Landy frowned and followed after them. “I don’t think that’s how that works.”
And then they were gone, lost to the chaos of the crowd.
“Well that smells like trouble.” Deacon laughed.
I bit my lip and spun back around. “Should we be concerned?”
Deacon shrugged. “Meh, Bentley will warn us if we need to be.”
Cooper scoffed again. He pointed to his tux. “Don’t be so sure of that.”
I snorted. “He is a bit too similar to Tegan for his own good, ain’t he?”
“Yeah, well, I think we need to —” his jaw dropped. His pale green eyes widened…then filled with rage. His face turned red. He stared across the room and balled his fists.
Deacon leaned down and whispered in my ear, “here it comes.”
“TEGAN!” Cooper shouted. “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU WEARING?!”
I had no idea where my sister was, but I heard her cackling over the music – or maybe that was telepathically sent into my head. Cooper growled and cursed some more, then stormed off shouting Tennessee’s name.
Dad sighed and shook his head. He didn’t even turn to watch my brother march off. “That boy…I really think her torture is good for him.”
Mom nodded. “And it gives her someone to antagonize, which is always good.”
“So, Hunter, did Tenn really call and warn you about her dress?”
“Yes, Deacon, he sure did.” Dad laughed and scratched the back of his neck. “It was nice of him. He said brace yourself and I about lost it. Honestly, I’m just glad I’m not in charge of monitoring her anymore. Fourteen years was hard enough. It’s his turn.”
“Are you going to avoid her all night?” Deacon chuckled.
Dad grimaced. “I saw it. I hate it. I’m gonna go eat my feelings and pretend I know nothing.”
I snorted.
Mom shook her head and rolled her eyes.
“But hey,” Dad smiled and gestured between me and Deacon. “You two look wonderful and classy, and you never grope each other in front of me. So…thank you for that.”
“No problem.”
“Nice, dad.”
“C’mon, big guy, I smell cheeseburgers.” Mom pulled him away, still shaking her head. “We’re gonna go pretend we’re seventeen and childless. Have fun. Love you!”
“Did I hear what I think I just did?” Caroline’s voice carried over the music.
We spun back around and found her and Noah standing there looking like models. Gus-Gus and Zeus were sitting at their feet. Caroline’s blue Dior gown was gorgeous paired with Noah’s navy tux.
I sighed. “I’m gonna try not to think too hard about what I just heard.”
Caroline threw her head back and laughed.
“Noah, you still pouting Tenn didn’t wear navy blue and match you?”
“A little bit, yeah.” Noah pouted. “But he’s not matching Chrissy, either, so we’re good.”
Deacon shook his head. I had no idea what they were talking about and I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.
Caroline gasped and gripped Noah’s jacket. “Oh my God…”
Noah’s face turned white. “What? What’s wrong?”
Deacon arched one eyebrow. “Caroline?”
“That’s Lennox Ward,” she said under her breath.
I frowned and glanced over my shoulder. Sure enough, Lennox was standing about twenty feet away, scanning the crowd like she was hunting. Her dress was a micro-mini, colorful version of Tegan’s. Wait.
Then it clicked. Caroline’s past with Lennox. I gasped and spun back to Caroline.
She threw her hands up. “It was a long time ago! I was a stupid kid. Please…will you go with me? I want to talk to her— to apologize.” Caroline groaned. “I know, it’s stupid late…but…that doesn’t mean she doesn’t deserve one.”
I pursed my lips and stared at her. Then I cursed. “Okay, yeah. Sure. But she’s tough and knows every spell in the book. She’s gonna be Lead Page one day soon so behave yourself.”
“I will. I promise.” She held her head up high. “This is Caroline two-point-oh, new and improved. Amends must be made - not for my conscience, but for theirs.”
Noah grimaced. “Yeah, I’m not gonna watch that. I’ll go find Oliver and Olivia, they’re here somewhere.” He snapped his fingers and both blue cats leapt up into his arms. He winked at Caroline then sauntered off.
“Come on, let’s go.”
I didn’t wait for her. I turned and bee-lined right for my friend. Lennox probably didn’t care about anything Caroline had to say, not after what she did to her as kids, but it wasn’t my decision to make. I would be there to buffer and give them a chance to speak…but the rest was between them.
