Mary turns her head to face me. Her brows are low and she’s sucking on her lips. I don’t envy her, sitting between Dad and me. She has no buffer, no way of escape from his sudden awakening to stepping up to the parenting plate.
“I love you, girls.” Dad hits the “unlock” button. “Remember that.”
I unclick my buckle and open the door, insides quaking from a clash of anger, fear, and hope—a trifecta of emotions that leaves me speechless. We grab our bags from the truck bed.
After Dad reverses out of the driveway, Mary elbows me. “What do you make of that?”
I shake my head. “Absolutely no idea.”
“Could it be magick?”
“Magick doesn’t change people.”
Mary’s eyes darken. “I don’t know about that. It changed Eneaz. It changed William and Evan. It changed us.”
“Fair enough. The question is, who chanted and what did they say?” I turn and knock on Gamma’s screen door.
The dogs bark. I smile at the click, click click of their toenails scratching on the floor as they scramble to greet us. “Maybe Grandmother did.”
Gamma pops into view. She’s drying her hands on a dish towel. She must’ve been in the kitchen. “Hello, girls. Come in. I’m cooking up a surprise for you, so why don’t you hang out in the living room and watch TV? I’ll come get you when it’s ready.”
“I’m not sure I can handle any more surprises.”
Gamma grins. “Oh, you’ll like this one.”
* * *
Gamma leads Mary and me by our hands, blindfolds pressed against our eyelids. I twist my mouth to the side, fighting the urge to tear the fabric away.
“Can I open my eyes yet, Gamma?” My heart thumps away, pumping excited blood through my veins. Waiting hours for a surprise is not healthy. Neither is passing those hours by debating why Dad claimed he and Mom would change. It has my fingers itching for my inhaler even though I’m not wheezing or short of breath.
“We’re almost there.” She chuckles and eases us forward a few more steps. “All right, girls. Take off the kerchiefs.”
I whip the blindfold off. My jaw drops.
The woods behind Gamma’s house are completely transformed. Hundreds of colorful streamers sway in the warm evening breeze. Tied to dozens of tree branches above, they create a squiggly canopy of celebration and fun. Chinese lanterns dot the paper sky in random constellations of pastel light. White Christmas lights are strung along an archway leading to the magickal oasis.
“Come on.” Gamma hooks her arm.
We follow her inside. To our left, a harp sits on an oriental rug. To our right is a table full of presents—dozens of them. More tables decorated with white tablecloths, fancy place settings, and hydrangea centerpieces are tucked amongst the trees. The center table has a three-tiered cake centered on it. Silver Zodiac symbols are piped along the lower tier, gold swirls ring the middle one, and silver stars orbit the third level. On the top rests a silver Gemini symbol.
“Grandmother, it’s beautiful.” Mary clasps her hands and holds them to her chest.
My vision blurs from the shock bursting from me in tears. “It’s perfect.”
Mary’s grin falters. “How many people are coming?”
I do a quick count of chairs. “I’m not sure I know enough people to fill all these seats.”
“Turn around, dears.” Gamma eases Mary around.
She gasps.
I spin.
Our entire class huddles on the other side of the archway. Shequan stands at the front.
“Shequan.” I suck in a breath.
“Hey, Anne. Thanks for inviting me to your party. This is pretty cool.” He smiles and traipses inside, releasing the dam. He pauses in front of us while the other guests flood in, ooh and ahh over the cake, and settle down to pick seats.
The vacant stare he’d sported at the psych ward is gone. “I didn’t bring a gift. I figure I can give you guys a couple of riding lessons. What do you think?”
Mary giggles. “That’s a great gift.”
I’m tempted to ask what he remembers about Zeena, but I don’t. What’s the point of wrecking the moment? Besides, he’s back to normal. We all are. “It’s an awesome present. Thanks.”
“Cool.” He claps my shoulder with his palm and heads off to find a chair.
The harpist from the faire brings up the crowd’s rear. She greets us with a bow and smile, then joins her harp and starts plucking a soothing tune.
Mary hugs Gamma. “This is the best birthday party ever, Grandmother.”
Gamma chuckles. “I’m glad you like it.”
Evan pops through the archway. He scoops Mary into a hug. She giggles and wraps her arms around his neck. They couldn’t be more perfect together, really.
With a sigh, I turn from them and wander toward the arch, gaze trained on my sandals. Everyone’s here. Except…
I smack directly into someone. My head jerks up.
It’s William. He’s wearing a blue button-down shirt and black pants. His hair is combed back, except for the rogue strand that flops into his eye. “You should watch where you’re going.”
I can’t resist the cheek-spasm-inducing grin exploding across my face. “William!”
He smiles down at me. “Long time no see. You look nice.”
“Me?” I swish the skirt of my green sundress. “You look handsome.”
William tangles his fingers in my hair and his smile fades. His gaze falls to my mouth and his fingers linger at the nape of my neck. Definitely not a “friend” touch. I want to drag him to a shadowy corner. “You know you’re amazing, right?”
“Erm…” My brain sputters and stalls. Friends don’t call friends amazing. Not even best friends. Cool, sure. Funny, even. But not amazing.
William’s thumb tickles the sensitive part behind my ear and along the edge of my hair. I shiver. More of that this-is-more-than-friendship touching. I like it. A lot.
I glance at him through my eyelashes.
A calmness only he can create washes over me. His blue eyes tell me everything I need to know.
He leans down. I tip my head up. Our lips meld and the stars applaud.
THE END
Acknowledgements
I’d like to thank my fabulous editor, Jennifer Carson, and the team at Spencer Hill Press for taking a chance on Zodiac and helping me bring the Renaissance Faire and the stars to life.
About The Author
Laura Diamond is a board certified psychiatrist and author of all things young adult paranormal, dystopian, and horror. Her Young Adult Paranormal Romance novelette, New Pride, and novel, Shifting Pride, debuted in 2012 from Etopia Press. A spin off short story based on the lions of Tsavo, Tsavo Pride, is now available on Kindle. When she’s not writing, she is working at the hospital, blogging at Author Laura Diamond—Lucid Dreamer (lbdiamond. wordpress.com), and renovating her 225+ year old fixer-upper mansion. She is also a full-time staff member for her four cats and a Pembroke corgi named Katie.
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