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“The trade meeting, I know.” He sighs and presses his forehead to my shoulder.
He’s put on a brave face for it all so far, but there hasn’t been a moment of peace since he took that crown. Another meeting, another crisis, another duty. Another problem only he can solve.
I rub my thumb along his hand. “You’re doing a good job, Reid.”
He tightens his fingers around mine. “It never feels like enough.”
“You”—I spin around in his arms and take his face between my hands—“need to learn how to take a compliment.”
His smile turns rueful as his gaze travels from my eyes to my mouth.
“So let’s try this again. Reid, you’re doing a good job.”
He leans down to kiss me, his lips brushing mine as he murmurs, “Thank you.”
CHAPTERFORTY-SEVEN
“Where didyou even come up with a spell like this?” Monroe mutters beside me.
“Shh!” Kirby hisses as she skips around the grass, lighting the white candles surrounding us as she goes. “Keep your bad vibes out of the circle.”
Smirking, Monroe raises her palms in surrender, the softness in her eyes as she watches Kirby never wavering.
The deep orange and pink hues of the sunset fade in the distance behind the Carrington estate, and I lean back on my hands as I close my eyes and breathe in the fresh air, full of floral notes from the garden that’s been slowly coming back to life as we’ve begun rebuilding.
“Yeah, Roe,” I say. “Stop harshing my mellow.”
She elbows me in the ribs, and I sit up straight again, laughing.
Kirby stops in the middle of the circle of candles with her hands on her hips and a slight pout to her lower lip. “You’re both making fun of me.”
“I’m not!” I insist. “I think this is a great idea. I’ll take all the good fortune I can get.”
Exactly what she’s hoping to accomplish with this ritual is unclear—rid us of the heavy, negative energy from the past several months, bring in good luck, that kind of thing. It all sounds pretty similar to York Academy’s blood moon rituals, to be honest.
The smile falls clear off my face at the thought, remembering how much Beth loved the blood moon. Being a lunar witch, the rituals always seemed more meaningful to her.
As if she can read my thoughts, Monroe reaches over and squeezes my hand.
“I saw your sisters earlier,” she offers.
I bob my head. Calla and Adrienne have been attached at the hip since the moment we got back, the same way they’d always been before Calla disappeared, like nothing’s changed in the past three years even though everything has.
“We’re all having dinner together tonight. With my mom. And Reid.”
Monroe makes a face. “Is that weird?”
I snort. “Very. It was Reid’s idea.”
“Aw.”
I raise an eyebrow.
“Oh, come on. He’s trying to get along with your family—and no offense, that’s no easy feat. It’s cute.”
“So you’re saying you won’t create a fake emergency to get me out of it?”
She bumps her shoulder against mine. “You’re on your own with this one, kid. He’syourhusband.”