Lennox spotted me and grinned. “EM!”
I smiled. “Hey, Lenny!”
“Girl, you look gorgeous —” she gasped. Her eyes went cold. “YOU.”
Oh shit.
Caroline slid up beside me looking like a scolded puppy. “Hello, Lennox.”
Lennox narrowed her yellow-green eyes at her. “Caroline Davenport.”
I looked to Caroline and arched an eyebrow. Now’s the time girl.
“Lennox, I know you probably hate me —”
“Gee, I wonder why,” Lennox growled.
“But I wanted to say that I am very, very, very sorry for what I did to you when we were kids.”
Lennox’s eyes widened. “Wait, what?”
Caroline licked her red-painted lips then took a deep breath. “I was a miserable, heartbroken child and I took out my pain on you. And that was horrendous. I was so ashamed of myself that I left Edenburg because of it, yet I wish I’d been brave enough to fix it then. For that, I am eternally sorry. I know this apology is many years too late, and it probably means nothing at this point, but I wanted you to know that I’ve thought about you a lot since then…and I’ve always regretted what I did. So…I’m sorry.”
Lennox opened her mouth then shut it. She blinked.
Caroline gave a small smile and a little curtsey. “And on that, I’m going to leave you be now. You don’t have to forgive me. This wasn’t about that. And I’m sorry if I’ve made you uncomfortable. Have a great evening.”
And then she was gone.
I turned back to Lennox.
“Imma need to process what just happened.” Lennox shook herself. “But not right now. Because I gotta go find my date. See you in a bit?”
I nodded.
When she disappeared into the crowd, Deacon whistled softly. “Well, that was weird.”
I snorted and leaned into his arm. “Yeah, and —” I stood up straight.
What is that? I felt…fire. I only ever felt that when there was an actual flame nearby. My pulse quickened. I glanced around, scanning the room for any sign of smoke or fire, then the energy grew stronger near the front door. I took a step forward just as Koth walked inside. OHHH. Right. Fire breathing dragon. Makes sense.
Kothari, king of the shifters, took up most of the doorway he was so huge. It was the first time I’d seen him in a shirt, so it took me a minute to realize that the small girl hanging on to his left arm was Chutney. My Coven-mate.
“I think things just got weirder.”
I nodded. “Let’s go talk to them.”
I gripped his hand and led the way over to the front door. By the time we got over there Koth and Chutney had come inside, and he had five other guys with him. Dragons. I recognized them from Issale, but I only remembered Silas.
“Hey y’all!” I smiled and waved at them. “Koth. Silas. Guys. Chutney.”
“EM. D. This place…” Chutney waved her hand around. “WOW. This is the prettiest Yule Ball we’ve ever had.”
My heart fluttered. “Thanks, Chutney.”
Koth nodded and glanced around. “Thank you for inviting us.”
“Of course.” Deacon shook his hand. “This school is our school. Together. So thank you for coming.”
“Make yourselves at h
ome. There’s plenty of food and stuff…mingle?” I frowned. Way to be weird.
“Stuff. I like stuff.” Koth chuckled. “Now, I was hoping to have a word with Tennessee and Tegan…”
“Oh, yeah, of course.” I pulled Deacon’s phone out of his pocket – since I didn’t have any in this dress – and dialed Tenn’s number.
“D?” He answered.
“Oh, hi, it’s Em. Um…Koth is here—”
“Where? I’d like to speak to him.”
I chuckled. “That is mutual, evidently. We’re up in the front right corner—”
Chutney grabbed the phone. “Tenn? Hey, we’ll meet you over by the mini cheeseburger table.” Then she hung up and handed the phone back.
“All right, you better go talk to him before someone else snags him.”
Koth smiled. “Thank you. We’ll catch up later tonight?”
“Definitely,” Deacon and I said at the same time.
Chutney winked then dragged the horde of dragons off to meet up with Tenn.
I sighed. “I know Koth and Silas are cool, but those other guys still kinda make me nervous. Which is weird because I control fire…so like…why fear them?”
