The Uptown Witch

by Chandelle LaVaun

  Just then my phone vibrated in my hand, and when I glanced down I saw Emersyn’s pretty face filling my screen. I smiled and answered, “I was just about to call you.”

  There was a beat of silence, and then, “What, why? Is something wrong? What’s wrong—"

  “Nothing, love,” I kept my voice calm and steady. “I was calling to let you know everything is ready and I think it’s time for you to come over here.”

  “You’re saying that just so I’ll get over there to see what’s wrong—"

  “Emersyn, nothing is wrong.” I gestured around like she could see me. “I want you here to calm your worries. Just trust me, okay?”

  “Okay,” she whispered.

  “Good. Now, ask your sister to portal you over here right now. In the ballroom. Just you.”

  “All right,” she whispered reluctantly. Then I heard the click-clack of heels on hardwood floors and she yelled, “Tegan?”

  “Hey! Almost ready!” Tegan shouted from somewhere in the distance.

  “Can you just portal me to Deacon? He’s in the ballroom.”

  There was a flash of white light in front of me …and then Emersyn appeared out of thin air. My eyes widened and my breath left me in a rush. Heat filled my chest, the way it always did when she was near. My heart pounded in my chest. The heavy thumping sounded like a jackhammer in the quiet ballroom.

  She stood there five feet in front of me looking like an angel. The golden lights all around us made her pale blonde hair glow like she had a halo. Her silver dress sparkled and twinkled, and her eyes looked like liquid gold.

  A million compliments ran through my mind — all words she more than deserved, but I couldn’t even manage to pull my cellphone away from my face. I just stared at this stunning beauty and wondered how the hell I got her.

  Her cheeks flushed. She looked down and tried to hide the smile spreading across her face by tucking her long blonde waves behind her ears. Then she ran her hands over the silver sequins of her dress. “What do you think?”

  “You’re perfect.”

  She grinned so hard it dimpled her cheeks. “Oh, Deacon,” she whispered and shook her head.

  “Shakespeare would’ve written sonnets for your beauty, rivaled only by Michelangelo’s paintings of your face.” I closed the distance between us, stopping right in front of her. I ducked down and met her eyes, then whispered, “that better?”

  She snorted and her cheeks were bright red. “You’re just biased.”

  “Nah, I’m lucky.”

  “Stop, you’re gonna make me cry, and I have to have my game face on tonight.” Her golden eyes glistened. She reached up and tugged on the lapels of my tux. “White velvet…only you could pull this off and look so dangerously handsome.”

  “Dangerously handsome. You know, I’ll take that.” I chuckled. “I love those boots on you.”

  She looked down at her feet, at the crystal covered cowgirl boots I’d given her last month, and grinned. “I love you.”

  I threw my head back and groaned. “Now who’s trying to make who cry?”

  She giggled. “Right. Truce on the mushy gushy for a while?”

  “Hmmm…”

  I tipped her chin up then pressed my lips to hers. She sighed and leaned into me. All of the emotions I’d been holding inside for her came rushing to the surface. I took her face in my hands and tilted her head back to deepen our kiss. For a few moments, I let myself get lost in her. When I pulled back, she gasped for air.

  “Okay, now a truce.”

  She laughed and leaned into my chest. “Stop melting my brain. I need it right now.”

  “You really don’t, actually.” I ran my fingers through her long blonde hair. “Everything is exactly how it needs to be. We are ready to party.”

  She peeked up at me without moving off my chest. “That’s what I’m worried about.”

  “I know. I get it —we’re used to things going wrong but that doesn’t mean things going right is a bad omen.” I rubbed her arms and electricity shot through my body. “And IF something goes down, we will handle it. Together. Plus, our entire Coven is going to be here within minutes. Just breathe and shake it off.”

  “You’re right. I know you — ouch,” she hissed and jumped back from me, shaking her hand out.

  I frowned and reached for her – and my eyes widened.

  She froze. Her face paled. “What? What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing…” I grinned and pulled her hand up between our faces. “Look.”

  She frowned then looked down at her hand – and gasped. I chuckled and lifted my right hand up, then took hers in mine.

