“I saw Cecily put blood in her drink,” I said.
“Who’s drink?” Rose asked.
“Sophie’s, which means…”
“Yeah,” Rose said. “but… hmmm. I mean, I guess I could see it. They do look alike.”
When the three of them came out from the back, you didn’t need to be Rose to know that everyone was still on the precipice of family secrets, about to fall into the dark fog of the canyon below.
“Everything okay?” Gregory asked Travis.
“Squared away.”
Travis ordered the kids drinks, and the Coven matched them for a second round. At this point, Jaime and Travis were pretty much trying to get drunk, and Sophie’s tears had nearly dried. Tomas and Onyx included, the lot of us had to see what would happen next.
“Where are you living, Sophie?” Travis asked.
“The Hallowed Locus.”
“You can come live with me if you’d like.”
“I-I thank you, but I think the Hallowed Locus is the most constructive place for me right now.”
“Are you sure?” Jaime asked. His words were slurring, and I didn’t know if he was worse off this time, or when he had been lovesick in my living room. “It’s a top floor penthouse that overlooks all of London, and it’s so big that we might not even run into each other.”
“I’m sick,” she said, “and they’re helping me.”
“You’re not sick,” Rose told her. “Your highs and lows are just how your powers manifest, and with balance, you’ll be alright. It’s something you have, not something you are.”
“You sound exactly like my psychologist,” Sophie smiled, and we could guess that she was talking about Rose’s mom without even knowing it.
“Well, not making any assumptions, I should tell you that Doctor Avereis is my mom.”
“I see it now,” she smiled. “Your parents were a fairytale my mom read to me when I grew up. And you and I…”
“We are the only amalgams born to parents who were both part of the Nine, those who reformed the underground into what we know it as today.”
“You’re an amalgam? That means you have more than one set of powers.” Travis did some internal thinking then thought out loud again. “No, you’re a girl.”
“I’m a Lusion. The first female one there ever was.”
We were quiet again until Gregory broke the silence.
“Now Sophie I’d add as a world wonder,” he told Travis.
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
All For Nothing
Rose
Because of Travis’s bombshell, family dinner was bound to substantiate the gossip we had been hearing the last week. To his content, Travis Juliet was the talk of the underground, and to mine, everyone involved in my Imbolc incident had bigger things to fixate on now.
“I just hope that Sophie is okay,” Helaine told me, as we walked up to my doorstep—well, it was my parent’s doorstep now, though my room was still intact, as far as I knew.
Upon walking into the threshold that always smelled like coffee and fresh linens, we were put to work helping my mom make cocktails in the kitchen. She reminded me that it didn’t have to be family dinner for me to stop over and I reminded her I had been on house arrest. I was thankful to be back in a tradition and routine that I understood.
The doorbell rang even though most of the family walked in without an announcement, and I went to answer it. As I walked down the long hallway to throw open the front door, I was reminded that this was my extended family now, and he wasn’t going anywhere.
“Jameson Juliet,” I said. He was wearing red pants and a grayish shirt, and a jacket with quilted panels—something you’d see on a mannequin from Carnaby Street. He looked good enough to mold a mannequin out of, but he still wasn’t my type. In actuality, I didn’t have a type, I just knew what it wasn’t, and that’s how I stayed single so flawlessly. Regardless, I had to give him hell, especially for Helaine. “The only guy capable of making every girl in London blush.”
“Might I remind you, I was your victim Rose,” he said back with a smirk.
“Oh poor you,” I heard Helaine muse from the dining room around the corner as she set the table.
“Come in,” I said.
“This is the support group for siblings who have accidentally kissed, right?” He asked stepping through the threshold.
“Your sister’s here if that what you mean,” I shot back. “This is my parent’s house.”
“What you said about my jealousy… I’m working on learning to control it, as well as my need to show dominance. I’m taking the Coven’s advice.”
I nearly snorted at his pretending to be more cooperative, but I let it slide.
He kicked off his shoes at the door and followed me down the hall past the dining room, and Helaine nodded hello. I caught embarrassment from her once again and was instantly amused at her need to impress him, and the way she stood up straighter when he came into the room. When the hallway ended, we were standing in between the living room and kitchen.
Grayson and Sophie sat quietly in the living room with Travis. My brother’s hands were folded in his lap. Gray had a hard time talking to girls and always said something awkward. It was better if he stay quiet.
“Gray,” Jaime said, acknowledging him with a nod.
“Hey Jaime, how’s it going?”
“You two are best friends now?” I asked.
“Gray is over all of the time,” he explained.
“And I remind Jaime that if Gray’s caught sneaking into bars or out of Travis’s house on weekends, that he has to deal with me,” Dad said.
“But you said, ‘caught’ Audin,” Jaime reminded him.
“That I did,” he agreed with a smirk.
“I can’t believe how he’s everybody’s best friend,” Helaine whispered to me as she caught up to us. “What’s going on?”
It was true, even my dad was impressed by him somehow, and I was beginning to think that Jaime, who had been crossing our paths like a black cat, wasn’t that bad a guy. Was he still a jackass though?Yes.
