“Mom! Mom! We’re here! Don’t worry! Serena is casting a spell right now! We’ll get you out of here!”
I peeked out from the back room and was relieved to see my brave son and his amazing girlfriend standing in the center of the shop. Serena had her eyes closed and her arms waved. As she did that, the hoard of snakes turned, in the blink of an eye, into a pile of curling ribbon. Then she directed her attention to the overgrown weeds now nearly covering the front door and refrigerated case. She reached out for one of the vines and as she touched it, it turned to water and splashed to the floor at Logan’s feet. Lastly, she pointed at the flowers with the hideous heads that had rows and rows of razor-sharp little teeth. Right before my eyes, the petals of each flower rose up and closed over the head of the flower. Even as the flower-heads protested, the petals closed and twisted until the heads gave a final twitch and ceased movement. Serena made a final chopping motion through the air and beheaded every single flower, with Logan handily catching the heads in a bucket as they fell. He then lit a match and we solemnly watched them burn in the bottom of their make-shift grave.
“Serena, Logan, thank the stars you got here in time. Something’s happened to my powers. I can’t seem to cast a spell.” I looked at my son. “How did you know I’d be calling you?”
“I didn’t.” Logan shot me a look. “Serena did. We were going for a drive when she suddenly turned to me and said, ‘Logan, your mom’s in trouble.’ She totally freaked me out. But when she uses that one tone of voice, I don’t ask questions. I just say when and where.”
I turned toward Serena.
“Serena. How did you know?”
“I don’t know if this is going to make sense, Lily. I just, well, I felt your desperation.” Serena cast her eyes downward as though she were embarrassed. I had to put a stop to that.
“Well, thank heavens you did, child. I don’t know what those nasty creatures would have done if you hadn’t.”
I looked around the shop.
“Do you think Elizabeth would be mad if I left the cleanup here for tomorrow? All of a sudden, I just really want to get out of here.”
“Mom, given the circumstances, I think she’d understand. I’ll come back with you tomorrow and help. Let’s go.”
I glanced at my son. I couldn’t believe this was the same boy who used to argue with his sister over who got the last toaster pastry. He opened the door for Serena and escorted her outside, one hand on the small of her back. She gazed up at him with the same look of deep, unspoken love I used to use with Logan’s father. I felt a wellspring of pride for him burst open and found myself close to tears. I shook it off and put my arms around both of them.
“Yes, let’s go. I’m sure there’s a big, noisy dinner waiting for us.” If they saw me wipe away a tear or two, they never said a word. The three of us left the shop together, arm in arm.
Chapter Fourteen
SERENA
The rental cars stood out like colorful beacons in our driveway, even from a few blocks away. At this distance they looked like multi-colored flowers in a cluttered garden. I was all too aware of the reason our coven sisters were again converging on us, but it was still exciting to see everyone. Although impossible to tell who had arrived just from the rentals parked out front, that only made me all the more impatient to get inside the house.
“Logan, can’t you go any faster?”
“Serena, we’re at the end of the street. We’ll be there in like three seconds.”
I noticed he punched it a little though. Logan squeezed the car onto the side of the driveway and I threw open the passenger door almost before the car came to a full stop. I ran up the driveway with Elizabeth on my heels. It seemed she was as excited as me. Laughing, we both crashed into the front door at the same time and fought to open it like little girls. Back at the car, Logan roared with laughter.
Suddenly the front door opened wide and we both fell inside onto the foyer floor, laughing at our silliness. I rolled around on the floor, curling up into a little ball, my laughter disappearing into the no-sound laughs a person makes when halfway between that and choking, and barely coming up for air. I snuck a peek at Elizabeth and she lay flat on the floor, tears rolling down her face, her whole self convulsing in silent inside-the-body laughs. Seeing her only made me roll away in fresh peals of laughter of my own. I barely heard Logan speak.
“Hello, Eden. Don’t ask me what’s come over them. They’ve gone insane, I think.”
“If that’s insanity, I’ll take a helping please.”
