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  Charlotte stood in my room when I arrived, dumping my bags on the bed before turning her back on me with a grunt. Still pissed, huh? Oh, well. She'd get over it.

  She always did.

  “I take it you've managed to irritate Charlotte again.” Sassafras didn't miss a thing. I sat down on the edge of the bed amid my vacation belongings to give his mane a good scratch. Sassy's amber eyes closed over in a slow blink as his purr grew louder, whole body bending into my hand.

  “Just a little accident,” I said, keeping it mild.

  His head snapped up, purr cut off in an instant. “What did you do?”

  I laughed and set him down. “Nothing,” I said, tossing my things to the floor before hunting through my dresser for a pair of pajamas. “But I've decided to give up surfing.”

  He sighed, one of his patented Sassafras-will-kick-your-ass sighs. “Drowning, Syd, really?” So much sarcasm for such a fat cat body. “How utterly provincial.”

  I slipped into my walk-in to change. It had been a long time since I'd been innocent enough to forget he used to be a demon boy after all, and shouldn't be privy to certain of my body parts. “I didn't drown, obviously,” I said. “Not all the way.”

  I emerged in my tank and flannels to find him shaking his head. “Oh, Syd,” he said. “What are we going to do with you?”

  The covers beckoned and though it was early for me, now adjusted to the West coast's time, I was tired. Who knew vacations could be so tiring?

  “Anything happen while I was gone?” Time to head off this particular conversation.

  “Nothing we couldn't handle.” He glared at me, tail twitching as he stalked his way up to my pillow and curled himself into a ball. “Seems horrible things only happen when you're around.”

  Smartass cat.

  “I'm thinking about asking Sashenka to be my second.” Now why did I blurt that out? Probably because the guilt was now eating me alive as I lay there next to the one person who I could trust with anything.

  Sassy was silent for a long time, the end of his tail rising and falling as he worked it over in his mind. “She would be a good choice,” he said. “She's loyal, powerful, adores you. And now we're over the little nerves hiccup, I think she'd fit in well here.” She'd been so afraid I wouldn't like her when we'd first been roommates last year, Sashenka acted as if she didn't want me around. So much pressure on her shoulders.

  Did I have the right to add more? Or would joining my coven give her freedom?

  “What about Tallah?” I reached out and stroked Sassy's fur, starting his engine again. Soothing waves of calm slid over me and while I knew it was just his power manipulating me, I welcomed it. “How can I break up a family?”

  “It's her choice,” Sassy said.

  “I know,” I whispered, fingers stroking his front paw as he held my hand. “But it's family, Sass.”

  He sighed deeply, his whole body rising and falling from it. “You've been very family oriented lately,” he said, without judgment. He was the one who'd badgered me for so long to belong. “What's wrong, Syd?”

  Damn him, no way was I going to cry. Not after such a great vacation and with so much to look forward to. “Nothing,” I said. “I just respect Tallah. But the more I think about it, the more I think Shenka is the perfect choice.”

  He licked my fingers. “It will all work out the way it's meant to,” he said. “If I've learned nothing since I've joined your coven, it's that you Hayle witches seem to attract only the best and, despite the difficulties, you always end up stronger than before.”

  He was right. Like we had a handful of horseshoes shoved in various places.

  “Your grandmother missed you, by the way,” he said, voice sleepy as his eyes drifted closed. “And Liam. Fool boy was here with that hound every day asking about you.”

  Um hum. I leaned close and kissed his soft forehead, rubbing my cheek against his silky fur.

  “I missed you too,” I said.

  Grunt. One eye winked and closed again.

  Smiling with tears standing behind my eyes, I fell asleep.

  ***

  “Sydlynn,” Sebastian drew me into his powerful arms, draping me backward, the open throat of my ball gown offering up the smooth skin of my neck to his glistening fangs. “I've loved you for so long. I can't bear to be apart.”

  “My lord,” I breathed, gazing into his smoldering eyes, my body burning for his touch, breasts aching to burst forth from the bindings of my corset. “I'm yours forever.”