  “Deacon…”

  “I know.”

  I was smiling so wide my face burned, but I didn’t care. This was the moment I’d been waiting for…our soulmate glyphs were finished. Complete. The black lines now stretched down to cover our right hands and coil around our fingers.

  She sighed and shook her head. Tears pooled in her eyes. “Finally.”

  A strangled kind of noise I’d never made in my entire life came out of me. I pulled her back into my chest and wrapped my arms tight around her. In my mind over the last few months, I’d gone through what I thought she’d say when our glyphs were completed…of what her reaction would be…but never had I ever expected her to say finally.

  Like she’d been waiting for it as much as I had.

  Incoming in five…four…three… Tegan said in my mind.

  I chuckled and dropped my arms.

  Em beamed up at me. “We have to do our ceremony.”

  I nodded and tangled my fingers with hers. “And I can’t wait. But not tonight, not here. Not with everyone around.”

  “But soon.”

  “Very soon.”

  There was a familiar flash of white light, and then, “Ready or not, here we come!” Tegan shouted.

  I glanced over at her – then did a double take. My jaw dropped. Tegan strolled toward us wearing a…dress. Of sorts. It was black lace, mostly, but the rest was sheer. The dress was long and dragged the ground. It was probably the sexiest mermaid gown I’d ever seen – but that plunging neckline was…scandalous. And she was grinning. It sent chills down my spine.

  Emersyn mumbled something, but I didn’t hear it.

  I looked beside her to Tenn and my thoughts must have been written on my face because he sighed and shook his head.

  “Tenn…I’m…I’m sorry?”

  Tenn grinned and looked down at Tegan’s body in her sheer dress. “I’m not.”

  I scoffed. Emersyn snorted.

  Tegan wagged her eyebrows. “I can’t wait for Cooper to get here.”

  “You’re terrible,” I said with a laugh.

  Emersyn sighed. “Shouldn’t you be more concerned with what mom and dad will think?”

  Tegan shrugged. “Mom respects my decisions, especially all of them that are vindictive, spiteful, or aimed to make a male uncomfortable.”

  I threw my head back and laughed. “Thank Goddess she didn’t raise you.”

  “And Dad…well…well, he probably won’t look at me all night. And I already know the exact face he’s gonna make when he sees me.” She brushed imaginary lint off her dress. “If I were single, or just dating Tenn, then this would be a different story—”

  “One where you’d be wearing even less clothing?” I grinned.

  “You are dating Tenn…” Em frowned.

  “Yes to less, and I’m not just dating him.” She tapped on the pink crystal heart of her soulmate glyph on the center of her chest. “Dad understands what this means. He knows what we mean to each other. This isn’t dating. Therefore, the rules of dating do not apply.”

  “Rules never apply to you, babe,” Tenn said and rolled his mismatched eyes.

  “Also, I think dad is secretly enjoying watching Cooper squirm.”

  I shook my head and turned to Tenn.

  He shrugged. “I also called Hunter the second I recovered from seeing this dress and war
ned him of his daughter’s evil plans. It’s important that he knows this isn’t for me.”

  “Well at least not for now.”

  Tenn closed his eyes and hung his head. “This is why I had to call him.”

  “By the way, thanks for wearing the dress shoes tonight.” I arched one eyebrow at him and pointed to his busted combat boots.

  “Hey, I’m in the tuxedo. The one Royce requested.” He shrugged. “But I have limits.”

  “Of course.” I sighed and looked at the tux in question. It really was nice. It looked expensive. He looked dangerous. “Well…you look ravishing as ever.”

  He winked at me.

  I laughed and shoved my hands into my pockets and leaned back on my heels. “So, boss man, what do you think of our work?”

  Tenn looked up and glanced around, the lights reflected in his eyes. “This is really quite beautiful. It’s perfect, I’m very impressed. As I told you earlier, you should both be proud of the work you’ve done here in such short time.”

  Butterflies danced around in my stomach. “Thanks, man.”

