my legs and arms around him. His long legs covered the distance to the stairs in seconds. The moment we hit the foyer two dozen eyes snapped up to us. The only people not standing there were Willow and Chutney. Everyone else was there. Lily held her hand over Easton’s mouth.
“Oh, hey guys, hope you don’t mind…” Braison chuckled and pointed a few feet away to where Olli was literally riding Albert’s back. “He put himself up there and seems to like it.”
Riah snorted and it was an adorable sound. “We shall not disturb his fun then.”
My dog was such a weirdo.
“OH, Tegan?” Deacon held his phone up toward her. “They’re ready.”
She nodded and flicked her wrist. A white portal opened up beside him…and two young girls hopped out. One had a glorious deep skin tone, long black hair down to her hips, and tawny golden eyes. The other looked exactly like Deacon, just a smaller more feminine version but equally as beautiful.
“Oh shit, trouble has arrived!” Easton shouted.
The entire Coven immediately started teasing the poor girls but they both wore huge grins so I didn’t think they minded the attention.
Deacon rolled his eyes. Then he looked to me. “This is my little cousin Amelia and her best friend Landy. They wanted to come to the party.”
Amelia frowned down at her outfit. “I feel overdressed.”
Lennox scoffed. “Girl, you look fabulous. Rock it.”
She did look fabulous. She looked like a little model you’d see in magazines with her thigh high black boots and plaid skirt.
Riah leaned in and whispered in my ear. “That reminds me of your outfit.”
My cheeks warmed. “Was that one the dangerous one or the lethal one?”
He sighed and shook his head. “They all are both.”
“Um, Tennessee?” Landy said in a small voice and raised her hand. “Should I have told Koth I was leaving New York? Or my brother?”
Amelia rolled her eyes and scoffed. “If he wouldn’t panic and show up I’d tell him just to ruffle his feathers.”
Tennessee frowned but then shook himself. “Landy, you are in the care of Deacon’s parents. You do not need to let him know of your every location. However, I did let him know.”
Landy’s eyes widened. “You did?”
“Yeah, he’s a big dude.”
Royce scoffed. “You’re six-foot-five, boss.”
Tennessee pursed his lips. “I meant, I told him out of respect?”
“You.” Tegan giggled and shook her head. She flicked her wrist and a bright white portal opened up, drawing the attention away from Riah and me. “Aight, git.”
They all stepped through the portal and I followed behind them. I didn’t know where we were going exactly or who was going to be there, but I trusted The Coven with my life. I stepped into the portal and it was effortless, like walking down a beach in the autumn…and then we came out in a huge room with rows and rows of unfamiliar faces.
I couldn’t believe the amount of people in attendance. There had to be four or five dozen crammed into this open living room. And they varied in ages too. Some were silver haired and wrinkled. Some couldn’t have been more than Bentley’s age. The first few rows of faces though were young, like my Coven-mates, while the rest of the crowd seemed to be their parents.
I’d never realized just how many witches lived in this town.
Out of all of these people, I only spotted three faces I recognized: Peabo, Atley, and Monica.
Someone gasped. “TIMOTHY!”
“KENNETH?”
Several elder members of the party rushed forward and embraced the two men.
“Aight, peeps.” Tegan held her hands out to her sides and instantly had everyone’s attention. “Hide. I’m gonna get them now! When I flash the lights back on – scream!”
And then she was gone.
“Hide?” I whispered to Riah.
He pulled me down behind a couch and tucked me closer to his side. The lights flicked off and we were surrounded in darkness.
“Yes, we hide so they won’t see or expect us.” His lips brushed over my ear as he whispered, “upon their arrival everyone jumps out and yells surprise.”
“Ohhh. That sounds fun.” I grinned and scooted closer to the edge of the couch to peek around it. Then I glanced back at him. “When the lights come on?”
He nodded. As Savannah would say, I was so here for this. I wanted this, the normal moments. The happy moments. The parts of life I’d been robbed of. There were still a lot of questions left unanswered but in the meantime I wanted the memories of happy times, when we