  His mouth descended, the heat of his breath bringing a gasp of pleasure from my lips as liquid fire poured through my body, setting aflame parts of me begging for release—

  ***

  “Syd.”

  A sharp nail prodded my cheek.

  “Syd, wakey.”

  Gasp. What?

  My eyes flashed open, locked on a pair of faded blue ones hovering so close I could barely focus on Gram's grinning face.

  “Breakfast.” She bounced in excitement, leaning on her elbows, hands in front of her mouth as her eyes danced with delight. “Up!”

  She giggled as she stood up, turning in a happy, dancing circle, fuzzy socks silent on my carpet as she jigged her way to the door where she paused and pointed at me with the same offending digit, bending it in summons.

  “Up!”

  Okay, okay. I waved at her as she shimmied away, humming a tune to which only she knew the words, falling back into my pillow while my body complained at the interruption of my dream.

  Blushing. I pressed both palms to my hot cheeks and bit my lower lip, a nervous giggle escaping. Oh dear.

  It was hard enough meeting Sebastian's eyes knowing what I did about his anatomy, but even worse when fantasy intruded without my permission.

  One very cold shower later and I could face Gram, though I yawned my way down the stairs and to the kitchen, body still on West coast time.

  Gram happily deposited a plate of Eggs Benedict at my place, where juice and milk already waited for me. I ignored the food, going to her, hugging her though she was busy dishing up her own meal, feeling her arms around me, spatula held high.

  “Love you,” I whispered. “I missed you.”

  She didn't say anything, but when I pulled away and met her eyes, they brimmed with tears. She grinned at me though, before filling her own plate and joining me at the table. Charlotte was already seated, waiting for us to start before beginning her own breakfast, silent and watchful as ever, while Sassafras noisily snuffled up the last of his tuna before tackling the cream in his china bowl.

  Family. Awesome.

  Why wasn't I surprised when Liam showed up, Galleytrot in tow? The big black hound licked my face when I hugged him. Liam didn't care I wiped the slobber off on the shoulder of his t-shirt.

  Another plate of eggs appeared, a bowl of fresh meat.

  More family. Sashenka was right. This was my home and I loved it here.

  “I've been doing a ton of research on the maji,” Liam started yammering between giant bites of breakfast. “Sebastian's been letting me practically camp out in the history room.”

  The vampire’s visit in my dreams leaped to my mind with the reminder. Blush. Damn it. If Liam noticed, he didn't say.

  We ended up outside on the bench after Gram shooed us away, her magic dealing with the dishes. Liam finally wound down about his research before flushing himself and taking my hand.

  “Sorry, I haven’t let you get in a word. How was your trip?”

  Funny, I didn't feel like talking about it. “Fun,” I said, softening the single word answer with a smile. “I missed home.”

  His answering smile told me I'd somehow managed to lead him on again.

  “We missed you,” he said. Stood up. “I should go.”

  Awkward. “Liam—”

  He didn't give me notice, warning, nothing. Just bent over me, his warm lips pressing to mine, hands gentle and tentative on my shoulders. I found myself kissing him back as much as I knew it
was a bad idea, leaning into his soft t-shirt, the fragrance of earth and fabric softener Liam's signature for me. I think I could have found him in the dark just by his distinct scent alone.

  When he finally released me, my whole body tingled and I swayed a little. Earth magic was powerful stuff. Liam stroked his thumb over my lips before offering a lop-sided smile, green glinting in his hazel eyes.

  “Love you,” he whispered before turning and loping off.

  I heard a grunt, turned to see Galleytrot push his way through the screen door and past me, eyes flickering with red fire as he met mine on the way by.

  Like it was my fault. Liam wouldn't listen to reason. And yes, I should have been more firm about the whole no-boyfriend thing. But he was relentless in his sweet and kind-hearted way.

  But how could I link myself to him when I was turning into something that scared the crap out of me?

