by D. F. Jones
Everyone jumped back, wide-eyed, covering their mouths. Hannah glanced toward Jeff’s bed and his body was no longer there. Well, she guessed that part worked, but what now?
“Hannah.” She startled at her ancestor’s soft voice.
“Yes?” She turned, having no idea what to say or do.
“I warned you about consequences, yet you paid me no mind.” The ancestor shook her head and glided toward her, taking Hannah’s hands in her own. “Listen, my child. In the end, you did bring Jeff back, but he’ll never be the same. Because you used Moon Magic and didn’t allow the spell to complete, he will now be cursed to the light of the full moon.”
“What do you mean, cursed?” she asked, turning to Jeff and back to her.
“What I mean, my dear, is that on the night of every full moon, he will turn into a beast, a werewolf, and this is a curse I cannot break.”
Hannah took a step back in shock. “I did this to him?”
“Shh, it’s not that bad. We’ll make it work,” Jeff said, when the entire room lit up in gasps. “It’s only once a month. At least I’m alive, and we can be together.”
Hannah fell into his arms, attempting to hold back tears. This wasn’t what she’d wanted, but he was right. At least he was alive. It would be an adjustment, that was for sure.
“My name is Serena, and if you ever find that you’re losing your way, just call upon me,” the ancestor offered with a kind smile and added, “We have a sacred Hallow where you can bring him on the nights when the curse is in full effect. He will be safe there as he is still one of ours.”
“So, I won’t lose my magic?” Jeff asked.
“No, my son. You were born a witch, and as long as you do not delve into dark magic, your powers will remain.” She pulled him into a tight embrace and peered deep into his eyes. “Try not to think of this as a curse, but as a second chance of sorts. Although it was not planned, it is what the fates and God have decided.”
“Thank you, Serena,” Jeff said. “Now, what do we tell our mothers?”
Then everyone began laughing, as that was the least of their worries—well, not really. Hannah was certain that as long as Joanie had her son back, she wouldn’t care if he was a werewolf one night a month—she hoped.
Serena giggled. It was so strange seeing and hearing an ancestor giggle. When Hannah thought of them, she always pictured old, wrinkled witches who’d lived a long life. But not her, Serena appeared more like a Greek goddess. Strange. This whole night had been strange.
Serena floated, rather than walked, toward Abby, touching her face. “Ah, the chosen one. You are your father’s daughter. Paul’s so very proud of you, my dear. Remember, God’s light is always within your soul—embrace it.” She smiled and turned to Danielle.
“My sweet, Danielle. You have been given a gift like no other. A second chance at life. Do not hold on to regrets or bitterness. Forgive those who have wronged you—then and only then, will you be truly happy.” Serena embraced Danielle in a motherly hug, and surprisingly, she hugged her back with tears in her eyes.
“Danny.” Serena clutched his hand. “I know you’ve been through a lot these past few years, but you’ve gained so much more. Hang on to the love that surrounds you. It fuels your soul.” She kissed his cheek.
“I must go now, children. Remember, if you need me, you only need to call upon me. I’m always watching over you.” She smiled lovingly and disappeared in a yellow orb, followed by gray mist.
“Holy shit!” Danielle exclaimed. “I so did not expect that. Welcome back to the living, Jeff.” She fell back into the chair near the bed, shock written all over her face.
Danny walked over to Jeff and man-hugged him. “Welcome back, man. You scared us.”
“I know, but I’m here now and, I guess it’s as good a time as any to tell you that Hannah and I are getting married in our new house in a few days.” Jeff grinned and wrapped his arm around Hannah’s shoulder.
“Dude, you just came back to life.” Danny reacted. “Don’t you think your mom will have a conniption?”
“Who cares? She’ll be glad I’m not laying in that bed on life support. So, how about it, guys? Are you up for a wedding?”
“A more important question is—how in the hell are we gonna get you outta this hospital?” Abby asked. “Then we can talk about all the exciting wedding plans.”
“Magic,” Danielle deadpanned from her perch on the chair without glancing up.
