Since the moment my grand-mère brought me into the coven, Iris, Ember, and I have been inseparable. I never had girlfriends before, and even though they were two years younger than me, we instantly connected. My grand-mère told me female relationships are the basis of a strong coven, and as usual, she was right.
We’re forever bonded by magic and kinship, and I can’t imagine life any other way. I don’t know who I would be without magic or without my coven; they mean everything to me. But especially Ember and Iris. I don’t think there’s a way to describe how much I love them. It’s beyond friendship or blood relation, it’s an intrinsic bond that’s hard to explain.
“It’s a hangover potion I brewed this morning,” Iris says, and I swallow the purple potion down with a wince. “Yeah, I’m working on the flavors.”
“Fuck, it’s crowded,” Ember says as we walk out to the back patio.
Iris pulls her wand out behind her purse, her lips moving, but I can’t hear the spell. I smile as I watch a five-top suddenly decide they need to leave immediately.
Magic never ceases to amaze me.
“Better not let Aster find out you’re using magic in front of the humans,” Ember says sarcastically.
“What the High Priestess doesn’t know won’t hurt her,” I say as I wave down a bartender who takes our drink order.
“Keeping secrets from the old witch?” Iris says with an arched brow. She looks beautiful tonight, wearing a daisy yellow dress that contrasts her unblemished umber skin. Her long, thin braids hang over her shoulder, and she’s wearing winged eyeliner sharp enough to kill over her long, thick eyelashes.
“She doesn’t need to know my every movement,” I say as my two friends glare at me. “I mean, I did finally move out.”
They both share a look before looking back at me. “How has it been, living there?” Ember asks softly.
By there, they mean the abandoned mansion my mother left me. The mother that I can’t talk about to my grand-mère or the coven; everyone acts like she never existed. My grand-mère swears she’s still alive, that she would feel it if she passed, which only saddens and confuses me more.
I’ve spent so long searching for answers and continually come up with dead ends. Why would she abandon me? Not only that, why would she have taken me away from my coven and suppressed my magic for sixteen years? The only answer I’ve ever gotten from my grand-mère is that my mom wasn’t mentally well before she ran away. I can see the pain on my grandmother’s face everytime I bring her up, so I’ve stopped asking. The coven is all I need, they’re my family. Yet… there’s still a nagging feeling of loss I can’t seem to shake.
I had hoped living in my mother’s home would give me answers. But all it’s given me is a major magical workout to fix the six thousand square foot dump.
“It’s okay,” I answer, and Iris glares at me. “Okay, so it’s a little lonely, but I needed my own space. Aster has been breathing down my neck about being her protégé and the next steps for the coven. At least I can be myself and feel like every spell I cast isn’t being over analyzed. Plus, Walter likes killing the bugs.”
They both give me sympathetic nods. They know how hovering the High Priestess can be, and they aren’t even her heir.
Ember fans herself with a drink menu and glances around the bar. “Well, don’t worry about that tonight. We’re celebrating your birthday. Maybe we can find you some hot human to take back to your creepy mansion and have your way with them.”
“I’m off men for the foreseeable future. Thank you very much.”
“I would be too, after Paul,” Iris mumbles under her breath. I went on one date with him, and had to compel him to forget me after the date. It seems a relationship, or even a bit of fun, isn’t in my future. When you reach a certain age it’s embarrassing to bring up the fact I still haven’t been physical with anyone.
“What’s even the point, anyway? Witches don’t marry, we have our coven, that’s all we need,” I reply. The line has been engraved in me since the day Grand-mère brought me home from Mander’s Academy for the Highly Gifted and Unhoused.
“To come, Violet. That’s the point,” Ember says, glancing around the bar. “Have you ever done it with a vampire?” she asks, and Iris and I both blink at her. “What? The blood thing is kind of hot. And they’re always ready to go.”
“If Aster found out,” Iris says.
“She won’t find out. Plus, it’s not like I’m going to fall for a vampire. But we can have a little fun. I mean we all exist, those old hags had to have gotten it in at least a few times,” Ember says and I laugh.
But she’s not wrong.
The coven is for female witches. If a witch wants to have a baby, well, they do what they have to do to conceive. But in all my years with the Celestial Coven, I’ve never seen a witch marry or get into a serious relationship. It’s just not the way things are done.
“Even Aster has to realize we can have a little fun,” Iris says.
“I’m not sure dear old Grand-mère knows what fun is,” I say, before clamping a hand over my mouth.
“Let’s take some shots to that,” Ember says, which makes me incredibly thankful for Iris’ potion.
I’m waiting in the never ending line for the bathroom with Iris. Ember has grabbed some unsuspecting mortal man to dance with as I lean against the wall and push a sticky piece of hair off my face.
Even though it’s supposed to be autumn, the humid air is thick, like a blanket over the outdoor bar. The cicadas are screaming their heads off, competing with the live band playing in the corner.
