Blair squeezes my shoulder. “The city can’t be all bad because you should have some news, right? Aren’t you supposed to be en?—”
I spin away before she can finish her sentence, and spot my other sisters hovering by the bed. “Dallas!”
The fourth sister born in our family saunters over. Yes, my mother named us all alphabetically. Nana told her that was the way to do it, so that people could keep our names straight.
Personally I think Nana suggested it because she thought it was funny.
But Dallas comes over and flings her arms around me. When she pulls back, I spot a long scratch down her arm. “How’d you do that?”
“I fell off my skillet.”
Yes, we Southern witches ride cast-iron skillets instead of brooms.
I cock my head. “What? You’re a great flyer. How’d it happen?”
Emory snorts and casually drapes her hand over Dallas’s shoulder. “Oh, you know our sister—always up for a challenge. When Maddix Snow said that she flew her skillet all the way to the top of Pointy Hill and came back down without using the brakes, you-know-who had to do the same thing.”
Dallas smirks. “I still think she was lying. There’s no way Maddix made it all the way down without a scratch on her.”
Emory rolls her eyes. “She magicked it away.”
“Ugh. No good witch does that.”
Emory scoffs before pulling back from Dallas and taking me in. Her gaze starts at the top of my head and flicks to my feet before trailing back up and stopping on my gaze.
“It’s going to be okay, Addie.”
My throat tightens. “She said that she was tired.”
Emory’s face crumples. The dimple in her right cheek flutters before she schools her expression. “I can take away some of the sadness.”
I flick off her suggestion. “Don’t you dare. I want to feel all of it.”
She gives me a knowing nod. “I understand.”
Finn bounds up, her fire-engine-red hair bouncing in a ponytail behind her. “Don’t I get a hug?”
“Of course you do.” I throw my arms around her. “And how’ve you been?”
“Well, I’d be doing a lot better if Blair wasn’t bossing me around every day.”
A laugh bubbles in my throat and it feels good. “You work with her.”
Finn shrugs. “As if that’s any excuse.”
I peek over her shoulder and realize that we’re down a sister. “Where’s Georgia?”
My sisters each give me a wobbly smile. “She’s with Mama,” Chelsea says, slipping her hand through the crook ofmy arm as if to ease the blow that the youngest instead of the oldest is comforting our mother.
“Where is Mama?”
“She’s taking over now,” Ovie explains, stepping up. “You know that’s how it goes. You won’t see her for a while as she has to make sure the other witching families know that the transfer of power will happen soon, and that they’ll need to refer to her as matriarch. There are meetings and friendships to keep secure.”
I nod, understanding. As soon as the matriarch passes, the torch immediately goes to the next in line, and she takes up new responsibilities. Within the witching community there are alliances to shore up, as there are with any transition of power.
I inhale a deep breath because the only thing that’s left to do is see Nana. It’s what I’m here for, but what I’m also not sure that I can do.
Blair squeezes my shoulder. “She looks beautiful.”
