“Speaking of what?” Joey’s lavender eyes looked violet in the dim light of a street lamp.
“Website,” I said. “Let’s see it.”
To her credit, Joey didn’t act as if she didn’t know what I was talking about. She just smiled shyly. “How’d you find out?”
“That guy told me about it.”
“Oh,” she said, her pretty bow mouth making a perfect circle.
I waited, and she closed the distance between us to show me her phone. She’d opened the Facebook app, and my face smiled at me from a tiny box with a picture of my kitchen in full brewing-mode behind it, taking up a bar across the page.
“This is your fan page,” she said. “I post updates every couple of days about how busy you are or what’s a good spell for the time.”
“Joey, you can’t do that,” I said, blinking at her.
“I don’t put anything up you don’t actually do.”
“But you’re not a witch. You can’t know what spells are good when,” I said.
“Ronnie’s teaching me. I have a page for her too.” She swiped the screen quickly to show me a page with Ronnie’s quiet smile and a picture of her shop’s front window as the background.
“I have more fans than her.” I didn’t mean to sound so proud, but it surprised me.
“You have more Instagram followers too,” Joey said, showing me that app next. “But she’s got more Twitter followers.”
“Dude, how many accounts did you open for us without telling us?”
“Oh, Ronnie knows,” Joey said with a small shrug.
I took the phone and paged through all the pictures and tweets. There were a lot of really cool pictures. She’d gone around my kitchen taking pictures of potion bottles with moonlight bouncing against the glass. My spell pots bubbling away on the stove. Pictures of me stirring a potion. A picture of me igniting a flame with my wand. Pictures of Artemis in different poses around the apartment, his yellow eyes always catching the light. The pictures of Artemis had the most number of likes. The last picture was posted less than three minutes ago. I was standing in front of the club, my eyes closed and face lifted to the night sky. It was sort of beautiful.
“Ronnie knows about this?” I switched to Twitter to find that Joey tweeted for both of us. Most of Ronnie’s tweets consisted of specials going on at the store or tips about herbs and moon magic. My tweets were more sporadic and looked like copies of my updates on Facebook.
“Yeah, it was her idea. Help drum up business, you know? Since I’m basically her assistant, she made it part of my job.”
“You coulda warned me,” I said, handing her the phone.
“Ronnie said you’d hide from the camera if I did.” She shrugged, finally tucking the phone away. She wasn’t wrong about that—I was practically photophobic.
“Well, at least I know why I have so many new human customers.” I popped my collar against a cold breeze winding through the deserted streets. The noise inside was swelling louder, and I knew we would miss our chance to get out of the way before they spilled out into the night.
Joey grabbed my wrist, twirled us around, and dashed away from the front of the club just as the doors burst open. The crowd inside flooded the streets like water from a broken dam. Joey pulled us up onto a bench to keep us from being trampled. She had her phone out again, holding it over her head to film the crowd.
The biggest of the Krampus creatures led the rest, jumping and dancing as he went. His face was ferocious, frozen in a snarl with fangs that almost touched his hook nose. The others followed his lead, moving like a Chinese dragon, up and down and side to side. I don’t think the real Krampus ever danced. The crowd cheered and clapped, following the parade of Krampuses down the street, thankfully in the opposite direction from where my car waited for us.
“Okay,” Joey said, “my battery is almost dead. We can go home now.”
“Gee, thanks,” I said, nudging her in the ribs.
She made an “eep!” noise as she hopped down. I hesitated, watching the crowd disappear down the road. A chill ran up my arms, raising my flesh in tiny bumps. Slowly, I turned my head, my eyes almost refusing to follow, not wanting to look for the source of my sudden unease.
But I looked.
Across the street, in a pool of yellow light, stood a Krampus watching the parade disappear, just as I had. He wasn’t very tall or broad like the others. His face didn’t look as if it was a frozen mask of plaster of Paris or plastic. When he felt my eyes on him, he turned to look at me. Even at that distance, I could see the light playing in his yellow eyes. My breath caught, shards of ice piercing my lungs. He tilted his head, and the deadly points of the two black horns twisting out of his head glinted in the lamplight.
“Mattie?” Joey’s voice pulled at me, then her hand was on my sleeve, tugging.
I blinked and looked at her, feeling the shock on my face reflected in the worry on hers. “Can you see him?”
“See who?” Joey asked. She looked in every direction until meeting my eyes again. “See who?”
“You don’t…” My words were almost silent. With every ounce of courage I had, I lifted my eyes again and looked across the street. The pool of yellow light was empty, illuminating a bare sidewalk.
“Are you okay?” Joey asked in a gentle voice.
“Yeah,” I said, jumping off the bench. “Just tired I guess, seeing things. Let’s go home.”
***
The next few nights passed in relative quiet. Joey let me know that our pictures from the Krampus ball had gained me new followers on every site. All that meant for me were new orders for glamours coming in. At least those were fun spells that didn’t give me more dishes to clean. I had to go out and buy a bunch of new silver bracelets to fill all the orders.
