Dhylan stopped dead in his tracks, startled. “I… was going to give you a hello kiss?” he answered hesitantly while Sariah’s lips quivered with suppressed laughter.
“Amorah doesn’t like to be touched.” It was Alysah who explained, joining our little group with Thyler.
“Oh. I’m sorry. I should have guessed… I guess?” The poor guy seemed so confused.
My mouth twitched too with his statement, but I reinforced my resting Witch face. Lifting a challenging brow, I cocked a hip, crossing my arms.
“No need to be sorry. How could you have known that? She likes being dark and mysterious,” Sariah added, clearly mocking me, and I threw her a side glance, seeing her smirk.
“What I don’t understand is what would ever compel you to try to kiss the Amethyst Witch,” Alysah asked sarcastically, blowing a bubblegum until it popped. “I mean, she is Devirah Blahk’s daughter after all.”
“Seriously. What were you thinking?” I agreed, enjoying Dhylan’s growing discomfort a bit too much.
“You should have known better,” Sariah chided.
“I… uh—” he stuttered, and the three of us burst into laughter.
“Sorry, that was too easy,” I confessed, chuckling while Sariah and Alysah high-fived each other.
“Oh! You were joking?” He sighed, relieved. “So, I can kiss—”
“Nooo,” both Alysah and Sariah answered with wide eyes and a slow shake of their heads.
“No touching unless you want to lose your hand,” I clarified, dead serious.
“Gotcha.” Dhylan swallowed.
“Wait! There are snake pits in the astral plane?” Thyler asked, disturbed, and Alysah smacked his stomach.
“It’s just an expression. Keep up, boy.”
“Oh.”
A bottle of beer suddenly floated towards me in a bright green mist, and I eagerly snatched it. Dhylan grinned, eyes sparkling, when I accepted his peace offering.
“Wait!”
I froze when Alysah’s hands rose over the mouth of my beer.
“I haven’t done my thing yet, woman.” Joining both hands, her index and middle fingers swiftly touched, forming a diamond shape in the air, and then threw it upwards. “Domo!” Glowing lines of pink energy drew the shape mid-air, and then it burst, the flickering power falling into the bottle like glitter dusting.
“All yours,” she announced with a satisfied grin, enjoying her drink.
The spell had been simple, for her, instantly removing all alcoholic effects the liquor could have on me but left the delicious beer flavor. At eighteen and nineteen years old, Alysah, Sariah, and I were still teenagers after all. So was everyone else here.
“So, what exactly are we doing?” I asked, taking a sip while looking more closely at the faces that surrounded us. “Who can I jinx?”
4
“No one!” Sariah and Alysah screeched at the same time.
“As wicked as it is that you can break through another Witch’s wards, jinxing the hell out of them until they are barking and wagging their ass like dogs—”
“That was fun.” Alysah grinned, interrupting Sariah.
“I know.” I snorted proudly. “Sensah totally had it coming.”
“Excuse me!” Sariah barked, and we turned to her. “As fun as that was, we are celebrating my friend’s birthday. Messing with anyone here is out of the question,” she chided.
“Fine,” I sighed. “Then, I’m leaving. I was having fun before you brought me here.”
“Hey! What happened to the pink?” Alysah shrieked, finally noticing the change and clearly offended my hair was back to normal.
“My uncle happened.”
“Huh, the Voodoo King is in town?” she asked, intrigued. “I haven’t seen him in months. It figures.” She huffed. “No one else could have broken that spell.”
Mischievously grinning, I wiggled my eyebrows at her. “A powerful Witch needs powerful allies.” Mother was right about that. “And where did your pink go?” I pointed to Alysah’s now turquoise pigtail braids with the beer bottle and took another drink.
“I got bored.” She shrugged.
“You look gorgeous in any color,” Thyler added, pulling her to him for a kiss while Sariah and I covered our mouths, fake gagging at the same time.
The guys laughed. “I can see why the three of you get along,” Dhylan offered.
“Against all odds,” I admitted just as a sappy song flared in the background, and Thyler took Alysah back to the makeshift dance area.
“If you’ll excuse me, I’m not done trying to convince your gorgeous friend to date me,” Dhylan added, heavy on the flirting. His hands reached for Sariah’s waist, bringing her against him, and her eyes sparkled with naughtiness in response.
She might be a light Witch, but she was bad with boys. The poor guy had no idea what was coming.
“Seriously?” I grunted. “This is why you brought me here? To watch you all make out?”
Sariah’s lips twitched, and she gave me a pointed look. “Don’t be so clingy, it’s not attractive. I’ll be right back.”
Rolling my eyes, I turned around, walking away from the party and towards the seashore. I left my friends to dance with their hotties while taking another drink of my beer, seriously considering it was time to go solo.
I did not do group dates.
Unable to escape the smile that curved my lips, I closed my eyes as my feet sunk into the wet sand, and I wiggled my toes under it. There was something about the beach that called to me, and I was hopeless but to give into it. That moment alone made it worth going there tonight.
Floating the beer bottle to stand on the sand, I removed my leather jacket and dropped it. The breeze soon engulfed me; every little hair on my body stood on end when the cold and raw electricity in this place washed over me. Lifting my face to the sky, I focused on the moon. It was full tonight, exuding love, magick, cleansing, healing, and physical energy.
I welcomed it, opening my arms to channel it fully, and dropped my personal wards until I soaked in all the awesome vibrations the night had to offer. Unrivaled peace flowed into me, making me feel alive. Loose strands of hair swayed around my face and back when the breeze flew around me. Energy coursed through my being, bursting from my pores in tiny amethyst sparks that twinkled in the darkness. It was like my magick increased here, making me feel invincible.
With a deep breath, one of my powers awoke. My astral vision took over my eyes, making them glow brightly—like they always did when I used one of my abilities. Keenly, my gaze roamed the skies, taking in the astral plane in all its astounding glory. I admired each overlapping dimension and planes of existence in the universe, along with the unseen creatures inhabiting them.
The snake pits were real… and nasty.
When my attention returned to the moon, my blissful smile widened. I wasn’t sure why, but whenever I used my astral vision, I saw the moon as our Triple Lunar Goddess—each phase representing a stage in a woman’s spiritual journey. The new waxing moon, the maiden, a full moon, the mother, and a waning moon, the crone, shone luminously set side by side.