Hudson gripped my elbow. “Excuse us, I need my mate.”
He guided me away from tricky conversations and warranted accusations. “Thank you. We make a great team.”
These people had been chosen for their ability not to fall under Eloise’s spell. I needed witnesses that would recite the truth of the night, not a twisted version my grandmother would try to spin.
My mind whirled, caught in the rising tide of tension threading between the Roberts women. Every one of us had gathered for this moment—to finally sever the chains binding us to my grandmother’s reign. Liz, Anita, Dayna, Stella, and Sophia drifted through the room like elegant storm fronts, smiling, laughing, weaving alliances with practiced ease while pretending not to feel the weight of what was coming. No one mentioned the elephant in the room, because the elephant was blood, and it was ours.
Dayna nodded toward the window. My gaze swept up to view the stunning full moon shining high in the sky. It was time. Now for the dance with the dead.
Harry’s head popped through the front door, making an older elemental squeak like a high school girl. He gave me the thumbs-up and disappeared.
I stalked to the stairs and climbed a few, giving me the height I needed to get everyone’s attention. Rebecca handed me a wine glass and a metal spoon. This really was a practice run for a wedding. Was I meant to give a speech on my special day? I hoped not. I was terrible at public speaking.
The spoon made a pleasant ringing sound, and the gathering quietened as they turned to me. Hudson gave me a soft,encouraging smile. “Thank you for choosing to spend your solstice with us. We are honored that you trust us with a night promised to give a much-needed boost and clarity to your magic for the next six months. If you would follow Elizabeth Roberts and the shifter dressed in black outside, we can get this party started.”
A current of anticipation and excitement rumbled through the crowd as they did as I asked. I glanced down the hallway, spotting Harry leading the ghosts into the house from the back while Dave and Liz led the breathing people out the front. So far, so good. Bella darted from upstairs, dashed between my legs, and shot out the front door.
“Ready?” Hudson murmured.
My lips quirked. “Are you?”
He frowned, and I grabbed his hand with a chuckle. The Principal might think he knows what a witchy party entails, but unless you had experienced one for yourself, it was impossible to quantify in words.
The elements spread out in a loose circle around the candles wedged into the ground. Laid between them were cut flowers forming the shape of a pentagram.
“This looks suspiciously like a sacrifice or a spell to summon the devil,” Dave grumbled as he and Liz joined us.
I smiled. “The devil needs no summoning; you know this by now. He goes wherever he damn well pleases, when he damn well pleases.”
“I note you didn’t deny the sacrifice,” Hudson said, his hand clutching mine a little tighter.
“Afraid of a little bloodshed, Principal?” Liz asked, stepping onto the first point of the pentagram. She was enjoying this a little too much.
“Only if it’s my mate’s being spilled,” he growled.
Stella, Anita, Dayna, and Sophia took their places on the other points, and I gave Hudson a quick kiss. “See you on the other side.” I stalked to the center of the pentagram.
The cooling night breeze caused goosebumps to erupt down my arms. The five points of the pentagram glowed faintly in red, blue, gold, silver, and green, each tethered to the elementals standing in place. Their eyes were luminous in the moonlight, skin gilded by the silvery wash. One by one, the elementals undressed, casting aside silks and formal clothes until bare flesh shimmered in the pale light. This wasn’t sensual—it was sacred. The moon was a jealous lover. The more of her light they soaked into their skin, the stronger the spell would be. I kept my clothes on, as I didn’t need a feral mate losing his shit.
Power pooled between us, a living pulse that hummed through the air like the beat of a heart.
A low thrum built from the ground upward, making my teeth ache as the runes woven into the grass flared to life. The air thickened, heavy with the scent of ozone and salt and old magic.
Hudson, Dave, Sebastian, and Rebecca gasped almost in unison. Their eyes went glassy as the drugging nature of the spell licked up their spines. The elemental call didn’t care about rank or species. It was primal, seductive, and ancient.
The candle flames stretched higher, bending toward the center where I stood, the focus of their energy. My blood sang. I raised my arms and called to the moon, to the ancestors, to the drowned and the damned.
A crack tore through the silence. The temperature dropped.
And then—her.
“Well, well. Look here, my prodigal granddaughter playing hostess to half the supernatural world.”
Eloise stepped out of the shadows, her silver cloak sweeping over the grass like spilled mercury. Her eyes gleamed sharp andcold as she surveyed the pentagram. “Was my invitation lost, darling?”
I tilted my head, forcing a smile. “The architect of my nightmares doesn’t get invitations.”
She prowled closer, her heels crunching over the salt line. The air shimmered once, twice, then sealed behind her with a quiet snap only I seemed to hear.