Thanks to the few quiet nights, I finally had a quiet enough night to go out and get my Christmastime tree. I wrangled Whelan and Bu into helping me so I wouldn’t have to carry the tree and get sap all over my clothing. Both had dressed for the occasion, which threw me a little when I opened the door to greet them. They were in jeans—black of course—with black lace-up boots, but they were also wearing plaid, long-sleeve flannels, Whelan’s black and green, Bu’s black and blue. Whelan had covered his spikey mohawk with a slouchy black beanie, and Bu had covered his Samurai top-knot with an Elmer Fudd hunting cap that matched his shirt.
“Oh, for the love of frogs,” I said as I stood in the doorway, taking in the sight of them. “We’re just picking out a tree, not going into the woods to chop one down.”
“Would you have preferred kilts and fishnets?” Whelan asked.
“I’m just surprised you didn’t grow a beard for the night.” I locked the door and shooed them down the hallway.
The tree lot where Miles worked was just beyond the border of Havencrest and West Hollywood, so when we drove through the barrier, we felt the shift in temperature as the air coming through the vents became warmer. I pulled into a parking space and took off my jacket when we got out of the car. Though the sun had gone down, I was warm enough without it.
“Merry Christmas,” Whelan said, his voice heavy with sarcasm. “Enjoy an ice cold cup of eggnog while you sweat your balls off.”
Bu laughed and I practically snorted, giving Whelan a shove toward the entrance to the lot.
There were trees everywhere. It was a maze of evergreens. A flocking machine belched next to the three cash registers, and next to it was a giant metal ring with a net fitted over it. While I watched, one of the workers practically threw a tree through the ring, and the netting enveloped it, making it easier to carry.
I started down the aisles, a little overwhelmed by the choices. The last couple Christmases, I hadn’t been able to afford a tree like these—I settled for the tiny rosemary “trees” I could buy at the grocery store—so I didn’t really know what to look for. I turned a corner and almost ran right into Miles.
“Oh, Ms. Kavanagh!” he said, holding out his gloved hands with a
smile.
“Mattie, please.” With a smile, I took his hands and gave them a squeeze. “How is Tobin doing?”
“It’s a miracle,” he said, his eyes shimmering with tears. “He is already doing better than when I brought him to see you.” He pulled me into a hug that surprised the breath out of me. His arms were crushing, and I had to wait for him to release me to draw in a breath.
“I’m so glad,” I said, one hand on his shoulder. “Just remember, same time next week.”
“Yes, yes.” He dropped his eyes and looked down the aisles. When his eyes came back to mine, there was a wrinkle between his brows.
“What’s the matter?”
He cleared his throat and wrung his hands, twisting his fingers. “Mattie, I’m so sorry. I’m embarrassed to say my boss said I couldn’t give out any tree bigger than four feet tall.”
His grimace was so endearing that I couldn’t help but give him another hug. I pressed a kiss to his scruffy cheek, much to his surprise, and said, “Tiny trees are adorable.”
Relief broke over his face, and he let out a soft laugh. I linked my arm through his and let him lead me to the smaller trees where, I was very happy to find, I wasn’t overwhelmed at all. Miles helped me pick out the best little tree with thick needles and sturdy branches and no holes. He managed to get me a tree stand and threw the tree through the netting himself.
The tree was small enough that Whelan could carry it without Bu’s help, and I wasn’t so nervous to drive with it strapped to the roof of my car since it didn’t hang over the edges. Back at my apartment, Bu and Whelan set up the tree, working to get it standing straight in the tree stand. They popped up and down, adjusting the screws so often I was glad it wasn’t me trying to do that. Finally satisfied, Whelan poured water into the basin and stood back with Bu. With their arms crossed over their flannel chests, they looked very manly, and I had to run into the kitchen to hide my giggles.
We put the tree in the living room beside a bookshelf. I just hoped it was a small enough tree that Artie wouldn’t try to climb it. I set a tray of gingerbread cookies on the table, holes punched into the tops for ribbon to be threaded through. Bu rushed over with eager hands that I had to slap away.
“These aren’t for eating,” I said as Bu held his slapped hand to his chest. “These are decorations.”
“I thought we were all supposed to bring an ornament.” Bu pulled a tiny silver reindeer out of his pocket, holding it up by the wire attached to it.
“You were,” I said, moving to the corner to pull out the boxes of decorations. “But these are to fill the holes once those ornaments are up.” I pulled out a small string of white twinkle lights and held them out to Bu. “Here, put these on the tree.”
With a long-suffering sigh, Bu took the lights and headed back to the tree. Whelan came over and picked up a box with a cartoon drawing of a fireplace on the side. He eyed me skeptically, and I smiled at him.
“Yep, a fireplace,” I said, my chest swelling with pride.
“Made of cardboard,” Whelan replied, deadpan.
“I don’t think Frankie would appreciate it if I built a real fireplace.” I turned to my record player and tapped it with my wand to set it in motion. A jazzy rendition of “Here Comes Santa Claus” filled the air. I twirled in place before hurrying into the kitchen to get started heating a large pot of hot chocolate.
