“What’s going to happen when Atlas has to attend his quarterly Archon Summit?”
“I’m not sure.” I inhaled deeply a few times, trying to ignore my anxiety about how things were going for them right now. I couldn’t hear them through our shared connection from this far away, but I would have been able to sense if there’d been an emergency of some sort. “Hopefully his amplified powers will hold any glamor he illusions. We’ll make sure he has enough magic after this next full moon, and one of the guys will have to go with him.”
“Have you heard anything from Aurora?” I asked Hazel, and her eyes briefly snapped up from Aspen, dark-brown irises glaring.
“You really think she would contact me?” She tickled Aspen, smiling at him, though her tone was slightly annoyed. “It wasn’t that deep, Oakley. But I appreciate that you think it was.”
“I don’t know. When I brought you up during the interrogation and how you didn’t think she was capable of killing Acacia, that seemed to shake her.”
“Yeah, but shedidkill Acacia.” Her voice rattled, body tensing a moment before she relaxed back into playing with Aspen.
“People do desperate things if they’re scared enough.” I got up from the floor, setting the crystals and herbs that I’d been preparing aside and joining her on the couch. “You won’t ever see me rooting for Aurora, but I don’t think she was as bad as I’d originally believed.”
“Honestly?” Hazel’s lips were a flat line, and she brushed some strands of her brunette waves behind her ear. “I’m hoping our paths don’t cross again. The fact that she knew I was in Acacia’s hidey-hole and was more willing to let me die than take the fall doesn’t make her too endearing.”
“I mean, imagining her living her life on the run in that awful puke-green jumpsuit is pretty satisfying,” I teased.
Hazel chuckled with me, shaking her head. “I’m sad I missed it.”
“I’m not.” That night had definitely made for one of my worst. Being taken, seeing Saros broken and bloody, watching the life bleed out from Atlas…
I shuddered.Everything is okay now.“I’m so glad you were here with Aspen. I knew he was safe with you. If anything had happened—”
“You’re not allowed to finish that sentence,” Hazel said, effectively cutting me off. She lifted my witchling up, handing him over to me before she grabbed her phone and swiped to check it. Then she tucked it in her back pocket and hugged around us both. “I’m just glad you guys figured it out.”
She stood up from the couch, looking eager. My gaze narrowed.
“Ready to go walk through that space at Mystic Square?” Her tone perked up as she pointed to the garage. “I know you delayed the opening a bit, but the brick and mortar Full Moon Emporium will be the perfect place to host the next moonluck.”
“Yes, it will,” I agreed with a smile.
“So why don’t we go check it out?” She waved her arm for us to come along. “Finally do that walk through?”
Following her out into the garage, I bounced Aspen on my hip. “Sounds great.”
After getting Aspen in his car seat, we took the seven-minute drive to the edge of the neighborhood near the docks where the aquatic supernaturals dwelled.
Mystic Square was a small outdoor mall with about a dozen storefront spaces. Between Vivaldi’s Restaurant—a fancy supernatural fusion spot with a hidden speakeasy-esque backroom that was known to be the headquarters for their operation—and Booked & Brewed bookshop was the empty space. Faded remnants of the old record shop sign and crackled paint overtop its doors were the only clue as to what had been there previously. I tried to imagine seeing Full Moon Emporium’s sign up there in a few weeks. Hazel was getting it made as a grand opening gift.
“Wow,” I said when we got inside, feeling a bit breathless, my eyes glossing with tears. “This is perfect.”
It had a wide-open space with a perfect nook for lounge chairs for those waiting on their spouses and a row of small booths that apparently used to be listening stations that would become dressing rooms.
“Right?” Hazel agreed, clearly pleased with her find. “The minute I opened the door, I saw it.”
My attention snapped to her. “You saw it? Like…sawit.”
“Yes,” she said with a smirk.
I was shocked. “I thought you weren’t going to share your visions with me anymore?”
“I think I’ll make the occasional exception,” she replied, running her hand over the spacious countertop. I could imagine beautiful displays with crystal talismans hanging from them on one side, the register on the other.
“Any others you’d be willing to make?” I asked curiously.
“Hmm… I might be convinced.” She shrugged, continuing to point out different features for another fifteen minutes. Then we walked through the next steps to prepare for the upcoming moonluck. We wouldn’t have everything situated in time, but it would be enough to kick things off for the shop. There even was a small back room that I could use to create my designs in and a corner I could gate off for Aspen when he was at the shop with me—and any other kiddos that came in while their parents were browsing.
“What do you think?” Hazel asked, hands flipped up in question. “Is it love?”