Obviously, she was still in shock from the spell, but she was right. Another spell would have to be cast—an illusion spell to get Jeff out of the hospital.
“Right, but we’re forgetting someone,” Hannah chimed in. “We can’t just leave without calling Joanie. What if she comes back and Jeff’s gone?”
“You do it, Hannah,” Abby told her. “I helped with the spell, but I’m not getting in that mess. I’ll be lucky if she and Evelyn don’t call my mom and throw a fit. But, on the upside, we can tell them our ancestor approved, sort of.”
“Shit. You’re right. It’s not like Jeff can call her up.” Hannah observed everyone in the room. “No one goes anywhere until I’m done.”
She strolled to the bathroom for some semblance of privacy to make that dreaded call. After dialing the number, she waited. On the third ring, Joanie answered.
“Hannah? Is Jeff all right?”
“More than all right. He’s awake.”
“What?” Joanie screamed in Hannah’s ear and she had to hold the phone away.
“Yeah, he’s up moving around and ready to come home.”
“Hannah, what did you do?”
She took a deep breath and sighed. “Well, I had a dream—a premonition—a few nights ago and one of our ancestors came to me talking about Moon Magic—”
“Moon Magic?” Joanie cut her off. “That’s dangerous, Hannah.”
“Yes, well, I had a friend look into it, and we performed a spell. Our ancestor, Serena, came to us once it was complete. Well, almost. I sort of broke the circle when I saw Jeff.”
“You did what? The consequences, Hannah.”
“I know, but Serena said she’d help. His body is fully restored and no longer dead. But…he’s cursed by the full moon once a month.”
“As a werewolf.” Joanie’s voice held zero emotion.
Tears slipped down Hannah’s face. “Yes. I’m sorry.”
“I can hear you crying. Stop, right this instant. You brought my baby back. So what if he’ll be hairy once a month? I’ll be over in twenty minutes, and then we can sneak him out of the hospital.”
“Hey, before you go, will you call my mom? I know I’m grown, but I ran out on her earlier, and I feel terrible. I just don’t know what to say.”
“Of course, my sweet girl. Thank you. Love you, Hannah,” she said, ending the call.
Hannah opened the door to the bathroom to find all four goofballs standing there listening in. They jumped back like kids acting as if they weren’t just caught eavesdropping. “Well, I guess you heard everything?”
“No, not really.” Danielle shrugged. “I’m too short. I couldn’t find a good spot.”
Hannah cracked up laughing. “It went well, and Joanie will be here soon to help us get Jeff outta here with no one the wiser.”
“Thank God.” Jeff ran a hand through his hair. “What about Evelyn? Are you gonna call her?”
“Not until we get you home—our home. We have enough clothes there for now, and we can get the rest later. I just want us to get back to normal.”
Jeff pulled her close. “I couldn’t agree more.”
Joanie arrived in less than fifteen minutes, crashing through the door at breakneck speed. All Hannah saw was dark-brown hair rushing toward Jeff, nearly knocking him to the floor. “Oh, my baby. You’re all right.”
“Yeah, Mom. I am, but you’re squeezing the life outta me.” He smiled down at her.
“Sorry, it’s not every day your son comes back to life,” she said and glanced around. �
��Okay, let’s get him out of here.
“There’s only one night nurse at the station and distracting her should be easy. I’ll manipulate Jeff’s medical file to make it look like his injuries weren’t that severe, a miraculous recovery of sorts, and that he was signed out earlier today. They might scratch their heads, but who cares?”
“Sounds great,” Hannah said. “What should I do? Sneak him out to the elevators while you have her distracted?”
“Yes. You, Abby, Danny, Jeff, and Danielle stand in a group and walk casually toward the elevator.” She turned to Jeff. “Do you have all of your things?”
“Mom, I was in a car crash. What things?”
“Oh, right. Never mind.”
“We can all pile into my SUV,” Abby suggested, “and meet back at Hannah and Jeff’s house, Miss Landry. Does that work for you?”