At the sound of Eden’s voice, Elizabeth and I jumped up from the floor and tried to get ourselves together. We banged into each other on the way up and I was in danger of losing it again. A quick glance at Logan killed it. He was looking over Eden’s shoulder and his mouth had actually dropped open. All the mirth I was struggling to control fell away and I turned to see what he was gaping at.
The girl was just walking toward us, but there was such a sensual nature about the way she moved, it almost seemed choreographed. Her hips swayed, and her breasts strained beneath a thin cotton T-shirt. She wore a full, colorful peasant skirt and was barefoot. I could see shiny gold rings on a couple of her toes. Her skin was the color of cooled coffee and her long, dark hair was tousled and messy and hung in curls down her back, so tangled they almost resembled dreadlocks. I jabbed Logan in the ribs, painfully aware that I was acting like Dave’s wife Tamera. But I was gratified when I saw how effective it was. Logan closed his mouth with a snap. Eden turned and welcomed the newcomer to our assembled group by beckoning her warmly.
“Gypsy! Please come and meet everyone.”
The dark-haired beauty came forward with a confident smile on her face. To my astonishment, Logan reached forward and stuck out his hand before any of us had a chance to react.
“Hi,” he said to her. “I’m Logan.” I found myself instantly transported back to the very first day I met him, back to that day at school when he had walked up to me and Tabitha and Elizabeth at the registration desk and introduced himself. He had that same tone in his voice, a little shy, a little nervous, but more curious and eager than anything else.
I felt a tightening in my throat and realized that for the first time in my life, I was jealous. I also realized that Elizabeth and Eden were picking up on it too, and watching me with widening and curious eyes. Oh great, if they knew, did that mean the new girl did, too? I had more class than this. I stepped forward then and offered my own hand.
“Hello, I’m Serena. I’m so glad to meet you, too. Any friend of Eden’s is a friend of ours. Welcome to our home.”
Gypsy took both of our hands at the same time.
“Thank you so much. I am so happy to be here.” She had a wonderful accent, rich and warm and seductive. I wanted to dislike her but I found that I couldn’t. Her smile was so sincere and genuine, I instantly decided we would be friends. And I knew I recognized the lilt to her accent from somewhere. I looked questioningly at Eden, who smiled and nodded her head at my unspoken question. Of course, she’d read my mind.
“You have a very good ear, Serena, Gypsy is Eve’s daughter.”
Well, that made perfect sense. I looked at Gypsy again. Now that I knew her mother was Eve, our lovely, exotic coven sister from West Africa, I could see the resemblance in her smoldering, violet eyes and beautiful, high cheekbones. And naturally, the accent made for a dead-on match.
“So, Eve is here?” Elizabeth asked Eden.
‘Oh, yes. And Raven and Prudence and the twins, Aisling and Echo. Libby and Rochelle will be here later, and Cordelia and Finola will be arriving any minute now.”
“The gang’s all here.” Logan said. Apparently, he had found his voice.
“Everyone’s in the back. You should go and say hello. They’ve been waiting for you all afternoon.”
Eden’s words were all the nudge I needed. I dropped Gypsy’s hand and with a wink of encouragement from Eden, I ran to the back of our house. As soon as I rounded
the bend into our kitchen, I heard the sounds of laughter and cooking. Raven stood near the stove, wearing an apron with chili peppers on the front of it, stirring a large stock pot with an enormous wooden spoon. Eve was carefully pruning the herb garden in the bay window. Prudence sat at the counter feeding strips of dough into a pasta machine, making what looked like homemade fettuccine noodles, and Aisling and Echo were both manning side-by-side cutting boards, chopping up a daunting pile of fresh vegetables. They all glanced up as I came scorching into the room and dropped everything as a group hug ensued. Raven was the first to peel off and speak.
“Slow down, girl. Cool your jets. We’re not going anywhere anytime soon.” She laughed as she said it.
