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Lakelyn sat back. “There is one more thing that needs an explanation. What we heard before Caspian came downstairs… that wasn’t an actual recording, was it?”

“No. It was Caspian’s memory of the night he died,” Miss Veda answered. “I helped him project it through the mansion so the people who needed to hear the truth could hear it.”

“I needed you to know exactly what happened. Not some version somebody else gave you, but mine,” I added.

She nodded.

“And Chalis being on the guest list?” she asked.

“That was our doing,” Miss Veda answered. “Your sister never invited him. The invitations and the names were handled without either of you knowing.”

Willow slapped a hand against her chest. “Thank you! I tried telling her I woke up one day with people thanking me for invitations I didn’t remember sending! And I know damn well I would’ve never put that nigga on the list!”

“Okay, Willow. I’m sorry,” Lakelyn said, holding up her free hand.

“Sorry? The way you fussed at me, I almost apologized for shit I knew I didn’t do! I need financial compensation for emotional distress and the damage done to my good name!” She leaned forward, lowering her voice. “But we can settle out of court for that Birkin I mentioned the other day.”

Lakelyn stared at her. “Girl, you are not getting a Birkin because I fussed at you.”

“Then I hope your rich ass got a good lawyer!”

The whole room fell apart.

Lakelyn doubled over against me, Miss Veda covered her mouth with one hand, and I laughed so hard I had to lean back against the couch.

Willow looked between us, completely serious. “Laugh now. That bag is cheaper than litigation.”

“We’ll, circle back to your ‘Birkin tantrum’ later.” Lakelyn’s expression shifted back to Miss Veda. “So when I suddenly changed my mind about making Chalis leave, did you have something to do with that too? Because I know damn well I would never have told him to stay.”

“Guilty,” Miss Veda admitted. “It was a temporary convincing spell. Nothing that changed your feelings. It only made it easier for you to tolerate his presence long enough for Caspian to finish what needed to happen.”

Lakelyn gave me a knowing expression. “Because you knew I was putting him out.”

“Baby, you had that nigga halfway to the door already.”

“Damn right.”

Miss Veda continued, “As for everyone else, they were protected from the confrontation. They won’t remember the gunshots, what they heard, or seeing Caspian. For them, the party simply ended normally.”

That seemed to answer the last major question about the night, but Lakelyn remained quiet for a moment.

Then she asked the one that mattered most.

“So now what?”

Miss Veda regarded me before answering her. “Caspian’s revenge is finished. That was one part of what kept him restless, but it was never the only reason he remained here. He was waiting for you.”

Lakelyn leaned closer against me. “Does that mean he gets to stay forever?”

“For now, yes.”

Lakelyn frowned in disappointment. “For now?”

Miss Veda’s expression softened. “I don’t make promises about forever when it comes to things neither the living nor the dead fully control. What I can tell you is that nothing is pulling him away tonight.”

I wrapped my arm around Lakelyn. “And I ain’t planning on going nowhere.”

Lakelyn settled against me, and I felt some of the tension finally leave her body.