There would forever be a part of him that drifted on the dream plane, but now he would always come back to us, and that made the terror of those days he spent unconscious seem like a small price to pay in hindsight.
As for Vi and Rollo, well, we were monitoring them for signs I might have altered them too. Nothing yet, but it was still early days. I was crossing my fingers for a few extra years tacked on to their lives myself.
“We need to get a picture.” Josie arranged our massive pallet of quilts and pillows on the ground beside the largest mausoleum, which had been draped with a king-sized white sheet. “Then we can get comfy.”
“Unless we heatstroke before then,” Carter grumbled, carrying a cooler full of iced drinks.
“You’re so cute I could eat you up.” Josie kissed the tip of her nose. “Aww. Rudolph isn’t glowing. Looks like your battery is dead.”
“No.” Carter set down her burden then slid an arm around Josie’s waist. “I took them out.”
“Meanie.” Grinning, she spun out of her grasp. “You’re lucky I love you so much.”
Cheeks brighter than her sweater, Carter mumbled, “I love you too.”
From the smile that broke across Josie’s face, you would think the redcap had shouted it from the tip of Rauers Obelisk for all the world to hear.
“Let’s hurry so we can get to the good part.” Josie winked at her. “Making out under the stars.”
As Josie dragged her away by the wrist, they almost collided with Harrow and Aretha, who were carrying the sandwich, fruit, and veggie trays along with the sweet treats.
“You made it,” I greeted them. “I’m glad you guys could join us.”
“We wouldn’t miss it.” Aretha set down her portion then came in for a hug. “Thanks for inviting us.”
“You’re honorary Talbots,” Matty told them. “Of course we saved room for you.”
Once Harrow unloaded his arms, Aretha slid into them, burrowing against his chest.
As the newest couple in our group, they were the mushiest, and that was saying something.
“Almost forgot.” Harrow pried his gaze from Aretha and snapped his fingers. “Let there be light.”
Floating candles flickered into existence in a ring around our viewing area, bathing it in a warm glow.
“Fancy.” I couldn’t tell if they were real or illusion. “The coven teach you that?”
“Yeah.” He shared a shy glance with Aretha. “The mothers are putting me through my paces.”
Since hooking up with Aretha, he had started hanging around with her coven. They were teaching him the small magics he should have learned as a child to give him a foundation to build on, if he chose to continue his education in magic. He wouldn’t be a healer, like them, but they could help him figure out what he wanted to do, once he discovered the limits of his power and his affinities.
Acawfrom overhead set my heart racing, and I spun to find Kierce walking toward me from a different direction than the others had come.
“I issued the invitation.” He stopped when the toe of his shoe tapped mine. “What else do you need?”
“Just you.” I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him down to me. “Are you ready?”
“Yes.” His lips brushed mine, warm and soft, and he smiled against my mouth. “As ready as I can be.”
As far as our family gatherings went, he wasn’t wrong in taking the cautiously optimistic route.
“What’ll it be this year?” Johnny, the eldest of the Buckley Boys, swaggered over to me. “Horror? Action? Adventure?” He wrinkled his nose at the abundance of couples. “Romance?”
“Not that three-ghosts one again,” Timmy, the youngest, begged. “It’s boring, it is.”
“Ghosts’re boring,” Bannon agreed. “Moving pictures never get us right.”
“It’s a surprise.” I shooed them on. “Go find your seats.”