“Sounds good. I’ll take care of the illusion spells from here. Thanks so much to all of you for bringing my boy back.” Joanie swiped the tears from her face. “Okay, I’m heading out. Give me two minutes, then move.”
Everyone waited the two minutes and walked out into the hallway where they saw Joanie talking up the nurse. She didn’t even look their way. They did as they were told, taking the elevator down to the lobby and nearly running out of the front door to the parking lot. Who knew it would be so easy?
When they arrived at Jeff and Hannah’s home, the lights were on. Hannah turned to him and shrugged. She had no idea who was there, but they had magic on their side. Five witches against whoever decided to enter the house—equaled outnumbered. They cautiously walked up the front-porch steps, peering into the windows of the parlor. It was Hannah’s mamma. Shit. She almost had a heart attack. She’d given her a key the day after they’d closed on the house.
Evelyn opened the door, startling everyone. Again. “What? Do I look that bad?” She fluffed her red hair, laughing. “I brought dinner if anyone’s hungry.”
Hannah rushed over and hugged her. “I’m so sorry about this morning, Mamma. I shouldn’t have yelled at you.”
“Now, now. I understand.” Evelyn looked into her eyes and smoothed her hair. “You’re about to be a wife and maybe a mother soon.” She smiled and kissed Hannah’s cheek.
“I love you, Mamma.”
Hannah knew Joanie must have talked to her and explained everything in a way she couldn’t. That woman was like a second Mamma to her. She’d always known how to diffuse any situation. Hannah was so grateful.
They walked in, and the smell of roast beef, green beans, mashed potatoes, freshly baked bread, and heavens knew what else permeated the air. Everyone practically ran toward the kitchen. Mamma had even brought Hannah and Jeff a white kitchen table to match the cabinets. She thought she might cry, but food.
While they were stuffing their faces, Hannah wondered how her mother had stealthily brought that table over. It had to have been before Joanie called. She must have had it planned for the wedding. The wedding! Three days! She almost spat out her food at the thought.
“Mamma, how’s the wedding plans coming along? I know we’ve had a rough day but—where are we? Will we still be able to have it on time?” Hannah rambled off questions as they came to mind. Suddenly, she began to lose her appetite, but Jeff placed his hand on her thigh and grinned.
Evelyn and Joanie broke out into a fit of laughter. “Do you think we’re a bunch of amateurs?” Joanie teased. “We’ve got this. Your dress has already been picked up from the dry cleaner, and all the decorations are in my parlor and living room. You can barely walk in my house.”
“Oh, you should see the archway.” Evelyn’s excitement was almost palpable. “It’s trimmed in the most beautiful flowers, and you’re going to look like a princess.”
Okay, it seemed they had it all planned out and Hannah had nothing to worry about. “Hey, you guys.” She turned toward Danny, Abby, and Danielle. “Will you be here? It’s at two p.m.”
“We wouldn’t miss it,” Abby answered. “You know Liz and Mom are coming, too. If you don’t invite them, Liz will kick your ass.”
“Of course your sister and Jaqueline are invited. That’s a given. Just tell Liz to leave the Sword of Light at home, please.”
Abby snickered. “I’ll try, but you never know when rogue vamps wanna come out and play.”
Hannah hung her head. There was no use trying to talk Liz out of bringing that sword. She never left home without it, and for good reason. It was the only weapon that could send a rogue vampire’s soul to God for redemption. Not to mention, it was badass when fighting anything else supernatural. It had saved her life more than once.
After everyone was done eating, Evelyn said she would wash up and clear the table. Everyone decided to head home, leaving Jeff and Hannah alone with Mamma and Joanie. She’d arrived just after they’d sat down to eat, laughing about the silly tricks she’d pulled on the nurse and how easy it had been to manipulate the hospital records. Hannah was thinking it was definitely a gray area of magic, but hey, who was she to judge?
Jeff and Hannah slugged up the steps to their room, then decided to take a shower and rest. They had no idea if their mothers were spending the night, and they honestly didn’t care.
Chapter 6
It was finally Hannah’s wedding day, and Mamma wanted to do everything the old-fashioned way without magic, which meant Hannah’s hair and makeup were done professionally, along with a manicure and pedicure. After everything was plucked and waxed, she felt like a pincushion.
