Chapter 10 #2
Lioness leaned forward, grinning. “So, promise.”
Crystal glanced at Mason, who looked like he’d rather face a live grenade than the combined force of the League. “You all sound like overprotective sisters.”
“Good,” Victoria said crisply. “Then you understand the dynamic.”
Mason cleared his throat. “What about me?”
“Oh, you’re not off the hook, sailor boy,” Magda said. “You’re staying here in Raoul’s apartment over the pool house. Enjoy the view, maybe mow the lawn.”
Mason blinked. “You’re benching me?”
“Think of it as shore leave,” Joell said. “You’ve earned it.”
Crystal turned to protest, but Sahara raised a hand. “You’ll both get your reunion when we’re back from Tennessee. For now, the League’s orders stand.”
There was a brief, uncomfortable silence. The surf pounded outside like punctuation.
Finally, Crystal exhaled. “Fine. I’ll stay put. For one night.”
“Five,” Joell demanded.
“Three.”
“Until we’re ready to let you go,” Sahara stated calmly.
“And not sneak off,” Victoria added.
“Not even a little bit,” Lioness echoed.
Crystal rolled her eyes. “You all realize you sound like my parole officers, right?”
Joell smiled faintly. “Yup. Is the message getting through?”
Lioness raised her mug of coffee in salute. “To Litha, the solstice, and not dying stupidly before breakfast.”
The others murmured their agreement, chairs scraping as the tension dissolved. Mason lingered, catching Crystal’s hand as the witches began to disperse.
“You gonna listen to them?” he asked quietly.
She smirked. “Technically, I didn’t promise anything. But I will not sneak off. Doesn’t mean I can’t plan a little something.”
“Remind me to never play poker with you,” he said, and kissed her knuckles while the witches' backs were turned.
From across the room, Lioness’s voice rang out, “I saw that!”
The screen door slammed behind Mason, his boots silent on the paved drive.
Through the window, Crystal caught one last glimpse of his broad shoulders, duffel slung over one, pausing at the edge of the path as if he could still sense her watching.
Then he squared his jaw and kept walking toward Raoul’s pool house.
The silence he left behind was thick as salt air.
Lioness broke it first. “Well. He’s cute, but I’m glad that distraction’s out of the way.”
“Lioness,” Joell warned.
“What? We all thought it.”
Crystal turned from the window. “You could at least wait until he’s out of earshot before calling me distracted.”
Sahara folded her arms. “He’s fine, you’re fine, but we’ve got bigger priorities. If we’re relocating to celebrate Litha, it’s got to be before sundown.”
Joell nodded. “Then let’s not waste time. Everyone to your stations.”
The words sent a ripple through the mansion. Lights flickered in approval, and the faint hum of magic rose underfoot, like the heartbeat of something ancient and alive.
Lioness grabbed a pastry from the counter. “Teleportation snacks are self-care,” she said through a mouthful of croissant.
“Less eating, more anchoring,” Magda muttered, sketching a rune on the wall in glowing blue chalk.
Crystal lingered at the window a heartbeat longer, watching the sun rise higher over Long Island Sound. “Guess this is goodbye, for now.”
“More like ‘see you after the solstice,’” Joell said, voice gentler. “Now brace yourself. The mansion doesn’t like sentimentality.”
The floorboards shuddered in agreement. Wind rushed through the hallways, though the mansion’s doors and windows were closed. The view outside blurred, the horizon bending like heat haze.
“Everyone holding onto something?” Sahara asked.
“I’ve got my coffee,” Lioness said.
“That doesn’t count,” Victoria replied.
The world tilted. Light flooded the foyer. For a moment, it felt like they were falling sideways through the sunrise. Then, as quickly as it began, it was over.
The ocean was gone. In its place: rolling green hills, a sky full of lazy clouds, and the sound of cicadas sawing the air.
Upon opening the doors, pine trees framed the long, dirt driveway, and the scent of honeysuckle wafted through.
Stepping up onto the porch was a woman in a floral apron, balancing a covered plate. “Well,” she said, unruffled. “You girls sure know how to make an entrance.”
Joell grinned. “Esmerelda. You saw the shimmer coming?”
“Of course I did. The goats bolted ten seconds before you landed. That’s my early-warning system.” She held up the plate. “Blond brownies, still warm. Figured all that world-saving makes a body hungry.”
Lioness swooped forward and took them reverently. “You’re a goddess, Esme.”
“I keep telling folks that, but nobody listens.” Esmerelda adjusted her glasses. “You celebrating Litha again this year? I brought extra marshmallows for the fire pit, assuming Brianna hasn’t blown it up yet.”
“That was an experiment,” Brianna muttered.
“Mm-hm. So’s my lemonade, but at least mine’s drinkable. I’ll fetch some.”
As Esmerelda toddled back toward her cottage, the witches exhaled as one. The mansion creaked, then settled into its new surroundings, stretching out like a cat in sunlight.
Joell turned to the others. “All right, team. Let’s make this solstice count.”
Crystal stepped out onto the porch, eyes tracing the line of distant mountains glowing gold in the late afternoon light. “Yeah,” she murmured. “New season. New fight.”
Behind her, Lioness snorted. “And hopefully fewer near drownings.”
Magda clinked her glass against Lioness’s. “Cheers to that.”
“And to brownies,” Lioness added.
The laughter drifted out over the Tennessee hills, carried on warm wind and the soft, contented hum of a mansion finally home again.