By All Hallow’s Eve, every pathway is lined with glowing jack-o-lanterns, the fountain is spelled to look like blood, and the entire campus is decked out in full-on, spooky gothic glory—including the students. Foundations of Tarot Magick this morning was packed with witches, ghosts, skeletons, vampires, sexy vampires, slutty vampires, and more than a few slutty Disney Princesses. Even Dr. Devane got into the spirit, dressing up as cranky old professor.
Okay, maybe that wasn’t a costume, but still. He wore it well.
It’s the witch’s new year, a time for fresh starts, as well as a time to honor the dead, and before I head out to meet Ani for drinks at the Flame and Fury bar Hot Shots, I take a moment to honor mine.
The altar is small, set up on a small table in my bedroom with three black candles, a pot of vanilla mint tea. Mom’s three-legged ceramic pig sits before the candles, along with their Yosemite carabiner. I also found a photo of my parents from the last Halloween celebration they attended here, the two of them posing in a pumpkin patch near the river, stars glittering overhead. Dad is dressed like a scarecrow, with overalls and a red flannel shirt and a floppy hat, a stuffed crow perched on his shoulder. Mom is a sexy black cat, her leg curled seductively around his, her head thrown back in laughter.
They looked happy that night.
Next to the photo, I placed the Death card.
Kneeling before it now, I light the candles—one for each of us—and close my eyes, picturing them in my mind. Not in the rushing water, as I last saw them, but in Kettle Black, Mom baking scones, Dad sorting through herbs and leaves, sniffing every bag. A typical Sunday. Happy. Content.
I tell them about my first month at the academy, about the friends I’ve made here—Isla and Nat, the guys. I tell them about my professors and my favorite subjects, my Tarot cards, the journal I’ve been diligently keeping for Professor Nakata’s class. I tease Mom about her cryptic prophecies—how she always liked to make me work a little harder than necessary, but that I don’t mind, because it means I get to spend more time in the library. More time with her.
After a few minutes, a deep peace settles over me, and I release a long breath, my last remnants of guilt about attending the academy finally evaporating. It feels as though I’ve been holding all of this back for far too long.
“I will always honor you,” I whisper, picking up their photo and letting the tears fall freely. “Maybe not exactly how you wanted me to, but in the best way I know how.”
I kiss the photo, then put it back in its place of reverence.
A breeze floats through my bedroom, snuffing out the candles. In its wake I catch the unmistakable scents of roses and spicy Mexican chocolate, and suddenly I feel their energy embracing me, like a hug from the great beyond.
I wrap my arms around my body and smile. “I love you, too, guys. Take care of each other, okay?”
Forty-Nine
STEVIE
Dressed in sparkly devil’s horns and a long, spaghetti-strap, silky blue dress that hugs every curve, I point my pitchfork at my reflection in the mirror and make the official declaration:
“Girl, you are one hot-ass bitch!”
There. It had to be said. Claim your truth, right?
Satisfied that everything is as perfect as it can be, I snap a selfie for Jessa, then head downstairs, en route to meet Ani at Flame and Fury. Hot Shots is doing a major-arcana-themed costume gathering—I refuse to call it a party, lest I go back on my vow to never attend a party with Ani again—and it’s just what I need tonight. Fun with friends, a few drinks, eye candy.
No confusing feelings. No dreams about Kirin’s declaration and disappearing act. No esoteric occult books and Tarot readings and nonsensical rhymes predicting the doom of man.
No nightmares about witches being hanged for crimes they didn’t commit.
Just a fun Halloween night.
Holding my tail in one hand, my pitchfork in the other, I’m just rounding the stairwell on the third floor when I run into Baz. He’s on his way up, his arms loaded with grocery bags.
His eyes bulge when he sees me, making no effort to hide the fact that he’s totally checking me out.
“Hotdamn, girl. You trying to send every man at the Academy to an early grave?”
I cock an eyebrow. “Not a bad idea, but… no. Just going to the thing over at Hot Shots.”
“Oh right, the major arcana party. So you must be…”
“The Devil,” I say proudly, sticking out my chest a little bit. Okay, maybe a lot. But Baz deserves to know what he’s missing out on. “Devil in a blue dress. I thought about going as The Star, but she’s naked, so…”
“That sounds like an even more amazing costume. Hey, if you ever need someone to model for, to give you an honest opinion…” He smiles, a look that could definitely turn into a slow death for me if I let it.
I lift a bare shoulder. Yep, that’s me, artfully elegant, totally nonchalant. “I’ve got Ani, so I’m good.”