She sat in front of her old dressing table for the final time as a single woman. Her mother had insisted she stay with her because the groom wasn’t supposed to see the bride until she walked down the aisle. Joanie rushed in carrying Hannah’s dress, gushing over how beautiful she looked. Her fiery red curls were pinned in an up-do, with a few ringlets hanging around her face. She wore her mamma’s pearls that Daddy had given her on their wedding day for something old, Joanie’s diamond-encrusted pearl earrings for something borrowed, and a lace garter Abby had given her for something blue.
Hannah stood as her mamma slipped her silk cream-colored wedding dress over her head. It was strapless with a fitted waistline. She wasn’t much for flashy—it was perfect. She wore a delicate white-gold tiara that held her veil. She truly did feel like a princess. When Abby and Danielle walked in, their mouths dropped. Both were wearing deep-green strapless dresses fit for fall, with black sashes around their waists. She’d asked if they’d be her bridesmaids just after they’d rescued Jeff from the hospital.
“Holy shit!” Danielle said. “Oh, sorry, Evelyn. Hannah, you look gorgeous. I could seriously cry.” Her blue eyes were starting to water.
“Danielle Knight, cry? No way.” Hannah chuckled, then walked over and hugged her.
“Thanks for coming, you guys. I really appreciate it.”
“We wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Abby said. “You about ready? Jeff’s waiting and he’s all smiles.”
“Let’s do this,” she said with a huge grin and glanced to her mamma and Joanie. They were hugging each other. It made her heart swell.
“Girls, the limo’s waiting just outside,” Evelyn said. “We’ll meet you there.”
Hannah hugged her mamma and Joanie one last time before she left, then headed out the door to the waiting limo. Holy shit, it had everything. Evelyn and Joanie spared no expense: champagne, the whole nine yards.
They arrived at Jeff and Hannah’s house several minutes later, and she barely recognized it. The front porch was lit up with white lights, and there were tasteful wedding decorations everywhere. White gauze-like material was wrapped around the columns,
and tables were set with crystal champagne glasses and dishes to match on each side.
Abby walked in first to make sure everything was set to go, then Hannah heard her mother and Joanie pull up behind them. Mamma called out for Hannah to wait because she wanted to walk her inside. With Hannah’s father dead, she was going to be the one to give her away
.
Mamma and Joanie met Hannah on the porch and asked what she thought so far. “It’s breathtaking.” That was all she could seem to mutter as she looked around in awe. There were no reservations, just peace.
Evelyn clutched Hannah’s arm in hers and walked through the door of her home. It was just as breathtaking as the front. It had been transformed into an old-style wedding house from the ceiling on down. “Close your mouth, dear,” Mamma said with a light smile. “It’s not proper for the bride to stare.”
She promptly closed her mouth, then walked through the kitchen and out the back door to see the backyard. White chairs were perfectly lined on either side of a red carpet, with a beautiful white wooden archway, covered in flowers. Then Hannah saw him—her forever—dressed in a sharp black tux and crisp white shirt, with his dimples on full display. If she could’ve melted into a puddle right there, she would have.
“I’m ready, Mamma. Get Abby and Danielle.”
Danny was standing next to Jeff. Hannah had Danielle walk down first, then Abby, as her Maid of Honor. After all, if it weren’t for her, she and Jeff wouldn’t be together. The expression on Danny’s face when he saw Abby walk down the aisle was priceless—it was the very same look Jeff had always given Hannah. She wondered if wedding bells would soon be in their future.
Mamma nudged her, breaking her from her thoughts when the “Wedding March” began to play. All Hannah could see was Jeff watching her as she walked slowly down the aisle. She couldn’t help the cheesy smile she was sporting. Once she made it in front of the priest, she handed her bouquet to Abby and slid her hands into Jeff’s much larger ones.
“You look beautiful,” he whispered as he met her gaze.
Hannah could only grin, because she heard, “Dearly beloved. We are gathered here today…”