Deacon chuckled and shook his head. He threw his arm around my shoulders then led me through the crowd. “Let’s check this place out —see how people are doing, shall we?”
We walked in silence, holding on to each other while the music played and teenagers danced all around us. Everywhere I looked I saw nothing but smiles and laughter and it was overwhelmingly relieving.
“Is that Timothy?” Deacon pulled me to a stop and pointed to our right. “Holy shit he’s not wearing flannel.”
I snorted. He wasn’t wrong. That was Timothy, in a fancy black suit and not a flannel. But that wasn’t what caught my eye. “I’m more curious about what’s happening between him and Katherine…since they’re all cuddled up at a table alone together.”
Deacon frowned. “Oh, I’m not curious about that at all. I know what’s going on there.”
My eyes widened. He sensed people’s desires. “DO TELL.”
He chuckled and shook his head. “Nah, he’s earned some privacy. But I’m sure your imagination could fill in the blanks.”
I grinned and watched them as we walked away. Timothy really had been through hell and back. He deserved the world and I was ecstatic to see that maybe Katherine was giving that to him. Katherine was one of the most gifted healers our species had, and she was a bad ass, too. She’d be good for him. He deserved to be happy.
Suddenly Deacon broke into hysterical laughter.
I scowled and looked up at him. “What just happened?”
He shook his head and pointed to the stage. “Your parents’ idea of teenage fun.”
I scanned the stage until I spotted them…sitting on the edge off to the left. They sat there overlooking the whole party looking every bit the mischievous teenager. Actually, they reminded me of Tegan.
“Well, I’m just glad they don’t have to be apart anymore because of me.” I sighed. “I couldn’t imagine being forced to be away from you for a few days, and they had to do it for fourteen years—”
“HEY!” Deacon shouted and smacked my ass.
I jumped. “What?”
“We had a truce.”
I snorted. “Oh. Shit. Right. You’re ugly. Get away from me. That better?”
He nodded. “Thank you.”
I bumped his arm with my shoulder, then spotted Henley across the way. “Hey look, there’s Henley – why is she with Caroline?”
Deacon shrugged. “Caroline was my best friend before I got Marked. So whenever Henley and Royce visited, they hung out with my friends.”
“Oh. That makes sense.” I watched his fiery cousin for a second. “She doesn’t need saving, right?”
Deacon’s grin turned wicked. “Henley? Nah. But we might have other damage control to do.”
I followed his gaze…and then rolled my eyes. Easton was twirling Lily around the dance floor in a highly inappropriate sexy tango. Constance and Daniel were slow dancing next to them but laughing along. A few feet over Paulina was teaching Braison how to salsa…along with a small crowd following along.
“Who would’ve thought it’d be Kessler and Mona making out in the middle of the dance and not Easton and Lily….or your sister and Tenn.”
“You know what?” I shook my head and turned away from his gaze. “I don’t wanna see. I’ve had enough PDA witnessing in the last two days.”
“BETTINA?!” My sister shouted.
Oh, she’s here! I turned just in time to watch Bettina tackle my twin in a hug. I chuckled and grabbed Deacon’s sleeve, then dragged him along with me.
“I missed you!”
“I missed you, too!” Tegan stepped back then looked her up and down. “Damn, girl. You look hot!”
It was true, she did look hot. Hell, her whole leg was sticking out of that dress. She was actually giving Tegan a run for sexiest dress here. Poor Tenn.
Deacon whistled behind me, then he grinned and shook his head. He walked up to Jackson and shook his hand. “Lancaster, man…you, me, and Tenn are gonna need to start a support group.”
Jackson threw his head back and laughed.
I rolled my eyes. “Right, like you aren’t enjoying these dresses more than we are.”
“Emersyn, bloody hell, I love those boots.” Jackson grinned and pointed at my feet.
I smiled.
Then he tugged on Bettina’s hand. “Love, show them yours.”
Bettina gasped. OH! She giggled and pointed her left leg out in front of her to show off glittery hi-top converse. “Look at these! Jackson got them for me!”
“I’m gonna pretend I can’t see your entire leg sticking out of that dress and just focus on the sparkly sneakers.”
