There were several emails from yesterday that she’d put off answering. Coven members asking for help with whatever they were working on, mostly. She ignored them for now, planning to answer while at work.
As coven leader, she was not only a teacher to other members, but a mentor of sorts. Witchcraft relied heavily upon intuition, and it was often necessary to confront one’s inner demons as part of the learning process. Many coven members came to Suyin with personal problems. It wasn’t a responsibility she’d ever particularly wanted, but she valued the sense of purpose it brought her.
She had enough unanswered questions about her own life, and she’d spent most of it on her own, looking after herself, with a head full of secrets. It was nice to be able to provide answers to someone else and be a source of stability to her coven.
She climbed out of bed and went to the kitchen to make coffee. Decaf, because caffeine worked a little too well on her, and the last thing she needed today was a burst of manic activity followed by a crash into inescapable lethargy. Her phone buzzed just as she took the first sip, and she frowned when she saw it was a text from Iris.
Happy birthday, witch bitch! Congrats on being old. I miss you. When are we hanging out?
Six months ago, Suyin had thought of Iris as her closest friend. Maybe the closest friend she’d ever had. Now she wasn’t sure what they were.
Things had shifted majorly, and Suyin wasn’t entirely sure why. Iris’s new boyfriend, Meph, had a lot to do with it, but she didn’t think that was the only reason.
There’s a show this Friday at Les Katacombes that I want to catch, Suyin replied.Wanna come?
She ignored the birthday part. She hadn’t made it a secret that she hated birthdays—though she’d never explained why—and Iris was usually content to allow her to pretend not to have one. This time, however, she supposed it was an excuse for Iris to reach out when they hadn’t spoken in almost two weeks.
Iris’s response popped up seconds later.I’m in. But it’s 5 a.m. Why are you awake?
Just got up, Suyin replied.I like mornings. Can’t say the same for you. What’s your excuse?
I haven’t gone to sleep yet.Iris sent the awkward-smile-and-sweat-droplet emoji.We threw a housewarming party for Meph’s brother and tried to get him drunk enough to pass out. He outlasted all of us though. Jerk.
Didn’t you throw him like, five housewarming parties already?
…No comment.
Suyin rolled her eyes.Go to sleep.
Text me the deets for the show, Iris replied.Looking forward to it.
After finishing her coffee, Suyin went into the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face. Dabbing it dry, she leaned into the mirror and peered at her reflection.
She turned to each side, studying the skin of her face. She lifted her brows, causing her forehead to crease, and then relaxed them again, watching it smooth out. With two fingers, she stretched the corners of her mouth and then between her brows.
Nothing. Not a wrinkle to be found.
Of course there wasn’t. And if she kept checking every day like this, she’d never notice them if they did appear.
But they weren’t going to.
She was finally coming to terms with that, even if it scared the shit out of her. Even if staring at her face in the mirror, untouched by a single sign of aging, made her stomach feel like a hollow pit.
It was the opposite of every other person’s experience, she knew. Most people grimaced at the sight of age spots and wrinkles. Suyin cringed at the lack of them.
But Suyin wasn’t normal. And she had no idea why.
She was reaching a pivotal turning point in her life, and she didn’t know what to do about it. In another ten years or so,her lack of aging would start drawing attention. Soon after, her IDs and passports wouldn’t be any good anymore. Eventually, she’d have to go off-grid. Would she have to fake her death and find some sketchy black-market documents?
She could have told the coven, or Iris at the very least. She knew Iris and her twin, Lily, had a rare ability that allowed them to extend their lifespans. It wouldn’t be unbelievable that Suyin had a similar gift. But talking about it would make it real and involve trust, and she and Iris were on shaky ground now. Suyin had always been guarded, and besides, she doubted anyone could fix whatever was happening to her anyway.
Her disinclination to share was partly why she’d left New York. The Montreal coven had put out a call for a blood-born witch to come help Iris and Lily maintain the cloaking spell that hid them from the demon hunting them, and Suyin had responded. But that had been a convenient excuse. In truth, she’d already been planning to go.
She stared at her reflection. The woman who stared back at her, with dark eyes, a downturned mouth, a small nose, and a squarish jaw, was youthful. Her thick hair was long and shiny with a short fringe cut above her brows, and not a single strand of gray stood out against the inky black.
But according to her birth certificate and IDs, today was her birthday, and she was fifty years old.
And she didn’t have a clue why she wasn’t aging.