  “No, thank you. This is my first big thing as Coven Leader and you’ve both made me look fantastic.” He grinned. “Just don’t be upset if I hide in the corner and talk to no one all night.”

  Tegan rolled her eyes and patted his cheek. “You’re adorable. But on that note, we should start bringing people in, eh?”

  We all nodded.

  She snapped her fingers and a white portal box opened. I blinked, and then Constance and Daniel walked through looking dashing as ever. Their jaws dropped and their eyes widened.

  Constance spun in a circle, her smile spreading. “WOW. This is spectacular.”

  Emersyn beamed. “Thank you!”

  “I think they need to be in charge of the Yule Ball every year,” Daniel said with a chuckle. As always, I envied his swag in a three-piece suit.

  “Okay, Constance, and babe….” Tegan pointed to the back of the ballroom, where a small stage was. “Why don’t the two of you get to wherever you want to be for when everyone arrives?”

  Constance nodded, then kissed Daniel’s cheek. Then she hooked her arm around Tenn’s and started to drag him off.

  Tenn turned and walked backwards. “Hey, babe, where’s my sister? I thought they were gonna be here already?”

  Sister. Right. Bettina. Aka Hashtag Bettina is Hope.

  I still hadn’t quite gotten used to that.

  “They are.” Tegan smiled sweetly. “I portaled them in while we were getting ready. But Millie – Jackson’s grandmother – wanted them to do some old Lancaster family winter solstice ritual thing via facetime – long story. So they were doing that before coming here. But they’ll be here any minute. Stedman is driving them.”

  Tenn sighed, and I felt his relief. It was adorable how close those two became the second their memory came back.

  “Now what?” Emersyn asked with a frown.

  Tegan snapped her fingers and the four of us were in the hallway right outside the ballroom. There waiting for us were the Majors, Minors, Aces, and Lead Page of New York, along with Headmaster Muller.

  “Hey! There they are!” My father shouted in a jolly voice.

  They all turned toward us with smiles and waved.

  Tegan stepped forward. “We ready to get started?”

  My mother looked down at her watch and nodded. “First batch?”

  Tegan was already opening a portal. “The DJ and photographer, coming right up.”

  Four men in black suits walked through carrying a ton of equipment.

  Headmaster Muller jumped out and waved for them. “Gentlemen, come with me, please?”

  Tegan snapped her fingers and they all disappeared through another portal. She shrugged. “Short cut.”

  Once they were inside the ballroom, the rest of us exchanged nervous glances. I felt Emersyn’s anxiety rushing through her like a river rapid. The Aces were shifting their weight around. My father and Garrett Sullivan, the Minors, were both cracking their knuckles and glancing around. Claudia Davenport, Lead Page, was rolling her wand between her fingers.

  Marshall, the other Major, frowned and glanced around. “Why the scared faces? This is going to be a great party.”

  My mother sighed and nodded. “He’s right. Let’s get it started. We’re ready.”

  “All right. All right. All right.” Tegan grinned. “Em, the doors, please?”

  Em took a deep breath then hurried over to the ballroom doors and pulled them wide open. Inside, the DJ was all set up and ready – we’d intentionally had him in there earlier this afternoon. I gave him a thumbs-up and he started playing music. Headmaster Muller pointed to the photographers, who were already snapping pictures.

  “Buckle your seatbelts, kids…here we go…” Tegan stepped in front of us and threw her arms out wide. She glanced over her shoulder at us. “Stampede in three…two…one…”

  Half a dozen white portal boxes opened in front of us…and people poured in like water busting through a broken dam. I grabbed Em’s arm and yanked her to the side…and then we watched.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Emersyn

  It took about thirty minutes for the stampede to end…and then it was just a slow moving stream of bodies. Tegan had a plan with her portals, but I wasn’t going to let myself worry about that. My sister was in control.

  To my surprise, the party was already in full swing. No one hesitated or lingered for a second. In fact, the dance floor was already overflowing with people shaking it. We had tables all around the room, on the balcony above us that overlooked the dance floor, and in a few dozen places outside on the terrace – with heating, of course.

