“Vi? You okay?” Olivy’s voice cuts into my thoughts, and I open my eyes to find her standing right in front of me.
At my nod, she waves at someone in the distance, then flashes the thumbs-up.
“Devlin,” she explains. “He’s waiting for you on the bench back there. I told him we usually do a quick ritual with Ol’ Aggie on Halloween, so he knows you’re not trying to ditch him. Unless… youaretrying to ditch him?”
“Ican’tditch him. Binding spell, remember?” I remove my glasses and rub my eyes, blowing out a soft sigh. “But I don’t want to ditch him, anyway. I just needed… a minute.”
“Yeah, I saw you guys run out and got worried. Well, first I saw thatveryhot moment on the dance floor—definitelynotfamily-friendly, by the way—then the running. So you can imagine where my mind went.” She tucks a loose wave behind my ear and straightens out my glasses. “What happened?”
“Nothing, I just…” I press my fingertips to my lips, still aching from the kiss. Still aching for more. “It was… kind of intense.”
“No kidding.” She laughs, the light in her eyes dancing. “But you’re okay, right?”
At this, a genuine smile breaks across my face. “More than okay, Olivy.Goddess, I made a total scene.”
“The running? No. The kissing? Definitely. But it was agoodscene. Trust me.”
Lowering my gaze, I bite my lip and mutter, “I think I might actually… like him.”
“Likehim, or like the special Halloween candy he slipped you tonight?”
“Olivy!”
“We all saw it, Vi. I’m pretty sure there’s a video making the rounds, too. Mayor Singh was especially excited about the prospect of a winter wedding.”
“You’re all terrible!” I laugh. “She was on stage the whole time!”
“And therefore had the best vantage point.”
“Dick or Treat!” comes the giggling call across the courtyard, and I turn to see Emmie, Darla, and Fiona bounding toward us.
“At leastoneof us is getting the good stuff tonight,” Emmie teases. “Back me up, Fiona.”
“My sources say…” Fiona mimes the act of gazing into her crystal ball, her brows wiggling. “Oooh, yes, someone isdefinitelyin for a thorough dicking tonight, and that someone is… our very own fairy princess. May she be blessed with multiple multiples and a man willing to sleep on the wet spot.”
“Oh my goddess, shut up!” I crack up at their antics, but then a new realization dawns. “Oh, no. Please tell me the aunts didn’t see me making out with the Devil on the dance floor. I’ll never hear the end of it.”
“They’ve been with Aggie for the past hour.” Olivy nods in the direction of Founder’s Grove, where I spot my three aunts at the base of Aggie’s statue, preparing their annual offerings. “But the aunts probably know what’s going on anyway, even if they didn’t see a thing.”
“We justknowthings, girls,” Darla says in a dead-on impersonation of Joslyn’s gravelly voice that has us all cracking up again.
With a bit more room left on the magical leash, I follow my sisters over toward Aggie’s statue, turning to catch Devlin’s eye.
He smiles at me across the courtyard, and even at a distance, I can feel the warmth in his energy. The lightness.
The intense desire.
Still burning. Not imagined.
Holy Hell.
He waves me on and motions to the bench, indicating he’ll wait for me there, and I flash him the thumbs-up and continue on.
Olivy wasn’t making excuses with the whole Aggie thing. Since the statue was erected, the sisters and aunts and I have made it our new Halloween ritual—leaving offerings and asking for continued blessings of Wayward Bay, our magic, and each other.
Now, my aunts welcome my sisters and me into their circle. Jos casts me an all-knowing smirk, and Althea squeezes my hand, but none of them say anything about Devlin or the kiss.
Ol’ Aggie, though… she knowsexactlywhat kind of mischief I’ve been up to tonight. I can see it in her eyes, just like I imagine she can see it in mine.
