Katie came back out and set a blanket on the chair next to me. “You know the routine. Tits out, let them catch some moon rays.”
“Can we get this over with already? I won’t be catching any moon rays tonight, and frostbit tits is not a good look.” I pulled my white dress over my head. “I have to get back before Hunter wakes up. I don’t want him toworry. Besides, maybe Hunter’s the real deal. Wearehaving a great time together.”
“Don’t be preposterous, dear,” Ruby said, poking at the fire with the end of her staff. “This is all your doing, and you know it. You have to set that poor man free?—”
“…the others too,” Clover calmly announced, setting her basket on the gazebo railing with a soft thud.
“This isn’t going to work.” I gathered the cards and slid them back into their velvet pouch but kept my final draw. My thumb brushed over its embossed edge, the answer I didn’t want still hidden.
“Must you always bring us down, girl?” Ruby plopped onto the gazebo step, her movements sharp as she pulled off her shoes and socks.
“It’s just… we’ve done this twelve times already. Do you really think adding this will make a difference?” I whined, the words turning to fog in the freezing air.
“Makes sense to me,” Katie piped in. She was already naked, the cool winter air raising goosebumps on her arms and turning her knees a raw, blotchy red.
“It better. I’m going to get fucking pneumonia if we keep this up.”
Before joining everyone around the fire, I looked at the last card I’d pulled. Recklessness.
I tossed it into the fire, watching the painted knight curl and blacken, his sword consumed by the flames. I wasn’t about to let the cards determine my life tonight.
“Okay, what are we doing this time?” I asked, assuming my place around the cauldron.
In the center of the fire, the cast-iron cauldron bubbled, a thick, sickly-sweet steam rising from it. Clover tipped a handful of dried herbs into the brew, followed by my lock of hair, the crackle lost in the roar. Katie stirred, the long wooden spoon moving in slow, deliberate circles. Ruby inspected the sample.
“How fresh is it?” Ruby asked, holding the vial up to the firelight, the liquid glowing like a trapped pearl.
“Yesterday.”
“Oh, I suppose it will have to do. Same day is best, though.” Ruby uncorked it and poured it into the bubbling mixture.
“We didn’t have sex today. Derek and I did. So, it’s the best I could do.”
“Derek, huh?” Katie gave me a side-eye, understanding flickering across her face.
“Is that a problem?”
“No, it’s just… How’s that platonic fucking working out for you?”
I yanked my hair into a messy bun, the pin stabbing my scalp as I secured it. “I don’t know, Katie… When he’s not fucking me, he’s fucking you, so maybe you’ve got that answer.”
“Mags, I’m not jealous. It just seems like he’s over a lot, that’s all.”
“Just because he’s over doesn’t mean we’re fucking.”
“I know.”
“Besides, you’ve been so busy at the arcade, making your videos, and spending time at Wyldewood—he’s filling a void. He’s just another warm body to help me forget.”
“Then what’s Hunter?”
“A mistake. A sacrifice.” I looked her dead in the eye. “Take your pick. I don’t know. You tell me.”
“Girls, girls… keep your emotions focused.” Ruby held a wooden bowl while Clover scooped the mixture over the ice inside, which hissed and melted on contact.
“I’m not upset, honey. I just don’t want you getting hurt again.”
“If I get hurt… I deserved it.” I snatched the bowl from Ruby. The mixture was shockingly cold, a thick, herbal slush. I dipped my hand in and spread it over my body, the cold raising goosebumps over every inch it touched.
