Chapter Nineteen
Dain
“Ready?” Lanche asked me, holding out his hand.
I stepped away from my car, took his hand easily, and I sent my brother, Paxton, a small smile.
He was nervous about meeting all these new people—I couldn’t blame him since I was nervous too—but I had no doubt the Ellwoods would make him, make all of us, feel welcome.
How Lanche’s family would react to Paxton and me was another story.
I nudged my little brother with my elbow, making him roll his eyes at me, clearly hiding a small smile, and the three of us walked over to Glacier, who was getting out of his car too.
I glanced inside and saw three women—definitely snow yetis and definitely related to Lanche—staring at me from the back seat. A fourth was in the front seat, playing on her phone and not paying us one bit of attention.
Glacier hugged Lanche, then hugged me, and I returned the gesture, trying not to be awkward as fuck since I wasn’t used to hugging people I barely knew.
“Good to see you again, Dain.”
I sent Glacier a smile. He was a really nice guy and Lanche’s best friend, so I was glad he seemed to like me. “Good seeing you too. This is my brother, Paxton.”
“Nice to—” My brother was cut off when Glacier pulled him into a hug as well. Paxton’s eyes met mine over Glacier’s shoulder, going wide, and all I could do was grin and wink at him.
We so weren’t used to hugs, but I had to admit it was kinda nice.
Glacier released my brother and sent me a wink, then opened the back door of his car, saying, “You guys getting out anytime soon? Or have you decided to live in my car for the rest of your miserable lives?”
The one closest to him lifted her hand, and a snowball came flying out of nowhere—out of her hand?—and smacked Glacier right in the face. He sputtered, backing up as he wiped snow off while everyone, including me, laughed their asses off.
“Good one, Blizz,” Lanche said, still chuckling. “Guys, this is my viramore, Dain, and his brother, Paxton. Dain and Pax, this is Blizzard, Tundra, Ice Cream, and Flurball.”
Flurball?
The girl in the front seat flipped Lanche off. “My name’s Flurry, douchecanoe.” She sent me a smile. “Nice to finally meet you, Dain. And you too, Pax.”
I waved. “You too.”
“Hey, guys,” the woman in the middle of the backseat said. “My name’s Ice, not Ice Cream, by the way.”
That made me grin at her. “That’s what I hear.”
She snorted, and then all four of Lanche’s big sisters climbed out of Glacier’s car. Tundra shook my hand and Paxton’s, but the rest all gave us both hugs. I could tell my brother was overwhelmed, but he also seemed pleased by their reactions.
I nudged his ribs with my elbow to silently check on him, and he gave me a nod and a very tiny smile.
Good. He was fine.
Lanche’s parents pulled up, and this time, I wasn’t surprised by the big kiss on my cheek and huge hug from his mother and the bear hug with a pat on the back from his father.
It was exactly what they’d done the second Lanche had told them I was his viramore when they’d come to check on him at his house the other day.
Paxton received the same treatment, making me grin at his parents.
Yeah, we weren’t used to all of this, but I appreciated that everyone was including him as well. He deserved all the love and affection this big family had to give.
“Alright,” Lanche said, getting everyone’s attention. “Ready to head inside?”
There were nods and affirmations all around, and Lanche led the way up to the edge of the wards surrounding Remi Ellwood’s home. Remi was one of Ailin and Seb’s kids and also a good friend of mine. Bel, Remi’s viramore and a purple-haired fae, came right out with a big smile on his face.
“Hey, everyone! I’m Bel. I can let you through our wards, but you have to put your hand on it so I don’t miss anyone.” Bel shot me a grin and even though we were on opposite sides of his wards, he leaned closer to me and whispered, “Congratulations, Dain.”
I’d known Bel for years. Back when he’d lived on the streets, he used to come into the bookstore often to warm up and charge his phone.
He was a good person who played amazing music—seriously, he was the best musician I’d ever heard—and I was lucky to call him a friend. He was really close with Anton too.
“Thanks.” I shot him a small smile, then reached over to grab Lanche’s hand as we both placed our free hands on the ward.
A purple haze surrounded Bel, then sort of melted into the wards, making them more visible. A purple streak of his magic extended out of the ward and wrapped itself around my wrist, and I could tell it was getting a sense of who I was. I glanced around, seeing everyone’s wrists wrapped in purple.
