And then I saw Tennessee and Timothy. Our current Coven Leader was being held up by the former, aka his uncle. Both were ashy pale and on the verge of bloody losing it. I wasn’t sure which was keeping the other together or if it was a joint effort.
Kessler glanced over to Tennessee, then did a double take. His face fell. “All right, all right, break it up. Break it up.”
Everyone reluctantly backed away from her.
Cassandra gasped and her eyes sparkled.
Tegan arched one eyebrow and shook her head. “Well, well, well, Miss Sibel.”
Miss Sibel? I thought her name was Cassandra?
“Yeah, I have some opinions on that,” Hunter grumbled.
She winked over her shoulder at him and then skipped over to Tegan. They wrapped each other in tight bear hugs and rocked back and forth.
A few moments later they pulled apart. Tegan grinned. “Oh, the things I wanna say to you right now.”
Cassandra, or Miss Sibel, or Rachel Troy – whatever her name was – gave Tegan a tight lipped smile and her eyes went sharp. “Where is he?”
Tegan looked pointedly over her shoulder. “A few special faces back there for ya.”
She took a deep breath then spun around.
Cooper groaned. “Cassandra?”
She giggled and skipped over. He caught her in the air and swirled her around and I wasn’t at all jealous. They laughed and then he sat her on her feet. She kissed his cheek and then gasped.
“Timothy!” She squeezed Cooper’s biceps and leapt toward our resident burly silver fox. She pointed her finger at him. “You had me worried there for a minute.”
He cursed and shook his head, then wrapped her in a hug. “Me too, kiddo. Me too.”
“I thought you were going to miss it…” She sighed and stepped back from him, her face flushed. She nodded her head toward Tennessee. “Does he know?”
Timothy nodded and put his hand on his nephew’s shoulder. “Yeah, he knows.”
As Cassandra turned to Tennessee I heard the whole group collectively inhale, like this was about to blow up.
Tennessee just stared at her like he didn’t know her. And then he reached out with one finger and pushed her shoulder. She swayed back and a strangled kind of noise left his mouth. Cassandra pulled him down into her arms and I glanced to Tegan before I could stop myself. But she was smiling with fresh tears in her eyes — then she vanished and reappeared beside him.
After a long moment, she stepped back but looked up at him like he was her own child. I didn’t understand the relation there but clearly everyone else did. “My, my, my Mr. Wildes. I leave and you get a soulmate, a sword, an uncle, a—” she gasped. “Hope? Did you find Hope?”
Tennessee nodded.
“I’m here,” Bettina whispered.
Cassandra spun around and then did a double take. Her eyes widened. “OH WOW, you two are practically identical.”
“Yeah, it’s kind of weird for me,” Jackson grumbled with a smirk. “Now everyone thinks I’m attracted to him too.”
Royce scoffed. “We all are, Lancaster. It doesn’t even count.”
Cassandra walked over to Bettina. She held her hand out. “Hi, I’m Cassa—” Her eyes widened. “I know you!”
Bettina grinned. “Hi, Miss Sibel.”
Cassandra spun around. “Hope is Bettina!” She squealed and then tackled Bettina.
There was definitely a whole lot of Savannah not knowing what was going on here tonight. I was trying to be patient but when she finally turned away from Bettina I cleared my throat and waved to the humanly-ghost. “Hi, I’m Savannah—”
“Grace, I know.” She smiled and hugged me. “You probably don’t remember me, but I’m Cassandra George. I was the Hierophant before Bentley and I used to—”
“OHHH!” Suddenly it clicked and I wanted to smack myself. “I’m sorry!”
“Don’t be, it’s been a long time since we saw each other.” She leaned toward me and pretend-whispered. “Fun fact, we died the same way.”
I gasped and my eyes widened. I pressed my palm to my stomach. “Really?”
“YUP! Hurts like a motherfucker, don’t it?” She giggled. “Though I will say a kraken tentacle makes for a much cooler story than I just didn’t see the little prick.”
I snorted. “How’d you know I died?”
“Oh, it’s a complicated story. But I also saw Riah bring you back. Gotta say that would have been a nifty trick for me back in July.”
I frowned. “Wait, you know Riah?”
“Of course, Riah and I were friends for years. Used to see him at the park all the time. Saffie and I used to hang out with him – of course, he was always Jonathan, but I digress—”
“OH COME ON YOU KNEW?”
Cassandra grimaced. “I promise that keeping the secrets is not as fun as it sounds—"
“Wait a second.” I threw my hands up. “Saffie called you Dr. Troy. But Tegan and Bettina called you Miss Sibel. What the hell is your real name and why were you in Salem?”
“Miss Sibel was my alias so I could teach Tegan and Bettina magic without their parents knowing because I thought locking up her magic was the stupidest idea we’d ever had.” She winked at Tegan. “But yes, I was Dr. Rachel Troy as well.”
Tegan frowned. “Why Rachel Troy? I know it’s not random but I can’t guess it just yet.”
She blushed. “Well, Rachel for Rachel Elizabeth Dare the psychic in the Percy Jackson books – because well…I was psychic. And then Troy because Cassandra was the prophetess of Troy—”
“OH MY GOD!” Tegan groaned and smacked her head. “I’M SUCH AN IDIOT.”
“Cassandra?”
Everyone froze at the sound of Tenn’s gravelly voice.
She turned. “Yes?”
“Why were you in Salem?”
She frowned. “As if I wasn’t going to follow Saffie there and leave everything up to Thorne—”
“You sent me to the hot tub,” Saffie hissed.
Cassandra giggled. “You’re welcome. If not for me, neither of you would know you’re soulmates and trust me…that’s important.”
Saffie opened her mouth then closed it.
“Excuse me?” I raised my hand. “Not to change subject or sound rude or whatever but…um…why does this ghost look different?”
Saffie frowned. “Because she’s not a ghost.”
“WHAT?” I hollered. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN?”
Saffie shrugged. “She’s not dead.”
“WHAT?” Everyone shouted.
“What do you mean you’re not dead?” Tenn growled. “You died in my arms. We had a ceremony—"
“I know. I did die, I’m just no longer technically dead. Nor am I technically alive.” Cassandra bit her lip and held her hands up. “It’s a long story, I believe I’m what you’d call a phantom?”
Everyone shouted over each other so I didn’t hear a word.
“Cassandra,” Tennessee yelled and his face flushed. Then he composed himself, though I saw the glisten in his eyes. “What is going on?”