Jen was next to arrive with the twins, and Kalista and Meghan. Yves, Imogen, and Jared were right behind them.
I hugged Uncle Yves, his beard brushing across my face as he kissed me on the cheek. I couldn’t have imagined him having sons instead of daughters, and once again, I feared I was the favorite out of me and Grayson.
I had missed Imogen’s vice grip of a hug, and after she squished me, she wandered past me to introduce herself to Sophie.
“Hi, Jared, you can stay if you want,” my mom said to him, as he filed in behind them into the kitchen to say hello.
“I’m going to run some errands. This is a very safe place for anyone,” Jared answered. “I’ll be back in a few hours.”
“Stop back in for tea if you can,” mom said. “You’re always welcome here.”
Jared nodded and left, and the whole thing transpired as if Helaine didn’t even notice he was in the room. My reasons for loving magic grew every day. Every night, however, was a different story.
Jen and Kalista looked over to Sophie who was still seated in the living room.
“My God, you look just like her,” Jen said with a smile. We all got quiet. I didn’t know how Jen would react, but it was as if she was seeing the reincarnation of an old friend in Sophie.
“Um, you are…”
“Jennifer,” Aunt Jen told her. “Yes, I’m the ex-wife of your father, and no, I have no hard feelings about anything my ex-husband did before we were married. I knew your mum, and you’re beautiful like she was. I hope you’re half as tough.”
“Thank you,” Sophie said, and the tears started.
I saw my mom glance at my dad, and Sophie’s tears were shifted aside by his powers. I could only imagine how hard our extended family was to navigate. Travis avoided saying anything, because his foot nearly always ended up in his mouth, leaving him chewing on canvas and shoe strings. It was Jaime who broke the si
lence.
“Well I’m starving,” he interrupted. “I’ll save a seat for you, Leia,” he said to Sophie who turned a crinkled brow into a half smile.
“That really happened?” Aunt Jen grimaced as the not-twins walked into the dining room.
“And you should have seen how strong Sophie is,” Helaine said.
“Bathory strength doesn’t surprise me anymore,” Aunt Jen commented.
“She’s not…” Helaine replied and then looked to me for help.
“It’s complicated,” I added.
“But of course,” Aunt Jen said flawlessly.
Our dining room ran alongside the staircase, so it was narrow and long like a bowling lane. It used to be two rooms, but my mom figured there was no need for a “fancy room” when we had a living room anyway. The table could hold twenty people, more if we squeezed a little closer together.
Gray complained as I shuffled into my seat next to him. We were night and day, especially with me having left my natural blonde behind for blue hair, and I was used to him closing himself off to me. Mom said it would be different someday, but I wasn’t so sure.
“So how’s school?” I asked obtrusively.
“It’s fine,” he said, as any sixteen-year-old would.
“Really?” My father asked him. When his tone was more stern than amused, I knew to pay attention. “Explain to your sister why you didn’t go to school today.”
“I got suspended and can’t go back for a week,” he said.
“What did you do?”
“I punched a guy in the face who called Bliss ugly. Our parents said to look out for her, I did. And once I go back, everyone will know never to mess with me. I should have done it years ago. It’s not my fault he didn’t breathe out when I hit him.”
“Violence is not the answer,” I warned him, even though I felt bad for Bliss and how mousy and awkward she was. “What did dad do to you for using your training in that way?”
“I have to clean the dojo every day after class for a month,” he said. “I might have gotten off easy.”
“I’m happy you stood up for her. I had to do the same thing,” Helaine told him.
“I thought that was just gossip!” Esper yelled. “You really attacked Bessie and her friends at the pub? That I’ve never been to?”
“They started a row with me at Seven’s on the solstice,” Helaine explained. “They’re fine, but Stan banned them for a year.”
“I would have had them arrested,” Esper commented.
“I would have had them killed,” Emmy said instead. I saw my dad glance over at Emmy with a suspicious glare, but she continued. “Either way, let’s hope they know not to mess with the two best witches the London Coven has ever seen.”
“You are too kind,” I told Emmy.
“I’ve been told I’m too honest.”
“That’s why I like you. You’re always nice to me.”
Emmy grinned at me and Esper rolled his eyes.
“Well for dessert I baked a… birthday cake for Brittany, but she’s not here,” Imogen said. “I don’t want it to go to waste and I don’t know when she’s coming home, so…”
“Where is she?” Helaine choked out. “I thought she was just coming later, going to be late like always.”
“At Sammy’s,” Yves answered his daughter. “That’s something you’ll have to ask Brittany about yourself.”
“She’s an adult and made her own decision,” Imogen repeated robotically. I could feel how much it tore her up, but I still hadn’t seen sadness as turquoise since Stan showed it to me. Regardless, I would momentarily rearrange her emotions.
Helaine nodded, and it seemed to me that she was having a mental conversation with one of her parents or both.
I could see why Helaine felt utterly betrayed. We threw Brittany a birthday party and she wasn’t even here. I hope that wherever she was, she was okay, but my instincts said she was fine.