Aisling and Echo started dancing and twirling around the room. Elizabeth and the others reached the kitchen then and Aisling grabbed Logan’s hand and started whirling around the room with him. Prudence turned on the radio over the sink and soon Chubby Checker’s classic, “Let’s Twist Again” wailed through the kitchen. Raven and I clapped our hands together in delight as Logan broke into a mean twist and really starting getting down with Aisling. I grabbed Elizabeth and we started twisting hard too. Pretty soon, Raven and Prudence were dancing with each other and we were all corkscrewing around the kitchen floor.
“My sauce!” Eve broke away and rushed through our make-shift dance floor to check the bubbling stockpot. The song on the radio changed and we all collapsed in a sweaty heap at the small kitchen table, crowding the counter when the barstools were filled.
“Whew! That’s the most exercise I’ve had in a while!” declared Prudence.
“Me too. And the most I intend to.” chimed in Raven. “I forgot how much of a work-out dancing can be.”
“We need to get this meal on the table. Everything should be done pretty soon.” Aisling turned to speak to Echo. “Did you already put the bread in the oven, Echo?”
Echo answered in her predictably rhyming fashion. “I had it in my head, don’t forget the bread.” She sang out brightly.
“So, it must be Italian night, huh? It’s starting to smell really good in here.” Logan observed. “What can I do to help?”
Raven had a ready answer. “Hey, I’m never going to turn away free labor. Logan, everything to set the big table out in the dining room is already laid out. Knock yourself out with that.”
“You got it.” he said, and left to get it done.
Once the meal finished cooking, our dinner proved to be the same wonderfully noisy event it always had been when we all got together. Lily and Jade soon joined us, and it wasn’t long after that when we heard another car in the driveway, and our group soon completed itself with the arrival of Libby, Rochelle, Finola and Cordelia.
This time when we gathered together, we actually had to bring in chairs from the other room to fit everyone at the table. With the inclusion of Gypsy we now totaled seventeen in the coven, if you counted Logan, which we certainly did. Tabitha and Jade had been too young before to be included, but they had been literally dragged into the action without their consent; Jade by virtue of her kidnapping, and now Tabitha by her near-miss with the Larissa-thing. We all felt this qualified them in ways a ceremony never could.
I looked around the table at my friends, and even though it made me so happy to see my wonderful sisters-in-witchhood once again, I was unnerved by the reason why. I tried to push it from my mind for the time being. We would eat, drink, and be merry tonight, for tomorrow we would begin to lay out our strategy. Some kind of evil had returned to Lancaster, and even though we had not named it yet, I didn’t need to. I already knew. Christophe was back.
Chapter Fifteen
LOGAN
I had always loved those big, crazy dinners at Serena’s house. With everyone talking at once, and people passing food, and food passing itself, and lots of bread and wine and candles, it had always been just a great place to be. At the last minute, I asked Eden if I could call Skylar and Sully to come and join us. I’d been prepared to plead my case and I had my argument all ready, not for Skylar so much as for Sully, but she surprised me by agreeing right away.
“Absolutely, Logan. I should have thought of it earlier. Skylar is surely a member of this family and as I understand it, Sully is certain to be. Not the least of which, he is your lifelong best friend. Of course, he is welcome. And…” she added with a sidelong glance at Jade, “I understand he has been, ah, enlightened as to our situation?”
“Yeah. He knows.” Oh man, this would be Eden I was talking to. I didn’t need to elaborate. She knew, like, everything.
“Make the call.”
When I reached them, they were arguing over who got to eat the leftover tuna in the refrigerator. Getting them to come over for an Italian feast became an easy sell. I reminded Sully to keep his cool and that he might see things he and Jade may have only talked about before. He promised to try. By the time they arrived, we were just about to sit down for dinner. Introductions were made all around with Jade proudly showing off her new boyfriend.
With everyone seated I made sure I was close enough to Sully so that when things got too ‘witchy’, as they were bound to do, I’d be near enough to him to elbow him or kick him under the table.
Serena recognized my intent and leaned in to whisper to me. “You don’t have to protect everyone all the time, you know. He can handle himself.”
