at that exact moment and took the seat beside my uncle, then turned in toward him. I knew they were a couple. We all did. But they hadn’t announced it yet. Still, it made me happy.
I wonder if she’ll feel more comfortable with the real adults? She is older than all of us.
It wasn’t that we had cliques in The Coven, but with twenty-two of us – and then our add ons – it was natural for people to divide into little groups. Especially given the varying personalities.
The fact that Willow, the single shyest person in our group, was sitting next to a stranger and talking her ear off blew my mind. Sure, Savannah seemed cool but Willow never spoke to strangers. She and Chutney usually stuck to each other, especially after Larissa passed. I could see Chutney and Saffie being good friends. They both had an insane love for animals.
Yet part of me knew it was this end of the table that would draw our new Death Card in.
Would she hang with the mischievous cousins, Deacon and Royce? Get in to their shenanigans with them? I could see it, easily. Or perhaps she’d be like Henley and Lennox, always talking magic and what they could do with it.
Hope snorted from my left. I looked over and found her and Tegan laughing so hard their faces were red and no sound came out. I don’t even want to know. Ever since my sister got back from London her and Tegan had become inseparable, or I supposed that was actually the norm for them. I didn’t mind at all. Seeing my soulmate and my sister happy was the best feeling. But as I watched them now I had a growing fear that Saffie would be more like them. I wasn’t sure this Coven could handle another wildcard.
“Yo, you okay?”
I jumped – then found Cooper sitting beside me. I frowned. “Weren’t you just down there?”
He chuckled. “The fact that you didn’t notice me move over here is exactly why I moved over here.”
I sighed and hung my head. “That obvious?”
“Oh yeah.” He grinned then shrugged. “At least to me. I mean, your plate is clean – and not like you licked it clean. There’s fried chicken on the table.”
I opened my mouth, then shut it. I hadn’t gotten any food yet. My stomach turned just thinking about eating. “Right…”
Cooper grabbed a few pieces of chicken and tossed them on my plate. “Eat those or I’ll tell Uncle Kessler and —”
“All right, all right,” I said with a chuckle. Then for show, I shoved a huge piece in my mouth and chewed.
Coop watched me for a second and then frowned. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”
I swallowed and shook my head. “Shit if I know, man.”
Cooper arched one eyebrow. He rested his elbows on the table and leaned in. “It’s me, Tenn.”
I cursed and pushed my hair back off my face. Cooper and I were finally back to where we’d been before Tegan arrived. I hadn’t even realized how much I’d missed my best friend. Back before he’d tried to kick my ass for dating his sister. I leaned back in my seat. “I was just thinking about Saffie, wondering how she’s going to fit in with this gang…and where.”
He chuckled. “You know, I was thinking the same thing earlier. And I’ve got a bet.”
“Oh, do you now?” I glanced around the table but no one was paying attention to us. “Who?”
“Emersyn.”
“What about me?”
We both jumped as she walked by us. “Nothing,” we both said.
She rolled her gold eyes. “Y’all are terrible liars. But luckily, I don’t want to know. Just remember I will burn a bitch.” She stuck her tongue out, then moved down to sit beside Deacon.
Cooper looked to me. “See?”
I opened my mouth to say something when Chutney came running in from the back door. “Are you okay?”
Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes wide and bright. Her curly hair was all windblown and wild. She chuckled and hurried to sit beside – wait, when did Gigi come back in?
“Oh man,” Chutney said breathlessly as she sat. “I just watched a bald eagle and an osprey in an aerial battle outside!”
Easton leaned back in his seat. “That’s how many describe the sight of my glutes when I’m doing squats.”
Lily closed her eyes and shook her head. “I love him, I love him, I love him.”
The whole table erupted in laughter…and yet, all I felt was relief. For the