Lanche’s dad grimaced, looking uncomfortable, but everyone was putting their trust in me since these were, technically, my friends and family we were going to see today.
The magic swooped back into the ward and flared brighter for a moment before fading away, and Bel shot us a grin. “Okay, you can come on in. Happy Winter Solstice, by the way. Follow me.”
I glanced at my brother, who shot me a nervous smile before he bravely stepped through the ward.
Since he did it, I figured it was my turn, so I tugged on Lanche’s hand and led him through.
It felt like walking through a giant mountain of jello, but the feeling only lasted for a step before I was through to the other side and able to take a deep breath.
“Wow, that was… intense.” Lanche shook himself out. “And I thought the new wards on your apartment were bad. Geez.”
I snorted. “This ward has been up for years and charged up by a billion Ellwoods all the time. Of course it’s worse than mine.”
“Fair point.”
With Lanche’s family and my brother in tow, we followed Bel around his house to the backyard where a big shed stood with about twenty people standing in front of it. I blinked. I didn’t realize everyone was waiting for us, but apparently, I was wrong.
Anton, Keryth, and all their kids, including Jed, were there, which accounted for so many people. Garrick, Tan, Oakley, and Roman were as well. Huh.
Everyone greeted us and even more hugs were given as I introduced my baby brother to everyone. Lanche introduced his family, and then everyone was talking and messing about. Anton and Keryth’s littlest kids started running around, chasing Tan’s orange cat, giggling up a storm.
Remi clapped his hands, cleared his throat, and said loudly, “Everyone ready?”
“Sure,” I said at the same time as five other people, making me chuckle.
Ignoring the giggling children, Remi smiled at us. “All you have to do is walk through the portal, and it’ll take you straight to my parents’ house. They have their portal in a shed too, and Tan already added you guys to the wards on the other side, so everything’s good to go.”
I wasn’t sure why, but I was nervous.
Like, really nervous.
I’d never traveled by portal before—honestly, most people outside of the Ellwood Coven hadn’t—and to top it off, I’d never even left the city before, either.
And here I was, using a portal to travel halfway across the world to some random house in Brinnswick. What the hell had my life become?
“It’s going to be okay, sweetheart,” Lanche said to me through our link.
I shoulder-bumped him. “I know. I’m just nervous.”
“Me too. But this is going to be a fun day. I just know it.”
I sent him a fond smile before getting in line for the portal. Lanche held my hand the entire time until it was my turn to walk through.
Remi was standing there, overseeing everything, and he smiled at me. “You guys can go through together. You don’t even have to let go of his hand.”
“Really?” My eyebrows rose in surprise.
He nodded. “Yep. Bel and I have done that a million times.”
Well, okay then.
Lanche squeezed my hand when I glanced at him, and I held on tight before stepping through.
My stomach flipped as my body was transported across the world, but as soon as I was through the doorway, I felt… completely normal. Like… that had felt way smoother than walking through the ward earlier.
Huh. No big deal at all.
I blinked, worried it hadn’t worked for a few seconds until I saw Seb and Ailin standing outside of the opened shed door.
Lanche walked through behind me as Seb waved me forward. As soon as I stepped out, he pulled me into a hug. “Thank you for coming.”
I nodded, sort of in a daze. “Of course. Happy Solstice.”
“Happy Solstice.” He grinned at me when he released me and went for Lanche.
Ailin hugged me as well, although his hug was quicker than Seb’s. “Good to see you, kiddo.”
Once he gave Lanche a quick hug and everyone else came through the portal behind us, Ailin said, “If you follow the path around the side of the house, it’ll take you to the backyard.
It’s not fenced in or anything, but it’s warded against the weather for the day, so you might see the ward.
It won’t affect you. There’s food, drinks, games, and all kinds of stuff back there.
Please help yourselves and make yourselves at home. ”
I took in my surroundings and jolted when I got an eyeful of the house he wanted us to walk around.
“Holy shit. It’s like a woodland castle or something,” I murmured, and Lanche nodded in agreement—I saw it out of the corner of my eye since I couldn’t take my eyes off the huge house.
Seb and Ailin’s house was made of living trees that had grown and shifted to form a gigantic house that looked like something out of a fairytale book.
There were leaves and vines climbing along the sides, and some of the windows were a sort of oval shape, almost looking like a natural divot in the trees, only they had glass and curtains.