  ***

  Chapter Four

  If there were indeed levels of hell, doing laundry was one of them. I shoved a half-dozen pair of wadded up underwear into a drawer and said good enough. Who folded that stuff, anyway?

  I kicked the basket into my closet and closed the door before sinking to my bed with a sigh. Now for a nice, quiet afternoon catching up on my favorite book series—romance fanatic? Guilty—and snack on junk while ignoring the world for one more day.

  Alas, the best laid plans. How quickly life returned to normal.

  With a rush of power, three witches passed through the family wards, two of them tied to the coven's magic. The other one was still welcome by the power living in the house, though. Acceptable since she’d spent most of her life as part of the coven.

  I could hardly blame the family magic for welcoming my mother home.

  Bouncing down to greet them seemed a little over the top, but despite my previous expectations of the day to the contrary, I was really happy for the distraction. Until I spotted the bags, boxes and bows Erica and Mom loaded onto the kitchen table before Mom opened her arms to me for a hug.

  “Oh no,” I whispered in her ear. “Sunny's shower.” How much did I suck? Here I was, maid of honor, and I'd forgotten the shower.

  Bad, Syd. Bad, bad, bad.

  Mom laughed and kissed my cheek, hers pale and a little drawn though her eyes were merry.

  “I wanted you to have a nice vacation,” Mom said, stepping away so Meira could hug me too. My little sister had grown again, her chin the height of my shoulder now. She was like the amazing stretching girl, her face maturing much faster than I liked. She’d been away most of the summer at Harvard, taking her extra training, so I forgot how fast she was growing up since she returned from Demonicon. Only eleven years old—eleven and a half if you asked her—she now looked fifteen.

  I'd be beating off the boys with magic-drenched sticks in the next little while.

  “Hey, Meems.” Her right horn poked my cheek as she turned her head to smile up at me.

  “Hey, Syd,” she said. “We brought everything, so don't worry.”

  “All under control.” Erica Plower, Mom's former second and now the Hayle coven representative on the Council, tossed back her blonde bob and winked, her cropped jacket and skinny jeans every inch the woman I knew. Mom might have still clung to the old ways with her floor-length black velvet skirts and puffy silk blouses, but Erica embraced what was current and hip.

  I just wished my butt looked that good. Sigh.

  Where once I would have dreaded family time, I found myself laughing and enjoying myself as we all pitched in to decorate the back yard. Even Gram got into the swing, though the embarrassingly shaped balloons she created were quickly popped while we all giggled like mad and Gram cackled with her hands on her knees and her eyes snapping with mischief.

  If Meira was blushing she hid it well behind her human facade. Because I know I was.

  Mom winked as she looked up, the soft gray clouds hovering over us twitching in the dying light of the afternoon. No, it wasn't really legal to mess with the weather, but I wasn't about to say anything for ensuring we'd have a dry and pleasant evening.

  I had just enough time to dash upstairs and change into a sundress and sandals, stuffing Sunny's present into the gift bag I'd bought and drenching it in fancy paper before the feeling of more people arriving drove me downstairs to play hostess.

  Weird, but fun and kind of gratifying, too. This was my first real experience with being a grown up when it came to having people over and, I'm happy to say, I wasn't as nervous as I expected. And yes, this whole shindig was my idea. The moment I had a chance, I jumped online and did some research into my duties, quickly filling in Mom, Erica and Meira who were instantly on my side and eager to help. Good thing, or this whole shower would have consisted of me standing in the kitchen with a lame excuse to explain why I’d forgotten once I mentioned it.

  Maybe my week spent relaxing in California did help though, considering I usually wasn’t all that confident around the family unless there was a major disaster to tackle, but it was more likely my new-found appreciation for the people in my life the real culprit.

  A stream of witches arrived first, younger members and older, all women. Naturally. Female witches and vampires were as excitable as the next girl when it came to a good bridal shower.

  By the time the sun finally set, the back yard was full of chattering, laughing witches sipping drinks and snacking on hors d'oeuvres as I anxiously checked my watch for the time.

