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It took a moment for me to speak. “Has Grandmother mentioned anything to you about me?”
Ember’s nose crinkled as she thought. “She’s asked if we’d heard from you, but I told her the truth—that there hadn’t been reception on our vacation. Other than that, not a peep. Why? Has something happened?”
This was my opening. The moment I had been dreading where I finally divulged the truth to Ember. I could share how I had been secretly using the Amulet of Davorina to channel my spirit magick as I worked on forbidden dark magic in Alexei’s Court. Or how I had agreed to steal back the position of High Priestess and spent the last few weeks with the vampire I always claimed to hate.
“Really, I’m okay. Just miss y’all.” I tried to smile.
Coward, my intuition whispered.
“We miss you too, Jade.” Her tone softened. “And when you’re ready to talk, we’ll be here.”
As I ended the call, I laid across the bed, trying to wall off my emotions. After a moment, I stood and dressed, feeling more presentable in comfortable leggings and a sweatshirt. I bounded down the stairs and found Genevieve and Tabitha sat at the kitchen table, overflowing with fresh flower clippings, rowan branches, and a pitcher of steaming apple cider, as Elaine waved happily from the stove.
“Jade, dear,” Liliane beamed, though her smile weakened as she stared around the mess of the kitchen, “come help finish our feast for tonight. I don’t trust these two not to eat it all before nightfall.”
The smells of roasting herbed potatoes and a succulent potroast filled the kitchen, and my stomach grumbled.
Liliane winked at me conspiratorially. “Sara had one too many gin and tonics at the pub last night,” she said as she pulled bowls of various concoctions from the countertop. “Here. You have the steady hands for the yule log cake. You know how to roll it?”
I craned my head, spotting Sara lounging on the patio with dark sunglasses and a pallid complexion, and I laughed despite my conversation earlier. Grasping the piping bag filled with fresh cream and the cake pans from her with a grin, I said, “Sure, Aunt Liliane. I’ve got it. You go do what you need to do.”
“Thank you,” she muttered gratefully, her grey hair fraying at the ends with kinetic energy. “I have to drive over to Diane’s, but I’ll be back by sundown. We’re meeting on the beach for the cleansing ritual before dinner. If you need any help, just text me!”
At the sound of her puttering car disappearing down the drive, the kitchen grew quiet as we continued to work on our tasks.
“You were out late last night,” Tabitha ground out several minutes later, her eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Get up to anything fun?”
The censure in her voice was sharp as a slap, and it grated down my back like talons. We hadn’t truly spoken since our argument on the beach, nor did I want to delve into my personal life any further.
“Not anything too exciting,” I replied offhandedly, rolling the cooled chocolate cakes out to frost.
It wouldn’t do any good to reel the Salem Coven any further into my mess. It was bad enough that Genevieve now knew of Alexei and I experimenting with the Bled talismans. The last thing I needed was word getting back to Grandmother, ruining any chance of peace when I returned to New Orleans in a week’s time.
After I completed the cake, I stowed it in the fridge and stole a mug of coffee from the pot.
“Come and help me with the Solstice purification spell once you’re finished with that,” Tabitha ordered. She seemed to detect the venom in her voice because her next words were softer. “You were always better at this kind of casting, anyway.”
They had moved to weaving together smudging bundles and yule wreaths to be sold at their booth at the Solstice festival.
Genevieve tossed me some ingredients with a smirk. “The tourists eat this shit up.”
My chest buzzed with excited energy as I began the familiar movements of spell casting. Between the strict spirit magic training Liliane led me through these past few weeks and the long evenings in the Alexei’s Court with the cursed talismans, I’d hardly had time to practice spells that filled my soul.
I pulled my hair back with a perfunctory nod and began.
Genevieve watched Tabitha and I with blatant curiosity.“I take it the two of you grew up practicing together?”
“Since we were girls.” Tabitha lifted a shoulder. “Perfect Jade Belle, eldest daughter of Helene Belle and granddaughter of the High Priestess. I was always envious as shit of her, but what really pissed me off was how hard she worked. I couldn’t deny that she put in the effort, despite the blatant nepotism.” Her lips quirked in a small smile that reached past my steel defenses. “That said, it’s nice knowing perfect Jade isn’t always so perfect.”
My back stiffened defensively, but Genevieve merely shrugged.
“I’ve met a handful of witches and warlocks with multiple affinities,” she said, thoughtfully. “Their strongest gift is always the power that is manifested first. It takes time to learn any magick that manifests later in life, but it’s possible.”
Tabitha watched me unhappily and muttered quietly, so only I would hear, “I didn’t mean anything by that comment. You always assume the worst of me. I’m not sure why I’m surprised considering you always have.”
Before I could reply, Sara burst through the backdoor, allowing a gust of frigid, salty air inside the warm kitchen. Her face contorted in pain from her hangover, but she pointed at each of us with surprising conviction.
“It’s time to start our own preparations for the Solstice tonight. Iwillget laid, and I need each of you to match my energy.” Her eyes narrowed on my loungewear. “Starting with you, Belle. Goddess, you fuck a vampire and suddenly lose all sense of style.”
