Page 52 of Love's a Witch
“What’s your magick today, Sloane?” Lyra asked, pausing her manic mushroom dancing to snatch Blue from the air and sprinkle kisses across his face.
“I don’t know. I’ve been able to suppress it so far,” I admitted. I was doing my damnedest to try to pretend like I didn’t have magick, even though it simmered just below the surface. It was like I was suddenly plugged into some universal magickal source, and power all but hummed through me. Was this how witches felt all the time? It was wild, really, knowing they just walked around with power at their fingertips.
I mean, shouldn’t there be some sort of training for this? Maybe a license bureau? I worried my lower lip as I considered the intricacies of setting up such a system. It would be prudent to try, though. Maybe I needed to speak to someone about it.
“Sloane.” Nova snapped her fingers under my nose. “Go get dressed. We’re leaving in ten.”
“Ugh, fine.” I stomped upstairs. Broca had lectured me earlier about joining in the community activities to try to mitigate people’s bad opinions of us, so I reluctantly stripped and tugged the costume over my head.
Turning to look in the floor-length mirror affixed to the back of my door, I sighed.
Princess Peach was not a look I’d normally go for.
There was just so much tulle. And pink upon pink. The bodice clung low, and I tugged at it, certain that the video game version of the character was not in a low-cut gown. Suspicious, I picked up the discarded package lying on my bed.
“?‘Sexy Princess Peach,’?” I read out loud, groaning. No wonder the skirt ended two inches above my knees. Turning, I looked over my shoulder to see where the costume dipped in the back, exposing a wide expanse of skin. I wouldn’t even be able to wear a bra. Surely my sisters didn’t expect me to go out like this. Ignoring the awful fake wig, I jammed the crown onto my head and pulled on Ugg boots. There was no way I was wearing heels in this snow, and frankly, I wasn’t sure I was even decent to leave the house like this.
“Wow,” Nova said, her mouth dropping open as I came downstairs in a huff, my arms held wide.
“Really? This is what you want me to wear?” I turned in a full circle while Lyra let out a low whistle. “Don’t you whistle at me. You get to wear the equivalent of a onesie out tonight, and you’ve shoved me into a skanky Peach outfit.”
“In fairness, you look really good in it,” Lyra said.
“She’s not wrong, Sloane. I think you need to go find Knox while wearing this. He’ll know what to do.” Broca winked at me, and my mouth dropped open.
“Broca! No. I’m never touching that man again. He wants to run us out of town, remember?” I raised a finger in the air. “Do you know what he did to me earlier?”
“No, do tell. In great detail, darling.” Broca leaned forward, a salacious light in her eyes, and I pressed my lips together and counted to ten in my head.
“He got me refused service at the bookstore!” I’d gone back to pick out the books I’d wanted for my birthday, and the cat sith fae woman had seen me coming and gently overturned the Open signin the window just as I was about to walk in. I’d pointedly looked at the time on my iPhone, and then back at her posted hours. She’d shrugged one shoulder, a sheepish look on her face, and I’d known. Knox was blackballing me around town. He wanted to make life as inconvenient for me as possible.
It would almost be easier if he’d go back to outright trying to drag me out the door than these insidious attacks on our residency in Briarhaven.
“Sloane, you look adorable when you’re mad like that. Like a pink puff ball of anger.” Lyra grinned at me and began bopping her mushroom-cap head again to some unheard tune.
“Have you been indulging in some medicinal mushrooms tonight?” I asked.
“Nope, this is all me. I’m just excited to dance.” Lyra held out her arms and shimmied, her mushroom costume gyrating around her, and I laughed.
“You’re making it hard to hate you for putting me in this stupid costume.”
“You look fabulous, Knox will swallow his tongue, and we’re going to have a blast even if nobody else talks to us.” Nova hooked an arm through mine and dragged me toward the door. “No matter what, we have one another. And we always have fun together, don’t we?”
She wasn’t wrong. Every year we spent Halloween in a new town, and every year we managed to make it fun for ourselves. This would be no different, even with the added layer of most of Briarhaven hating us.
Pulling on a long wool coat to cover my barely there outfit, I kissed Broca and Blue goodbye and went out into the snow. It wasn’t a far walk to the community center, and there was no way I was getting through tonight without an adult beverage or two.
Despite the snow, the night held a festive air, with light from open front doors spilling onto the sidewalk as children in costumes sang or danced for their treats. I remembered that feeling of excitementas a child, not caring if it was raining or cold, just wanting to be out on the streets late, with any excuse to earn a sweetie.
“Was it all bad?” Nova murmured, as two miniature witches and a werewolf scrambled past us, giggling as they tossed snow at one another.
“No,” I admitted, hooking my arm in hers, knowing she was talking about our childhood. “It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t all bad. We had one another. And when Mum and Dad weren’t fighting, they were quite fun.”
“Dad used to sing to us at the top of his lungs when we slept late,” Lyra remembered.
“Mum was killer at making our costumes.”
“Dad dominated during board game night.”