  “They'll be here soon,” Mom said, tipping her glass to me. “This was a lovely idea, sweetheart. The perfect way to welcome Sunny into our family.” Was it hard for her to sit back and let me run the party? She didn't show it, if that was the case.

  I loved my mom.

  And then, with a shudder of shadow, the vampires began to arrive, flooding the yard with their glowing white power as they eagerly came forward to hug and mingle with the family. I found myself grinning at the spectacle, feeling my heart swell. Yes, we were allies and had been for some time, but ever since Sebastian's clan joined us in the fight against the Brotherhood, carrying the coven in partnership to do battle against a common enemy, the bond between our two people had firmed up. Old walls shattered, friendships formed between witch and vampire until I felt like my family had grown by another hundred people or so.

  Who cared if they were undead? I'd take them in a heartbeat.

  Mine. Since they didn't have one. Whatever.

  When Sunny appeared at last, Anastasia beside her, I rushed forward and hugged her, feeling her wrap herself around me in return. The second blonde vampire, one of Sebastian’s most trusted lieutenants, stepped aside, allowing us space, though with good humor for once. It took her a long time to warm up to me, even worse since I carried the vampire essence inside me, but despite our last uncomfortable run-in she seemed much more relaxed and even smiled my way.

  Not that I was really paying attention. Sunny gave the best hugs. Whole body squeezes telling me with no uncertainty how much she loved me. Her beautiful face lit up when she turned from our embrace to look over the crowd now watching her, as I leaned inside the house and turned on the lights.

  I could have used magic. But we had neighbors. So the strings of white bulbs and floating gauze fabrics Mom and Erica brought would have to do. Sunny gasped and covered her mouth with her hands, turning to me with a smile and tears in her eyes.

  “Syd,” she whispered. “Thank you.”

  The applause greeting her when she stepped forward made my heart sing.

  If anyone deserved to be happy, it was Sunny and my Uncle Frank. Sunny was welcomed and the party really started. Though I watched Mom's face as she hugged Sunny around the shoulders and saw her eyes fill with tears.

  I knew she was thinking about Dad. So was I. Meira too, from the hug she gave Mom. Their pairing severed and his ass firmly in the Second Seat of Demonicon, Dad's departure left a hole in all of our lives, but none more so than Mom's.

  She smiled at both Meems and me, kissed us as
she shooed us away. “I'm fine,” she said. “I promise. This is a happy night. Let's make sure Sunny knows we're thrilled to have her join our family.”

  Did we. Gifts and funny stories and games filled the evening, bows and ribbon torn from packages stuck to Sunny's hair. I nervously waited for her reaction to her present, unsure if I'd made the right choice. But when she held up the carefully secured pentagram necklace inside its blue velvet box, smiling at me like the sun coming up, I knew I'd done okay.

  Tied to my magic, like the one I wore was tied to Mom, Sunny would now have a piece of me everywhere she went.

  Which reminded me. I glanced Mom's way, finding her neck bare. She really must not have liked the new one Meira and I bought her to replace the necklace she lost. I tried not to feel hurt, focusing on the smiling vampire.

  “I love you, too,” Sunny whispered, voice catching as she hugged me, the pentagram warm between us. “Sister.”

  I grinned at her. “Um, niece.”

  That made her laugh.

  “Last game of the evening.” Erica held out a blindfold with a wicked grin. “Hide and seek, bride to be.”

  Sunny accepted the challenge. The moment she had her back turned, we all scattered. Well, not all of us. Some of the older witches remained behind, still chattering with their vampire friends but, for the most part, we took off for the park and dove for cover.

  I had the perfect spot picked out. The grove where she and I once talked, when I'd asked her to make me a vampire. Memory ran through me in a shudder, of the girl I was then, powerless and afraid for my family. That night, Sunny showed me a different side of her, the warrior inside the beautiful and giving vampire I already loved. Her strength helped me through one of the hardest times in my life.