“To new family members then. To Sophie and Jaime,” my mom said. I looked to Aunt Jen, and I idolized the woman. She had no hard feelings towards Jaime or Sophie, just love for her twins. This situation could make any adult into a child, but she chose the high road. “We would never turn down family, and both of you now have all of us. I hope you realize how needed you are, and we’re all happy to have you in our lives now.” My mom looked to Travis. “But seriously, no more of this, right?”
“Those are all of them,” Travis said.
“You better not be fucking kidding me,” Emmy said, serious as could be.
“Guess who’s cleaning the dojo with Grayson this week?” Aunt Jen asked her daughter.
“Emmy Juliet,” she said, unenthused, but she didn’t apologize.
“That’s it, I swear,” Travis assured Emmy. “Rose’s boyfriend said there’s only four of you.”
“My what?” I asked, and my face betrayed me by turning pink.
“You call your friends who are girls girlfriends, so why not the other way around?” Travis smiled crookedly. “I can’t recall his name.”
“Stan, and he’s not my boyfriend.”
I only have dreams that he is. Shit. Telepaths at the table.
I didn’t dare look at Yves or Imogen. I hoped that they weren’t paying attention.
“I should probably meet this Stan,” my dad said.
“Audin,” my mom lectured.
“I’m just taking an interest,” he assured me. “You’re an adult.”
I snorted into my glass of water. My dad didn’t really think so.
“If you want to get technical I live with two guys. Pass the pasta,” I commanded. That shut him up.
When I looked toward Helaine my heart sunk.
Even though my mom’s speech was beautiful, she was missing the point. One of us was turning down family: Brittany. I felt how devastated Helaine was, and even with our crazy, messed-up and unofficial family, no one else could fill the hole Brittany was now digging, and after tonight, it was officially a gaping pit of disappointment.
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
Prize Elixir
Helaine
March brought Rose’s birthday, and even though we weren’t allowed to celebrate birthdays in the Coven, it didn’t mean that Rose and I couldn’t make a date for a late dinner. We headed out to get tacos at a trendy place the vampires owned, branding it with symbols from Dia de Los Muertos. Its trendy, macabre atmosphere attracted loads of people in London, and it was a block from the block. You made your own tacos by ordering on the tabletop screen or your phone. Maddi promised us that they had the best hot chili powder margarita we’d ever taste.
We navigated through a standing crowd at the bar to a small table in the corner, and ordered our chili powder margaritas straight away, dawdling when it came to constructing our tacos. I sat across from the sister I chose. Rose was my partner in crime, my confidant, and I wouldn’t dare let her miss her birthday.
“Happy birthday. How did your day go?”
“When Stan saw the pink rose he knew something was going on, but I just took it up to my room and he didn’t say anything else.”
“I’m so happy that your dad didn’t skip tradition just because you’re an initiate,” I told her.
“Damn right,” she told me. “He’ll do what he wants.”
The bevs came out quicker than I thought they would. I took a sip from the pepper-lined mason jar and immediately started coughing on the spice. It was the hottest and most bitter thing I had ever tasted, and the saltiness made my face squinch up. I didn’t particularly like the sourness of lime before today, but it felt way more acidic than it should and burned my mouth as if I had just swallowed a box of razor blades.
“Are you okay?”
“No! It burns,” I said with a cough.
“Mine’s fine.”
I looked to the bar. This is what they always warned me about. Someone had clearly messed with my drink. Was I so hated that I couldn’t even buy my best friend a drink for her birthday?
“What else explains it?” I asked morbidly.
Rose grabbed my drink from me, and before I could stop her, she sipped from the rim.
“Helaine, it’s fine.”
“What?”
“It’s just you.”
“Then someone put a hex on me!” There was no other explanation.
“I’m ordering the spiciest salsa. I’m telling you that it’s you.”
Again, my mouth was on fire, and the salsa was so hot it made me sick to my stomach. This time, I thought I might vomit.
“It’s your powers,” Rose told me.
“My… oh ma déesse, my sense of taste has linked with my element. Why now? What’s going to happen?”
“I certainly don’t see things the same after my powers integrated with fire, everyone is in living color—well if they’re sad, angry, or excited anyway.”
When our food came, I knew that at least one of the tacos I created would be too spicy. I took frequent sips of water in between bites, and Rose pushed her glass over to me. The lettuce would dull the mishmash of tastes momentarily, and I despised the gamey way my chicken tasted.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but it doesn’t look like you’ve been getting that much sleep lately.”
“I’m trying to perfect my element,” Rose said, with something that could have been the hint of a lie. I’d let it slide. “It’s harder than it sounds.”
“Fire sounds difficult as it is,” I responded. “Thank you.”
“For what?” she asked.
“For being there for me. For choosing to be my family, when blood isn’t important to my own family. I am so thankful for you, and I just want you to know.”
“I love you too,” Rose said back. “There’s no way I could get through life with just Grayson. I’m hoping he warms up to me one day, but for now, it’s uncool to talk to his big sister.”
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