Ovie sucks her teeth. “What does that mean?”
“It means what I said. As this family’s matriarch, I reserve the right to help move things along.”
“Um, Nana, you aren’t the matriarch anymore,” Chelsea delicately points out. “That’s now Mama’s role.”
Nana lifts her chin and pushes back her shoulders. “I’m sure Clara won’t mind sharing.”
From the sour look on my mother’s face, yes, she will mind sharing.
But even so, there’s a certain twinkle in Nana’s eyes that means trouble is definitely brewing. Great. This is just great. Exactly what I need, for Nana’s ghost to be a big fat bad omen hovering over my head like a bird looking for a place to poop on.
While Mama and Ovie usher Nana from the kitchen, Chelsea sighs, resting her shoulder on mine. “This is going to be awesome, isn’t it?”
“Nope.”
We both laugh and my sister adds, “This might not be so bad.” I shoot her a look and she shrugs. “It could be worse.”
“How?”
“Hm. Let me think about that.”
The truth is, it really couldn’t be worse. If anyone sees Nana, then tongues will wag. People will say that the Thornrose women are cursed. They’ll say things like,See? Even their grandmother had to come back from the dead to help them get married.You don’t want to be part of that family.
Yeah, ghosts are a terrible thing.
From the hallway Ovie yells, “Blair! You’ve got ten minutes until guests start arriving!”
“Yeah, Blair,” Nana calls out. “Get ready to be presented to all of Castleview, and Storm Grayson! Man, is he a looker. If I was still alive…”
Her voice fades out. Thank goodness. I have no interest in knowing what Nana would do to Storm Grayson in private if she was still alive.
I exhale an ocean of air. Maybe Nana showing up is the worst thing that’ll happen tonight. Maybe things won’t get any more harried.
And maybe the bad stuff is only just beginning.
5
Voices hum from behind the double doors. My heart pounds against my ribs. It feels like it’s threatening to throw itself out of my chest.
Calm down, Blair. Calm down.
The doors open and light floods into the dim hallway. The ballroom is full of witches and wizards, werewolves and vampires.
They’re all looking at me.
A wizard doorman to my right clears his throat. “I present Miss Blair Thornrose.”
I step into the room, and the sea of people part, nodding and smiling as I make my way past them. I should dance. I really should. But my nerves are all bunched up, so I murmur a few hellos and rush past the men looking at me with anticipation to find my aunt, who is hiding in the corner.
“Well, this is going to be fun, isn’t it?” I say to her, turning toward the crowd. “We get to hide Nana, attempt to get me married and have a successful ball. Think we can do it?”
Ovie downs a glass of punch, which I’m pretty sure is straight alcohol, judging by the pinched and overly tense look on her face.
“I justhopewe can get you married,” she replies tersely. “And that you don’t sabotage a relationship before it starts.”
I clear my throat, a sure sign of guilt. “What are you talking about?”
Ovie scoffs. “Blair Thornrose, Iknowyou. You’ve been asked out by several men in the past few months, but you haven’t gone out with any of them.”