  The appetizers were out and being eaten. I wasn’t quite sure how the food was getting out here because there weren’t any servers. When I asked, everyone just winked and said magic. And I decided to stop questioning that. As long as it was working, I was happy.

  Tegan and Daniel had gone to stand beside their Coven Leader soulmates…wherever they were hiding. I actually had lost sight of them, but I felt their presence in the room so I wasn’t worried. I pitied the fool who tried to hurt Tennegan. I smiled. Bettina’s nickname for them was adorable.

  “What are you giggling about?”

  I looked up to Deacon and grinned. “Tennegan, their couple name that is.”

  “Ah.” Deacon chuckled. “It’s fitting. Didn’t Bettina also name her and Jackson?”

  “Yep. Bettson.” I frowned. “Hey, we don’t have a couple name yet.”

  He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me against him. “Our choices are Emercon or Deasyn?”

  I thought about it for a second. “I like Emercon.”

  “Me too.” He chuckled. “It sounds like an army or something. Beware the Emercon!”

  I threw my head back and laughed.

  “Deacon! Emersyn!”

  We spun and found Amelia skipping up to us in her sparkly princess dress with Landy right on her heels. They both wore glittery ballet flats, and I knew they’d spend the entire night on the dance floor.

  “Well, well, look at you two. You look beautiful!” Deacon gave them both high-fives.

  Amelia’s smile spread from ear to ear. “Right back at ya.” She winked.

  “Landy, what do you think?” I gestured around us.

  She nodded with big, wide eyes. “It’s pretty…and…there’s a lot of people here.”

  I started to ask her about events in Issale when all of the people within a five foot radius of us stopped and stared. They hissed and pointed. I frowned.

  Just as I was turning, I heard one of them whisper, “The Bishops.”

  And then I spotted them. My family. The Bishops. Mom, Dad, Cooper, and Bentley. They all looked incredible in their matching emerald green tuxedos. I grinned. My mother chose to wear a tux instead of a gown, and it was the most Tegan thing I’d ever seen her do.

  “Are they matching?” Amelia asked.

&nbs
p; I chuckled. “Yep. And it’s amazing.”

  Deacon waved his hand in front of him and red mist poured out. The second it touched the crowd of people gawking at my family, they immediately turned and walked away. Deacon sighed. I popped up on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek. He was always looking out for us.

  Not that I could blame the people he’d just scared off. They were civilians, maybe even shifters. Most of our species had never met someone in The Coven and then there were four Cards walking together – toward two other Cards. I probably would have reacted the same way had I been in their shoes.

  My mom hurried over — in her platform heels — and threw her arms around me and Deacon. She hugged us tight then stepped back with a wide grin. Her pale green eyes sparkled. “This place looks incredible. Excellent job. And you both look so dashing.”

  “Thanks, mom.” My cheeks warmed. “I love that you’re in a tuxedo. Tegan is gonna die. But also, I’m kinda upset we didn’t get the invite to match.”

  Cooper scoffed. “It wasn’t intentional.”

  “Say what now?” Deacon laughed.

  Dad shrugged. “You should’ve seen our faces when we all came out of our rooms tonight.”

  “Yeah, that’s my bad.” Bentley shook his head and his shaggy brown hair fell into his golden eyes. “I definitely misread that vision.”

  I snorted then pulled him in for a hug. Then I jumped back and gasped. “OH, Bentley! I want you to meet Deacon’s cousin, Amelia.” I turned and pointed to her standing behind me.

  Amelia smiled and waved. “Hi! I’ve heard so much about you!”

  Bentley chuckled. “I’ve heard so much about you, but not quite in the same way, I’m sure.”

  Amelia’s eyes widened. But she didn’t look afraid. “Oh my Goddess. Tell me everything.”

  I shook my head. “And this is Landy—”

  “Yeah, we’ve met,” Landy said softly.

  “Yep, in Issale.” Bentley gave her a hug. “Nice to see you. I’m glad you decided to come to SOMA. I wasn’t sure you would.”

  “Me either.”

  “Come on Bentley,” Amelia said as she grabbed my brother’s wrist. “You have to meet everyone. And then tell me what you know.”