But I had been caught. The spell bag was confiscated, along with all my other items of power I usually kept on me at all times, and I was stuck in this cell with my ex. Who probably thought I was nuts, and really, I couldn't blame her. I felt crazy. I was tired and cranky and my nails were black from the graveyard dirt. Pepper would help as much as she could, but like with so many things between us, there was no way to undo the past.

"Look, I did what they're accusing me of," I said. "I was in the graveyard and I was digging up a body. That's bad enough, even if I wasn't planning on doing anything bad. I just wanted to break a curse, get a woman some sleep, but I know what it looks like. I know what I look like. An old hag, an old crone. A freak. A weirdo. And I got caught. So I deserve this. I should just accept this and serve my time. Maybe then I'll learn what the real world is like, huh?"

Pepper was quiet for a long time. She folded her hands over her black-clad knees, staring at her nails as if they were a cursed object. She'd seen so much of my spiritual practice over the years -- and been invited to many parts of it -- but she'd still never once believed. She thought ghosts and ghoulies were nothing but psychic projections from people who thought they controlled the universe, were stupid, or at best, people who were deeply grieving. She accepted what I did in the kitchen every other Friday and on weekends because it made me happy. And some people seemed to actually benefit from it. As long as I wasn't hurting anyone, she was fine with it.

When we ceased to be happy together, and she became the person I hurt over and over again, she refused all explanations of an occult nature to explain it or to keep us together. It didn't matter if this year was particularly bad because of Jupiter, or if our stars were truly aligned in my star charts. She left. I left. We split our lives down the middle, where I kept all the magic, and she kept all the reason.

"Thank you, Pepper," I said, calming down and truly accepting my fate. "I'm really happy you came. I'm really happy to see you again and that you're doing well. But maybe I should face the consequences of my actions. Maybe I should face that judge and believe him to be King David rather than a man elected to keep people like me down. Maybe I shouldn't be mucking around in people's lives anymore, and giving them reasons to believe in things they shouldn't. They should be in hospitals, not our front hallway. Remember?"

"That was ... rather mean of me to say back then," Pepper said so quietly I almost didn't hear it. "And if even I think many people would benefit from seeing a doctor or a financial planner or someone with an actual degree after their name, I don't think what you're doing is a bad thing."

"You don't?"

"No. I'm sorry if I ever gave you that impression. I was wrong. So let's get over to the courthouse," she said, quickly standing and gathering her purse over her shoulder. "And let's get you out on bail. I can figure out how to plead you down later. But I think I have a few more tricks up my sleeve. After all, we can both have some magic, right? I've learned a few things since you've been gone."