“This is it,” Gabriel confirmed.
Charlie was asleep in her carrier strapped to his chest, one fluffy white wing peeking out from the navy-blue fabric sling.
Raven’s stomach rumbled, and her muscles trembled with exhaustion as she hobbled toward the gate. For the middle of the night, it was remarkably bright in the Garden District. The homes on either side of their Prytania Street address were adorned with twinkling lights. Across the street, a small herd of glowing reindeer nibbled on the lawn. The others seemed to notice that at the same time she did.
“Fucking hell,” Avery said. “What day is it here?”
Raven frowned. “I have no idea.” Her phone was at the bottom of the ocean, lost in the shipwreck before they’d reached Aeaea. “Let’s get inside and find out.”
“It looks like Christmas, but it couldn’t be. We haven’t been gone for that long,” Clarissa said.
Gabriel groaned. “Time flows differently here than on Ouros. Raven’s right, though. We should move inside. We’re not safe here.” He glanced furtively in both directions.
Nathaniel puffed on his pipe. “No worries. The time shift is a bit disorienting but nothing a few days of rest won’t cure.”
“Are you kidding?” Avery asked incredulously. “With it being the holidays, once my mother finds out we’re in town, we won’t rest for a minute.”
“Shh!” Gabriel gestured toward the gate. “Raven, if you please. We can continue this conversation across the threshold and inside the wards.”
She approached the gate, the granite slab under it inscribed withto aíma tou aímatósmou,roughly translated: blood of my blood.
Xavier stared at the dingy home beyond. There were no lights up in their yard, the front garden was poorly tended, and the window screens of the butter-colored house looked as if they’d started to rust. He grunted. “Have you no oread? The place looks abandoned.”
“No. It looks exactly as it did the day we bought it,” Raven said. “Nothing to see here. An old home in need of renovation but not dilapidated. The type of thing the eye simply skips over.” Raven reached for the gate, its wrought iron showing the slightest bit of rust and wear.
Nathaniel took a puff off his ever-present pipe. “The dreadful appearance is intentional, then?”
Holding open the gate, Raven smiled. “Touch Gabriel or me as you step over the threshold.”
Avery’s hand landed on her shoulder. As she stepped across the granite, her expression morphed into one of pure wonder. Raven helped the others through and then followed them inside, closing the gate and the wards behind her.
The scene around her changed. The grass greened brighter than it should have for the time of year, and the house took on a fresh coat of butter-yellow paint. The shutters straightened themselves, and the windows lost a coat of grime, each one glowing from within with the light of a single candle. Lights twinkled from the rooftops like Christmas jewels.
“Holy shit.” Clarissa sidled up to Raven on the lawn and elbowed her side. “You’re some kind of magical genius. This spell held up even while you were gone?”
“It’s complicated magic. Draws on the supernatural energy of the city. We’re not the only thing that goes bump in the night here.” Raven watched her mate stride to the front door. It opened before he reached it, and he stopped, spreading his arms. She pictured Juniper and Hazel clinging to him, feeding off his energy. She couldn’t blame the two oreads for choosing to remain invisible. Not only were they in the presence of strangers, but they’d also been left alone without her mate’s energy for months.
Finally, Gabriel lowered his arms and passed inside. She followed him, the others filtering in behind her.
“Welcome home, mistress,” a silvery, disembodied voice said. “The rooms are prepared, and Juniper is serving supper in the dining room.”
“Thank you, Hazel.”
Inside, the house glowed. Bows of lighted evergreen hung around each doorframe and along the stair rail. The bright smell of pine and cinnamon filled her lungs. The feast that awaited them at the long ebony table of the dining room included hot chocolate and some sort of fluffy peppermint dessert that made her mouth water. Suddenly she was starving.
“Mama?” Charlie stirred in her carrier, and Gabriel lifted her out of the sling and put her on his hip. She spread her fluffy white wings and pointed at the leg of lamb at the center of the table.
“Out of the mouths of babes.” Xavier selected a plate and handed one to Avery.
Stomach rumbling, Raven didn’t hesitate to reach for a plate too but screamed when a blur of calico leaped toward her face. She dodged, and her cat, Artemis, landed on the floor near her feet.
Whoosh!
Charlie dove from Gabriel’s arms in a flurry of white feathers and swooped to the floor. Artemis screeched, and when her daughter turned, Raven could see why. Charlie gripped Artemis in her teeth.
“Charlie,no!” Raven yelled, finger pointing at the girl’s button nose.
Charlie’s mouth dropped open. Artemis fell to her feet, meowed angrily, and scrambled away in a tornado of claws and flying fur. Tears welled in her daughter’s eyes, which had grown as wide as saucers.
