“Are mortals embarrassed by discussing sex in front of authority figures?” Elspeth asked.
“Oh my God,” exclaimed Harvey.
Elspeth regarded him with dismay. “Don’t call upon the false god in front of ladies!”
“Sorry,” Harvey mumbled.
We collapsed into silence. In the quiet, I heard the front door swing open. Everybody tensed. We’d laid many protection spells upon our threshold since vulnerable invalid witches lived here. We’d learned caution after attacks by witch-hunters, countless demons, and Satan himself. There were only so many people who should be able to enter.
The fruit and flowers of the corpse plant tumbled from Aunt Hilda’s arms onto the table like blood rain. Salem’s shadow loomed against the salt and pepper shakers. Aunt Hilda turned toward the door, a vision of golden rage in a Sexy Witch apron.
“Salus! ” she murmured.
Elspeth rose, blanket falling from her nightgown-clad figure. “Salvus. ”
We were three. Though I couldn’t say I felt any particular mystical connection to Elspeth.
“Ardens ,” I whispered.
Tiny lines of blue lightning wrapped around the silver rings on my fingers. Hellfire came to me so easily.
“Dracarys ,” murmured Harvey, and shot me a smile. “That’s from a TV show. Just trying to be supportive.”
Despite the smile, I saw he’d reached for the gun propped beside his chair. I laid a hand on his shoulder and aimed my other hand at the door. The faint glow radiating from my palm moved as the door swung open, falling like a spotlight on Roz’s startled face. Theo was right behind her.
“Oh. Sorry, guys.”
Roz and Theo were two of the very few people I trusted unconditionally. My protection wards would always let them pass.
The scrape of Harvey’s chair made me glance toward him. My hand fell away from his shoulder as he rose, face alight with quiet joy.
“Hey, it’s my man.” He fist-bumped Theo. Then he cupped Roz’s face in his hands. “Hey,” he said, soft. “It’s my girl.”
Harvey kissed my best friend on the mouth. He lingered over the kiss, staying close to Roz’s smile as though he liked to be there. When they strolled over to the table, Harvey’s arm was around his girlfriend’s shoulders. He picked up one of the lavender blossoms from the table and drew the petals down Roz’s glowing brown cheek. He kissed the flower and then folded Roz’s fingers over the stem. Harvey was always offering tokens and gestures, small tender proofs that love never left his mind. I remembered.
“Thanks,” Roz murmured, rewarding him with another smile.
“Don’t touch the fruit,” Harvey cautioned. “They’re poisonous.”
Roz edged toward the table so she could lay the flower discreetly down. She waggled her fingers at me in greeting.
I waved. “Wasn’t expecting you guys until later.”
“I woke early,” Roz said. “And Theo always rises at some awful hour with the chickens, so I swung by to get him on the way.”
“Two words for you, witches,” said Theo. “Farming hours.”
He rubbed a hand over his buzz cut and wandered over to the table, where he gave Elspeth an uncertain nod. Even sitting down, Elspeth was taller than Theo. Most people were taller than me and Theo, but I liked to think we made our presence felt.
I gave Theo a fist-bump as Harvey had, the light twined around my fingers giving a final glimmer before going out. “We run a funeral home, so we’re in the clear.”
A joke occurred to me about corpses rising late, but Harvey wouldn’t enjoy necromancy humor. Even now, we heard the patter of tiny incorporeal feet on the stairs and I saw Harvey flinch.
“Don’t worry, Harvey,” said Aunt Hilda. “It’s only the ghost children.”
The restless shades of children who’d died at the Academy lingered on in their halls. It turned out the living students who attended the Academy counted as the spirit of our school, because even the ghosts had relocated to our home. As if we didn’t have enough house guests.
“The ghost children haunt me,” Harvey muttered, then blinked in a worried fashion. “Uh, not literally. I just think about them a lot. But I’m not scared of them!”
Aunt Hilda tucked a comforting hand into the crook of his elbow. Harvey looked at the top of her head with pleased surprise. He always seemed startled that she liked him. This was absurd, since Aunt Hilda made it clear Harvey was her favorite.
“I thought we could get a head start on our Fright Club meeting,” Roz said, leaning against my chair.
I smiled at her gratefully. “Good idea.”
Theo was eyeing Aunt Hilda’s cooking with interest, but Harvey drew him protectively away. He mouthed snakes and Theo stared in confusion.
“Why did you kids change your club name from, what was it, WICCA?” Aunt Hilda wanted to know.
“WICCA was a school organization,” Roz explained. “Dedicated to supporting women and fighting systemic injustice. Our Fright Club is more a personal quest.”
Aunt Hilda offered Theo a spoonful of mince, but Theo glanced at Harvey and wisely shook his head.
“How do you mean, a quest?”
Aunt Hilda liked to take an interest in my mortal friends. Partly because my aunt Zelda made it clear she wished I didn’t have mortal friends. I didn’t think she was suspicious.
“Well …” said Roz. “The Fright Club is just the four of us, researching evil and trying to do good.”
None of my mortal friends were great liars.
I gave Aunt Hilda a mischievous grin. “Maybe someday we’ll have a bake sale. Let’s go to our club room!”
“You don’t want waffles?” Aunt Hilda inquired.
Harvey and Theo looked conflicted. Roz valiantly resisted the waffles temptation.
“I want waffles,” said Elspeth. “And I want the heaven-sent one to carry me back to my fainting couch, where I will eat waffles.”
“What do we call me?” Harvey asked.
“Witch-hunter,” said Elspeth, grinning. “Mortal.”
Harvey shook his head.
“Harvey ,” Elspeth obliged.
“See, it’s not hard.” Harvey scooped up Elspeth and carried her toward the door.
Roz seemed unmoved by the sight of her boyfriend princess-carrying another girl around. I guessed she knew she had nothing to worry about. Harvey so transparently adored Roz.
Theo and Roz made for the door. Before I could follow, Aunt Hilda caught my hand.
“Sabrina, can I have a word?”
My heart thumped hard, a telltale sign of guilt. “Sure.”
When I dared look at my aunt, she was gazing at me benevolently, with no sign of accusation.
“I’m so glad you’re spending time with your mortal friends,” Aunt Hilda whispered. “I know they’ll take your mind off … that awful business with poor Nick. You’re doing the right thing, my brave girl.”
“I hope so.” I averted my eyes. My aunts had no idea what my friends and I were really up to.
I gave Aunt Hilda a quick hug and fled, out the door and up the stairs after the others. We made our way to the attic that was my cousin Ambrose’s bedroom. Even though he’d been gone for weeks and we were badly off for space, we tried to keep the room set apart and ready for Ambrose to return to. But I knew my cousin would want me to use the space, if I needed it.