“I’ll have to do that.” Ivy already had her phone out, looking at her site on the dark web. When her attention came back up, she stared at Aurora like a groupie about to drop to her knees at a Winter’s Revenge concert. “We were just raving about the moonluck.”
“As always, you sure know how to throw a party.” While Jade didn’t give the same devout, awe-induced stare, her compliment felt no less overdone.
A self-impressed smile played at Aurora’s lips. Somehow, despite being maybe an inch taller or the same height as all of us, she always appeared to be looking down. I held back my urge to eye roll or make a gagging sound. “Oakley, you must come to the blackout bash.”
“I’d love to”—there’s nothing I’d rather do less right now—“but there’s no one to watch Aspen.”
Sometimes having a little witchlingkeepingyou from social events had its advantages.
“So no word on Hazel yet?” Ivy asked.
“No. Not yet.” As if on cue, my phone buzzed in my palm. “How did you know?”
My eyes dropped to the screen, swiping to see what it was.
Lynx
Last-minute training session. Be there as soon as I can.
“Oh, there are no secrets in Starry Night’s coven,” Aurora stated.
Of course there weren’t.
This type of coven, one where everyone did everything together all the time, was very different from what I was used to in Salem. There, Atlas and I had mainly kept to ourselves, sometimes having parties or gatherings to attend, but usually he was the guest of honor and I was tagging along as his date. I didn’t understand the appeal of hanging out in large groups where half the niceties were forced.
That was Hazel’s thing. She would love going to a blackout bash. Maybe she’d even been to one here before I had moved in. I never asked. I really should have. Maybe if I’d not been so preoccupied with adjusting to motherhood—
“Come anyway. You’re welcome to bring the little witchling,” the Queen of Blessed Crescent continued, pulling me from my thoughts. She smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes.
Dammit.
“Are you sure?” I asked, hoping to give her another way to let me out of this. “It didn’t sound like these were really meant to be witchling friendly.”
“Not a problem.” The way Aurora said it like a challenge made it seem like she knew all too well what I was trying to do. “We don’t cast until midnight anyway. And we’ll have plenty of magic to pull from with everyone else in attendance. I do hope you’ll join us.”
Was that a dig that she knew I didn’t have enough magic to cast with them?
“I’ll try my best,” I replied with a forced smile.
Maybe I was reading into it, my anxiety over my waning power taking root. If this had been a month ago, I wouldn’t have given a fuck. But now that my magic dwindled to near extinction, it made me more sensitive about it. Letting a little of it come out to play during the full moon had been incredible, and I wanted the rest of it back.
“You really should come,” Jade insisted.
Ivy nodded. “It would be a blast.”
“Well, I better run. Lots to do.” Aurora gave a halfhearted wave before speed walking toward Blessed Crescent.
“We better head toward the bus stop before the kids arrive,” Jade said to Ivy, looking my way. “We’ll catch you later.”
“Sounds good!”
I watched them continue down the sidewalk a bit, playing with Aspen in his stroller. Then I parked behind Luna’s and looped my diaper bag over my shoulder. Grabbing Aspen in one arm, I knelt and picked up the portable baby seat with my free hand, the strap of my diaper bag sliding down. I quickly caught it and tried again, holding Aspen tightly while I scooped it up, hair falling in my face.
I took a deep breath before knocking on the truck’s door. The clinking of glass and rustling came from inside, steady footsteps growing louder before the door opened. Saros’s brow furrowed, then his eyes darted around behind me.
“It’s just me,” I said with a shrug, the motion sending my diaper bag off my shoulder again. Saros reached down and grabbed it, along with the baby seat. Setting them on the truck’s floor, he held the door open for me as I squeezed in, Aspen snuggled up against my chest.
“Aurora must have called another last-minute personal training session.” His lips pressed into a thin line.
