Chapter 32
“I’VE NEVER HAD THE SHADES open during the day in this house before. It’s pretty magnificent,” Bastian says, lying on our bed, his head resting on his arm.
The morning sun filters over our legs, and I smile up at him, Aven on his chest. “Look at us,” Bastian says with pride, his grin wide, his teeth gleaming, and for a moment I miss the fangs that would pop out at different times. “We’re a family.”
“We are,” I say as he moves in, kissing me sweetly. “We need to start working on your memory.” The to-do list hits me, that drowning layer of overwhelm surfacing.
“Let’s get settled today, okay? I’ll get his furniture arranged so we have a place to at least put his things. It’s a lot, but we’ll get it all figured out.”
I nod, liking that idea. “I’m going to need a spell room. A place for my supplies,” I say, chewing my lip, my to-do list growing as we speak.
“How about the downstairs office? My office is upstairs.”
“Sure,” I say, still shocked I’m living in a house in the Garden District.
“I’ll add you to my bank account, but for now, you can use my cards to buy whatever you need for your spell room. Cassius said he put them on my desk.”
I look up at him quizzically. “I have my own money, you know.” Not much, but it’s mine.
“We share a child and a home. We’ll share my money, too.”
“Oh, right,” I say with a teasing tone. “We’re partners.”
He waves a finger at me, a mischievous smirk on his face. “You’re asking for it,” he chides. “Now that I’m not a vampire, I can bite you.”
“Tempting.” I smile.
He gives me that look, like he’d like to bite me. But his hand slides up and down Aven’s back instead. “I need a shower, then getting to work,” he says with a sneer, sliding Aven to me. He disappears into the bathroom just as a text pings from my phone, and of course, it’s my mother.
If that bitch Nicola thinks she’s stealing my grandson, she’s got another thing coming.
I would slap my forehead if I wasn’t holding the baby, I swear.
This is not Romeo and Juliet. We are not two families at war. We need to work together.
Oh, you’re so na?ve. That’s cute. Blessing ceremony is almost here. Time to mentally prepare for it, place a calming spell, and be ready for anything. How was your first night back home? Tell the baby his REAL grandma loves him.
My hand aches to propel my phone across the room, but instead I tell her fine, it’s all fine.
I’m so tired of being told what to do, but I know what’s required of me until we have a solid plan for how we’re going to tell the coven about Aven, and once we find out who the witch is that helped Franklin not only kill Bastian but put the protection spell on him.
Then there’s Bastian’s memory we need to dig around in.
After finally getting Aven to settle in his swing, I order a few things for my spell room: a long desk for potion making, fresh herbs and oils, candles, and a new set of knives.
“Where do you want this?” Bastian asks, carrying a box Mother had left for me when we arrived—contents the restoration company had packaged after the fire that I would need for my craft.
My old books and tinctures, assorted crystals, and tools.
Unsure if I’m ready to face the past of that old living room, I put on a brave face and point to the corner of the room.
“There’s fine,” I say, placing Winnie on the shelf where I’m planning my altar.
“I’m going to paint it dark green. What do you think?
” I ask, looking up at him as I take the books he never read off the shelves.
“Any color you want. But I’ll need a chair. Like the old days. I’ll sit in it and force you to talk to me when all you want to do is work.”
“Sounds glorious,” I say sarcastically, but it actually does.
“Cassius just got here, do you need anything?”
I tell him no, and once he leaves, I work up the courage to crouch next to the box he brought in.
I pull the tape from the top, slowly opening the sides as if something might jump out at me.
But nothing does; in fact, it’s exactly what I expected.
Old books, some crystals, even the planters from my dead plant experiment, sans dead plants.
At the very bottom is a velvet bag, and my heart drops at the sight. No. It couldn’t be.
I grab it swiftly, untying it and shaking the contents into my open palm.
And out drops multiple vials of the daywalking potion I created for Bastian.
It’s such a bittersweet sight, the oily potion mixed with Bastian’s blood tears of desire and my saliva.
The wonderful times we had and the horrendous all come flying back to me.
I look at Aven in his swing, the new spell room where I will continue my studies of being the best witch I can be, and I think, it all has to be worth something. It has too.
“Cassius!” I call down the hallway, and within minutes, Cassius is turning the corner, making his way to my spell room.
I hold the vials out to him; his brown eyes are suspicious, his mouth slightly open. “Take these, in case of emergency.”
“Is that?” he asks, his face disgusted by the potion he reviles.
“Just in case. You may never know.” I place them all in the pouch and give him the bag. And to my surprise, he takes it without a word.
We spend the next day unpacking, organizing, ordering groceries, and getting settled.
I haven’t been able to work with Bastian’s memories; I haven’t been able to mentally prepare for the blessing ceremony, which is in one day.
I find myself completely overwhelmed, in need of fresh air.
So I go to the place that cooled me, that calmed me during my pregnancy.
Memories flood back as I sit on the edge of the pool, and I can’t help but smile. The place where Bastian and I spent so much time together while falling in love, the place where I cooled my overheated body with Chantal while I was pregnant.
“Hey,” he whispers, walking behind me. I look up to meet his gaze while he pulls up his sweatpants, cocooning me as he slides his feet in the water. I lean back against him and exhale.
“I snuck in here the whole time I was pregnant with Chantal. And we just floated, wondering what our future held.”
“You snuck in? This place was yours.”
“Well, it took Cassius my entire pregnancy to offer it to me.” I laugh.
“Idiot,” he says, shaking his head. “We had some good times in this pool, you and I.”
I look back, reaching up to kiss his lips, our house of memories so full of love, it’s brimming. “The blessing ceremony is tomorrow. After that, we go to Pirate’s Alley, and we do everything we can to make you remember. It has to be the answer,” I say as he smells my hair.
“It’s one thing after another, and I can’t keep up. But I know the only way through this is to keep going. Get through the blessing ceremony and then get you to Pirate’s Alley to take your mind back in time.”
“If there’s anyone that will get this figured out, it’s you. It’s you.”
I nod, loving the confidence he has in me, wishing I had it in myself. His strong arms fold tighter around me, his chest pressed against my back.
“We are close to getting the answers we need.” He tucks his chin into the crook of my neck, and I reach back to run my fingers through his hair.
“Tomorrow I have to go in front of all of these witches, pretend my son is a daughter, while my mother tries to find signs from her dream. I know I’m not always the optimist. But I also know that this is worth fighting for.
There’s nothing bad or wrong about us being together.
There’s nothing bad or wrong about Aven.
Why should I be punished for having this family?
I’m going tomorrow, and I’m doing what my mother is asking because she believes something will be revealed.
But there must be a reason for all of this. There’s got to be.”
Bastian leans in to kiss me, his lips caressing mine delicately, his arm winding around my waist. “Aster, the little witch of my heart. You can move mountains. You raise the dead. You heal traumas, and you’re all mine.”
“Yours.” I sigh and then whisper, “Kiss me like you mean it.”
The next day, I pull the beige gown made of lace on Aven and share a disgusted look with Bastian.
“I just don’t feel good about this,” he says before he kisses me and Aven goodbye, a pained look on his face because he can’t go with us. “Be careful.”
I promise him I will, and that we’ll be home as soon as possible.
I awoke at sunrise and asked my ancestors and grandmother for strength getting through this day. Now is not the time for weakness. Now is the time to keep my head up and find the inner strength that’s buried deep inside me.