I realized she was probably right. He had hardly slipped up at all since he had learned about Jade and Serena and I. On the other hand, he had never been in a room full of us before. I decided I would hang back, but be near, just in case. Serena agreed the plan had merit. Good thing too, because the magic started right away. Turns out it’s hard to keep a bunch of witches from doing what just comes naturally.
Elizabeth started it off by introducing Gypsy to everyone at the table. It seems her talent was unique to all the others. She scraped back her chair and stood to demonstrate.
“I am a ‘Keeper of Light’. Basically, I can capture and control all kinds of light, from organic to manmade, which includes electricity, sunlight, and firelight, like these candles here.” Gypsy waved her open hands over the various candelabras and candles placed on the table and one by one, they lit, while the room’s fixed lights dimmed. She turned and waved her other hand toward the cold and silent fireplace in the back of the room and it sprang to life, becoming a healthy, rolling fire behind the grate. Then she pointed at a lamp on a back table and a thin line of electricity sparked a straight line from the light bulb to her fingertip. Drawing the energy in, she formed the ball of electricity into a round shape and squashed it with both hands. When she released her hands quickly, dozens of tiny sparks jumped into the air like fireflies and lit up the darkened room like twinkling skylights.
Everyone around the table applauded her skilled display and she blushed and sat down. I shot a quick glance at Sully to see how he was doing. He sat with his mouth open, not unlike I had been a couple of hours earlier. I kicked him under the table. He looked at me and started clapping vigorously. He’d come around, he just needed some prompting.
Eden spoke first. “Gypsy, that was marvelous. Your skills are not only relevant, but beautiful as well. I’m sure your mother is very proud.”
Of course, we all looked at Eve then, who was, indeed, beaming.
The dinner was delicious. Whoever had the idea to make it all Italian food would be getting a big kiss from me. We had lasagna and fettuccine and mostaccoli and ravioli and knowing these sisters at least half of the pasta was homemade. When I’d walked in to the kitchen earlier, it looked like a Sicilian restaurant after a busy Friday night or the aftermath of a mob bloodbath…also after a busy Friday night. Either way, they had outdone themselves.
“Okay, this has to be the most amazing dinner. You do not get this at any restaurant that I’m aware of.” I smacked my lips for effect.
“Absolutely!” Sully waved his fork with his right hand and reached for another piece of bread with his left. Serena and Ja
de laughed at his clear stamp of approval on the meal.
Skylar interjected, chuckling to himself. “No wonder you like eating over here so much.”
With the dinner over, most of us moved to the large den in the back of the house. We piled into the comfortable room, finding enough seats for all of us, as usual. The light mood of the dinner hour seemed to change as we all made our way into the room and found a seat.
After everyone had settled, Eden stood and began to address us all.
“While I know how wonderful it is for us all to be gathered again, there is a deeper, more important reason we are all here again. It appears there may be evil forces working in Lancaster once more.” She paused, as if exhausted by the very weight of her words. “For those of you who have not been in the know, there have been two separate instances that concern me in the past few days that signal a possible return of Christophe and his demons.”
She gave a brief retelling of the incident that involved Tabitha, and asked my mom, Lily, to give everyone her version of the events that just went down in the flower shop. As she did, expressions of resignation and disbelief passed over their faces as they realized we had to once again battle that slimy monster and his freaky band of ghouls.
The only thing I couldn’t figure out? How did he escape what I thought had been his death at the barn? Eden seemed to be reading my mind as she addressed that topic next.
“Prudence has been having some visions, of late. Although we do not know exactly how Christophe cheated his very deserving fate when last we saw his face, we do know several interesting things. One, he has resurfaced only very recently. What this means to us is that he wasted no time in launching a new plan of attack against Serena and her family.” All eyes in the room turned to Serena and me. I grabbed for her hand and gripped it tightly. “Two, we know that he is close. Prudence senses his evil presence the way the blind might smell spoiled meat in a pile of fresh. She knows it is there but cannot yet pick it out. And there is a third vision, and this vision has nothing to do with Christophe, but is noteworthy, nonetheless. Prudence sees both a wedding and a child in the future.”
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