“How did you meet?” Celeste asked before I could.
Faith got to her feet and walked over to her bunk ladder. She climbed up, and for a moment, I thought she was going to freeze us out, but instead, she hoisted up a gallon-sized plastic bag of Oreos. “Double stuffed.”
We clapped and hooted.
“Bringing in the big guns!” I called as she rejoined the circle.
“All right.” Faith put her hands up in a triangle shape. “Cone of silence.”
Ivy and Celeste mimicked the gesture. Was this some sort of witchy pinky promise?
I held my hands up and repeated, “Cone of silence.”
Faith took a deep breath, and I knew we were in for a great story. “We met the first week of camp. I couldn’t sleep, so I went for a walk around the lake . . . but I got a little lost.” She gave us an awkward smile.
“That’s easy to do,” I said.
“Well, I thought I’d found the trail after wandering around for, like, ten minutes, but I ended up at Cryptwood.”
I thought back to the day I’d spent hours walking in circles in broad daylight. It was a miracle I’d lasted this long at camp. But as we huddled together and ate our treats and spilled our tea, I was so glad I’d been rescued.
“You’re lucky a counselor didn’t catch you,” Celeste said, stuffing a pumpkin and a ghost into her mouth.
“Oh, I know!” Faith held up her hands, embellishing her relief, then continued her story. “I’d realized I was in the wrong camp but couldn’t find my way back to the lake. Luckily, Olli was flying around and saw me.”
“Wait.” Ivy covered her mouth. “Olli?”
“Yeah?” Faith worried her lip.
“As in Olivander de Guise?” Ivy finished.
“Oh goddess.” Faith covered her face with her hands and spoke through her palms. “How terrible is his reputation?”
I looked between Ivy and Celeste as they exchanged a cringe. Ivy pointed at Celeste, volunteering her to divulge the valuable local gossip. I wondered what it would have been like to know the same group of children through grade school, watching as your yearbook photos changed just as drastically as your relationships.
“It’s nothing bad, but . . .” Ivy’s gaze darted between Faith and Celeste.
“You know he’s vampire royalty, right?” Celeste finally burst out. “His family has been around since the 1700s. He’s basically a vampire prince.”
Faith’s hands sank to her lap just as fast as her jaw dropped. Her fangs looked a tad longer than they had a moment ago. “Shut up. How did I not know that?” she screeched. “I mean, he definitely seemed a bit fancy, but aprince?”
“I can’t believe he didn’t tell you!” Ivy balked. “He never shuts up about it in school.”
“He went away to his family home in France after graduation. Maybe he lost his ego on the way back,” Celeste speculated, which sent us into fits of giggles that lasted into the evening.
We gossiped and told stories of past failed relationships well into the night like a big, witchy slumber party. None of us wanted to be the first to fall asleep, but we all knew that we’d be dragging our magical asses in the morning. But making ourselves sick on candy and our bellies ache from fits of laughter was well worth it.
27
Gwen
My cabinmates were on me like they were the Secret Service for a whole twenty-four hours, so it took longer than I would’ve liked to break away from the ongoing celebrations and find Sabine. I finally managed to sneak away the following evening when I spotted her walking back from the latrines with a sour look on her face.
That look morphed into something more contemplative when she spied me walking across the moonlit field toward her. When I closed the distance, she reached out, and I thought she was going to lean in to kiss me, but instead she reached for the medal still hanging around my neck. I quickly closed my parted lips and tried to play off my kissing face as an awkward smile.
“Congratulations.” Sabine said.
The shadows of the oak tree folded around us, obscuring our faces from the moonlight. She rubbed her thumb over the shimmering gold medallion before lowering it back to my chest.
