I heard my mother snort behind me and shifted my glare to her. "Mom, seriously?"
She covered her face with her hands and started giggling and snorting.
"Drusilla!" my aunt cried out. "Stop laughing!"
My mother just shook her head. "She's right, Fenella. You know I want my daughter settled and happy but I have to admit every single warlock you've introduced her to has a personality as flat as a two-by-four."
My aunt sighed and came down the last few steps. She stopped in front of me. "Candela, sweetie, I just want you to be happy."
"Who said I wasn't?" I asked quietly.
She pursed her lips and looked me over, tilting her head to one side. "Good point." She sighed again, her shoulders drooping. "Okay, no more men, I promise."
I nodded in relief. "Thank you. Are you going to call the poor guys who are coming over for brunch and tell them they're off the hook?"
"Well now, Candela, that's rude. I don't think--"
I narrowed my eyes at her.
"Okay, okay. I'll call them right now."
"Thank you," I said again. "I'm going upstairs to take a shower, and then I'm going to need coffee. Lots and lots of coffee."
Satisfied that the insanity was over, I bounded up the steps, completely oblivious to the look my mother and my aunt shared behind my back.
My cousin, Ava, was just coming out of her room as I walked by. Though she looked my age, she'd been around my family since I was a kid. She also wasn't my cousin. I had no idea how she fit into our family tree or why she'd looked the same age in the twenty years I'd known her, but I loved her all the same. She was the first to stick up for me with my mother and aunt and to bring me treats that I usually wasn't allowed to have. Even now that I was an adult, she still spoiled me rotten. I no longer questioned her presence in my life. Instead, I focused on appreciating it.
And I hoped she would tell me how she continued to look so young. Now that I was closer to thirty than twenty, I was aware of the toll time took on my face.
"Your mom and aunt hounding you again?" Ava asked me with a small smile.
"Ha, ha, you're so observant," I replied, my voice heavy with sarcasm.
Ava's smile widened. "Well, if you'd just settle down with one of the nice young men Fenella is so keen on—"
I clamped my hands over my ears and sang, "La, la, la, la, I can't hear you."
Ava laughed at my juvenile behavior. "How about I go downstairs and drive them crazy for you?"
She could too. Ava's knowledge of magic, potions, and spells was very nearly encyclopedic. She seemed to know anything and everything about the craft. And she could pick apart one of my mother's spells or potions within seconds. Drove Mom up a wall.
I grinned and I knew it was likely an evil expression than joyful.
Ava laughed maniacally. "Oh, child, I do love your sense of mischief. I'll let you know how it goes."
"Thanks. Maybe wait until I'm done with my shower so I can witness it firsthand?" I asked.
"Happy to help," she replied, continuing down the hall.
I laughed to myself and hurried toward the bathroom. This was going to be fun.
