“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 were all together and it wasn’t death. Because this right here was life. I found myself grinning in the dark.
Willow’s voice suddenly came from across the room. “What’s going on?”
The sound of something being bumped into filled the air and then I heard Chutney, “Wait, this is Kessler’s house. Why are we in Tampa?”
Bright light filled the room and I jumped out so fast I though my wings would pop with excitement. In my peripheral vision I saw everyone else jump up with me.
“SURPRISE!”
Chapter Forty-Two
Riah
“Saraphina? Are you all right?”
She bit her bottom lip and nodded while her gaze bounced around the party. “There’s so much…it’s a lot…I don’t…where do I start?”
After the surprise she’d wanted to go for a walk to see what the neighborhood looked like, because she’d been trapped nearby for so long and never saw beyond it. My guilt over her suffering all those years was never going to fade, it actually seemed to be growing worse. I’d never supported Prince Thorne’s plan for Saraphina but I understood that despite downsides, it was the safest option.
So when she had asked for a walk I went with enthusiasm. We’d walked up and down the streets before finally deciding to return to the party. However as we entered the house thirty minutes later we found a bit of chaos. I’d never been to an event quite like this but I was accustomed to being surrounded by strangers. Saraphina was not. The heavy pounding of her pulse beat against my chest. Our soulmate glyph turned a deep emerald green as her nerves intensified.
I glanced to the right just as Savannah emerged from a hallway across the living room. I raised my hand then curled my fingers in toward myself. Savannah smiled and nodded then wiggled her way through the crowd standing in front of a table full of food.
“Hey guys!” Savannah bounced over to us. “How was the walk?”
Saraphina grimaced and eyed the clusters of people. “Apparently both too long and too short. What is going on here?”
Savannah frowned. “It’s a party.”
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Saraphina whispered.
I cleared my throat. “Savannah, as neither Saraphina nor myself have been to such an event perhaps you could give us a tour so we may know what to do?”
“Right on, my friends. Right on. Follow me.” She waved for us to follow as she strolled away. “I shall show you the way.”
“Do you know what’s going on? I sense a ton of magic but I am confusion.”
Savannah chuckled. “Yeah, I know. Tegan and Lennox orchestrated most of it so it’s all perfectly safe. Lennox was telling me all about what they did for this. You’ll love it. Come on, front door is first.”
“We just re-entered the house—”
“And yet clearly missed things.” Savannah winked at me then turned and skipped to the hallway that led to the front door. She pointed. “Next to the door, there’s a wall of funky witch hats that apparently Bettina and Warner insisted on having because they had it at a party in Eden.”
Saraphina gasped and her cheeks flushed. “So, you just…take one?”
“Yup. Go ahead.”
Saraphina grinned and skipped down to the front door.
“Thank you,” I whispered to Savannah.
“Oh, no problem at all. I can’t imagine what this is like for her, I mean she’s so old.”
I smirked. “It is strange to be able to recall vivid details from long in the past.”
“Got one!” Saraphina bounced back over with a purple witch hat on her head, the tip barely enough to stand tall. She looked adorable. Then she held her hands up. “Got for y’all, too.”
Savannah’s black hat had that classic wide brim and steep pointed top. I bent over and let Saraphina place mine on my head. I could not see it but it was soft and snuggled tight on my head.
I nodded. “Thank you.”
“Okay, now, next stop on the tour…” She snapped her fingers and pointed to a table beside her with sigils inked into a poster and a cup full of wooden wands. “Each sigil here represents a different genre of music. All you do is take a wand from the cup. press it to the sigil of your choice then press tip of wand just behind your ear and voila that’s the music you’ll be hearing all night.”
“That’s so cool. And the colored circles?”
I frowned and followed her stare – my eyes widened. Three circles were drawn into the hardwood floor, each glowing a different color. There was a line of kids at each one.
“Purple circle changes your outfit into something funky,” Savannah said with a grin. “Pink changes your hair color. Turquoise gives you tattoos – all wear off at midnight, Cinderella style. Now let’s talk food…”
Saraphina spun toward her. “Okay, what so?”
“So all of the food on the tables will refill themselves when it gets low or empty. Also. I’m not sure what the deal with the cake is but I know their mothers were very excited with it. So we’ll see, I guess.” She shrugged and led us farther into the room. “Up ahead are the drinks—”