on, Marie," she called. "If we don’t get to Flair’s soon, there’ll be a line out of the door!"

"Go, scoot," Zoe urged Marie and flipped open a gossip magazine. "And have fun."

"Okay, if you’re sure…"

Zoe watched as Marie dash out of their apartment, picking up her purse and saying her goodbyes to Zack as she went. A few moments later, she emerged out of the wide front doors of the X-Manor and slid into the car. Zane trotted to the front of the car and settled himself behind the wheel.

He gave a goodbye honk as he started up the car and pulled away.

Zoe shot them all a bright smile and waved. When the SUV disappeared around the corner, she let out a small sigh. Her eyebrows knitted in a frown. Wow, I sure have been sighing a lot lately, she thought wryly, and I thought I was supposed to be the bubbly one. She had actually managed to feel empty when she’d watched the SUV leave.

Absent-mindedly, she sat back against her seat once more, picking up the magazine and leafing through it listlessly, just as Zack sauntered into the kitchen, dragging his feet. He was still dressed in the clothes he had worn to sleep last night.

"Morning," Zack yawned and greeted her somewhat tiredly. It was only then that Zoe realized that her brother hadn’t had much rest since the wormhole incident. The moment he had tried, she thought, we were spelled off into the enigmatic lands of Middle Earth, where we had put up the battle of our lives against that dark witch Samsara, and hordes of Sauron’s forces at Gondor and the Black Gates of Mordor. Courtesy of my impromptu love spell.

She sulked. I hate myself.

"Are you all right?" she asked as she picked up her half-eaten eggs Benedict and munched down on it. She wiped off the dribbling hollandaise sauce off of her mouth with a napkin.

"I’m fine," Zack said as nonchalantly as he could. He cleared his throat. "What about you? You seem to kind of distant lately."

Opps. Zoe gulped. Busted. "I was just thinking about, you know, him."

"Him?" Zack’s face went blank with confusion. After a fraction of a second, comprehension finally hit home. "Oh," he said sympathetically. "You mean Legolas?"

She nodded without enthusiasm. "I miss him." She sighed again.

When Zack said nothing, Zoe lazily propped her arm against the kitchen table. The magazine sat in front of her, sprawled wide open to the horoscope section. She looked down at the table and read it half-heartedly.

Then surprise flickered over her face.

Zoe rubbed her eyes to be certain that they weren’t playing tricks on her. She gripped at the sides of the table to hold herself steady. She stared down at the page, then up at Zack, who was already staring at her with a dreaded look that said ‘Please don’t we have to fight a demon any time soon’.

Sorry, Zack, she thought to herself. Looks like I’m gonna have to disappoint you.

She pointed a shaky finger at the magazine. "The Golden Ram," she stammered. "The one that represents Aries. It’s gone."

"What?" Zack’s voice was taut, like a piano wire. He snatched the magazine from Zoe’s clutched hands and stared at it.

And saw the horoscope reading dematerialize right before his very eyes.