Bettina’s face lit up. She spun toward the sound of Tenn’s deep voice and squealed. And then she tackled him in a big bear hug. He chuckled and wrapped his arms around her. I squeezed Deacon’s arm. They were so freaking adorable.
After a minute, she pushed back and grinned up at him. “Hello, brother.”
“Hello, sister.” He shook his head and smiled. “Nice…is that technically a dress?”
Tegan smacked his arm. “It’s no less of a dress than mine.”
Tenn sighed and turned to Jackson, then shook his hand. “You see what I’m talking about, right?”
“Really? That’s it?” Cooper groaned and walked up to us with Lennox hanging on to his arm. “A handshake and a mutual understanding?”
“Guess you’ve got that Bishop temper after all, Stargazer.” Lennox patted Coop’s chest. She looked to Bettina and winked. “Ladies, looking fierce as usual.”
Bettina seemed to be thinking what I was as she frowned and eyed Lennox’s hand holding on to Cooper. Then she arched one eyebrow at her. Lennox shrugged and winked. I tugged on D’s hand. He glanced down at me and winked. Dammit. That is NOT an answer. I thought Lennox and Warner were a thing…why is she here with Cooper? And where is Warner?
“Bishop temper? What the hell does that mean?” Cooper growled.
I looked to my twin.
She rolled her eyes. “You’re like the Hulk, bro.”
“I am not.”
“Yeah, you are.” I laughed. “Or should we revisit the way you reacted to Tegan’s dress a few minutes ago?”
Tegan cackled. “I mean, there’s a long list of examples. Where would you like to begin?”
“I do not have anger management problems!”
Tegan scoffed. “Says the guy getting angry right now.”
“Yeah, what about the breakfast incident before we left Eden?” Deacon wagged his eyebrows. “And let’s not forget the Tegan incident back in Tampa…”
“That was different.”
Lennox stared at him blankly. “We had to buy you new shoes this morning because you hulk smashed the sole right off.”
I glanced over to Bettina but my gaze landed on
something else. I gasped. “Deacon. Who is that? With Royce?”
Everyone frowned and looked to where I was staring…where Royce just strolled inside with a date. A date I’d never seen before. He was very handsome, but unfamiliar.
“Uhhh…” Deacon chuckled. “I have no idea.”
Just then, Royce spotted us staring. He did a little wiggle dance then sauntered over to us like he was on a runway show. His date followed suit without hesitation.
“Is Royce’s suit made of silk?”
“Tegan, this is me.” Royce stopped in front of us and wagged his eyebrows. “Of course it’s silk.”
“Silk that perfectly matches his eyes, as a matter of fact,” Royce’s date said with a sexy wink. “Though, sadly, I can’t say the same about mine.”
Royce grinned and hooked his arm around his date’s elbow. “Y’all. This dark-skinned beauty is Leo. He’s a witch from Connecticut, but that’s a long story for another world.”
“I quite like that intro, so sassy and mysterious.” Leo grinned and pushed his thick-rimmed black glasses up his nose. He had light brown eyes that were actually the same color as his skin and the combination was alluring. He was quite pretty. “Nice to meet you all.”
Deacon reached out and touched his blazer. He grinned. “Dolce and Gabbana?”
Leo’s eyes flashed with excitement. “Beauty and brains. You must be Deacon.”
Royce rolled his sapphire eyes. “Yeah, but he likes girls. Specifically that one.”
“Pity, what a sandwich that would’ve made.” Leo winked to Deacon, then turned to me and waved his hand up and down. “But I get it, you’re as pretty as they are. Hey, where’s this Tennessee – OH, that must be you—”
“LEO, we talked about this. His girl will bite it off if you touch him.” Royce winked to Tegan as he dragged Leo away. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, I promised Leo I’d introduce him to some dragons.”
Once they were gone, Lennox frowned. “I thought he had a thing for one of the dragons?”
“Yeah, hence Leo.” Deacon grinned like the Cheshire cat. “And no, I had nothing to do with this.”
Cooper cursed. “Do we need to be concerned?”
“Do I need to have my camera ready?” Tegan laughed.
Tenn sighed. “No, Chutney is over there. She brought Koth as her date tonight. She’s been with them all night.”
The Uptown Witch Page 17