“Kaelynn, you promised.” I reached down and picked up the planchette. “I just wanna talk to my sister one more time, is that really so bad? What if it was Easton or Willow or Chutney who died, wouldn’t you want to talk to them again?”
They hung their heads and nodded.
“Libby was taken from me…I just…I just want to talk to her. That’s it.” I placed the planchette in the middle of the board and put my fingertips on it. “Please, guys?”
Ryan put his fingers on it. “I’m in.”
“I bet this is how Tom Riddle got people to follow him,” Sean grumbled, but he put his fingers on the planchette. “Guess that makes me a Death Eater.”
Kaelynn groaned and joined us. “Okay, now what?” She asked once all four of our fingers were on it.
I didn’t blame my friends for being scared of this…but they didn’t understand what it was like to have their sister die. Libby was stolen from me. I just needed more time. There were things I didn’t get to say to her, to ask her, and I wanted that.
“Oh, shoot, were we supposed to turn off the lights?” Sean nodded toward it.
Ryan looked down and frowned. “Are the candles supposed to be lit?”
“Oh, yeah. Okay, well we haven’t started yet—”
And then the planchette moved.
The lights in the room went out, drenching us in the dark. Kaelynn screamed. Each of the five candles lit on fire by themselves. Five orange flames stood tall and unwavering. Kaelynn screamed again.
“Don’t let go!”
“I don’t like this,” Sean grumbled.
“Make it stop, Aspen,” Ryan whispered.
“We’re already here,” I hissed. “Spirit, are you here?”
The triangular planchette moved on its own, sliding over to the word YES.
My heart was pounding so loud in my ears I couldn’t think.
“Is it supposed to do that?” Kaelynn cried.
I knew for a fact I wasn’t moving the planchette. And judging by the goose bumps on Ryan’s arms, and the way Sean’s hands trembled, they weren’t moving it either.
“Aspen, tell me you’re moving this thing,” Kaelynn cried. “Tell me you are, because I’m not. I won’t be mad.”
I shook my head. “I’m not moving it.”
I-A-M.
The flames on the candles shot straight up a foot tall. The darkness in the room grew dense and cold. I couldn’t see anyone.
“Libby, is that you?” I yelled. “It’s me, Aspen. Libby, talk to me. Show yourself.”
The symbols on the board turned bright red and glowed like lava. One by one the candle flames turned blood red. A strange rune burned in the board in the same glowing red color. My pulse skipped. Red, like Libby! Her magic was RED!
A black shadow poured out from under the planchette and billowed in the air between us. It shot straight up, filling the space. I saw arms and the vague shape of a body and I gasped.
The shadow lowered down and then two massive red eyes stared right at me.
“Libby…” My whole body was shaking. “Is that you, Libby?”
“YES,” The dark shadow whispered. “It’s Libby.”
Chapter Forty-Four
Saffie
“Okay, cake time!” Willow’s mom shouted as she walked through the party to the table where the massive cake sat. “Who wants a piece?”
Willow gasped. “MOM. That’s a cake?”
“Holy moly, mamadukes.” Chutney skipped to the table while clapping her hands. “It doesn’t look edible!”
I frowned and eyed the two towers of blue and yellow that said their names and their Cards and had number-shaped candles at the top. “When did they start making cakes like that?”
Riah chuckled and draped his arm around my shoulders. “While you were cursed.”
I looked up at him and gave him a blank stare. “Thanks.”
He grinned. “You’re welcome.”
“Whoever made this cake needs to make mine,” Savannah with a nod.
I gasped. “I don’t know when your birthday is.”
“February twenty-second—”
“Mine’s the tenth!”
She spun to me with wide eyes. “No way?”
“February 10th, 1677,” Riah said cheerfully. “She’ll be three hundred and forty-two.”
Savannah narrowed her eyes at him. “You said she already was…”
“Forgive me, the age change is imminent so I went with the soon to be.” He shrugged. “Plus, I have never been a fan of odd numbers.”
Savannah snorted. “You’re a lot weirder than I expected.”
He grinned again. “Thank you.”
Cooper walked up and leaned against the wall beside Savannah, who immediately blushed. “What I miss?”
I pointed to the birthday girls. “They’re gushing over their pretty tower cakes and trying to guess the flavors before tasting.”
Cooper nodded. “Priorities.”
“Safferella and I discovered our birthdays are close together,” Savannah said, still blushing and not making eye contact with him. “She’s