“It’s fiery and the coming of spring and warm weather and …”
“Pretty?” At the word, Dom put my flower crown back on my head.
I rolled my eyes. It was pretty.
“We are very glad you are still here and could make it,” Gertie cut in, smiling at the two of us bickering back and forth.
“Thank you for having me,” Dom greeted with a small smile, less uncertain than the last time the two of them had met.
Gertie reached out and gave his arm a squeeze. “It’s good to see you again.” She moved toward where Celeste was motioning for everyone to loop themselves in a circle.
When she was gone, Dom looked down at me. “I think I am starting to like the idea of your family.”
“Even the magic?”
“Maybe.”
“Look at us”—I shook his arm—“tainting you.”
“Is that what you call it?”
“Among plenty of other things once you’re an insider.”
“Like Ryan?” he asked.
“Ryan is a few tiers up. You have to put in some time and throw some wishes out into the universe to get to that point with us.”
Dom chuckled.
“Oh”—I leaned into his side, my voice low enough for only him to hear—“just wait.”
“For you?”
I remembered the night we had talked about wishes.
“Have you been wishing for me?”
“I’ve been wishing for you my whole life.”
My brow wrinkled as pain sparked in my chest, hard enough that I put a hand to where it ached. I pulled back again.
His face turned with confusion. “Are you all right?”
I shook my head. “Let’s go. You’ll see soon why this is one of my favorite holidays.”
“Good morning, everyone.” Gertie spoke loud and proud. “I’m so happy we are all here again and with some extra friends to celebrate the next holiday in our wheel. Beltane is a welcoming of warmth and life, fire and fertility all around us. We thank the gods and goddesses. We thank and bless ourselves as we begin by gifting life to our own little sacred waters.”
At once, all of us flung a handful of petals and flowers into the river, waiting as they coated the surface, where the sunlight sparkled and rippled.
Turning back around, I looked up toward Dom, giving him little to no explanation as I reached up to take off my crown along with the rest of the girls. I gently set mine down on the grass before turning back to him.
“Thank goddess it’s warm out this year,” I muttered, shedding my piano shawl onto the ground, leaving me in only my shift, which looked a lot more like a nightdress.
His forehead creased. “What are you doing?”
I shrugged, reaching for my sisters, who were still waiting for me.
The water wasn’t as high as it normally was since the spring rains had stopped a few weeks ago. As we waded into the thick of it, Essie smiled. Lu and Faith immediately shrieked at the cold, water cresting over their knees.