I heard Whelan fighting to open the box and Bu grumbling over the lights as I pulled down coffee mugs. Then the first of my guests arrived. Joey and Ronnie came in together, Joey rushing toward the scent of chocolate. Spencer and Jameson were only minutes behind them. Spencer found Ronnie immediately to greet her with a chaste kiss on the cheek. It was the biggest display of affection I’d ever seen him show. I averted my eyes, busying myself with ladling out hot chocolate, so I wouldn’t embarrass them. They’d courted in private. Ronnie had even kept their first few dates a secret from me. Since she had Joey to watch the store, it was easier for her to sneak around. That bugged me a little, but seeing how awkward they were around people, I got past my feelings of being left out and understood why they kept things so quiet.
Laney was the next to arrive, carrying a basket of goodies. A knot formed in my stomach when Frankie came in on Kyle’s arm, but she gave me the tiniest of smiles when Kyle whispered something in her ear. I tried to return the smile, but I’m sure it just looked weird.
Though there were only ten of us in my apartment, it felt over-full with my boxes of decorations taking up so much room. I spotted Artie on top of the bookshelf just inside the front door. His yellow eyes glinted in the light as he watched the four Weres. That was fine, so long as he didn’t launch himself at any of them.
Joey knew my plan, so as I set out goodies for everyone to eat, she passed out boxes and put people to work. Jameson and Kyle took the box from Whelan and put the tiny fireplace together next to the tree. I used a hover charm to push my bookshelf aside to make room. Spencer and Ronnie hung a kissing ball of mistletoe a few feet inside the front door. Spencer was holding Ronnie up, his large hands around her waist, so that she could attach the ribbon to the ceiling.
Frankie watched Kyle and Jameson put the fireplace together, giving them suggestions that sounded much like orders. Joey handed Frankie a mug of hot chocolate, and I felt a twinge of jealousy when the female Were gave the pixie a real, sweet smile. At least she was smiling in my apartment.
The humans—Bu, Whelan, and Laney—draped boughs of evergreen on bookshelves, Laney adding red ribbons here and there. Joey moved on to adding pixie dust to the boughs of the tree, making everything glitter gently in the lamplight.
People picked at the goodies I’d put out and those in Laney’s basket. There were sweets and cold cuts and breads and fruit for everyone to graze as we decorated.
With the music and sweet scent of hot chocolate filling the apartment, I watched my friends, warmth spreading through my body. Everything went soft at the edges of my vision, and I had to blink back tears to see clearly again. When the Weres were done assembling my fake fireplace, I whispered into my hand, “Aduro,” causing a tiny blue flame to ignite in my hand. I cast the flame into the cardboard cutout where the fire should be.
Frankie hissed, but when the cardboard didn’t catch fire and the blue flame just flickered and danced in place, she blew out the breath and cut her eyes toward me. I gave her an uneasy smile and shrugged. She just shook her head and turned toward the food.
One by one, my guests came forward to add their ornaments to the tree. Bu’s silver reindeer was joined by Laney’s silver sparrow and Whelan’s silver music note. Jameson, Kyle, Spencer, and even Frankie had the same ornament: impressions of their wolf-form paw print set in white plaster, each with their own color ribbon threaded through. Frankie’s bright eyes met mine, and I gave her a real smile. I hadn’t expected her to bring an ornament, especially not one she’d made or one so personal. Maybe she was finally on her way to not hating me.
Joey darted to the tree and away almost too fast for any of us to see, but her ornament was still swinging to prove she’d been there. She’d picked a traditional glass ornament, but it was clear, and inside was a bright pink cluster of pixie dust, like a trapped star. Joey darted to my side, her arms going around my waist for the world’s fastest hug before she was in the kitchen getting more chocolate.
That just left Ronnie. Our eyes met, and I realized she was blushing, the faint pink pressing against her freckles in a very endearing way. Spencer gave her shoulder a small squeeze before she stepped forward to hang a small, oval silver frame. She picked a space right in the middle of the tree so it would be the first ornament I saw. I stepped forward to get a better look and found eight-year-old Ronnie and me smiling, our cheeks smushed together. Ronnie’s red hair was a frizzy halo around her face, and I was missing a front tooth. It was the exact same picture I’d planned to put in the frame for her parents’ present.
My throat was tight when I turned and took Ronnie in a tigh
t hug. She broke away and hurried to hide behind Spencer, probably uncomfortable with so many eyes on her. I cleared my throat and looked at everyone. The Weres and Ronnie were gathered around the table, grazing, and the humans and Joey were sitting on the floor, watching the tree twinkle and the blue flame dance in the fireplace. From my vantage point, I could see all the lovely work they’d done for me, making my apartment look so cheery and inviting. It was the first Christmas since I’d been on my own that I could afford to do this.
“Thank you all so much,” I said, my voice catching for a second. “I haven’t had any nice Christmases since I lost my parents, and I can’t tell you how much it means to me to have friends like you bring this into my home. Usually I have to go to other people’s homes to feel this kind of love and cheer. That you brought it to me, to fill my home like this, I cannot find the words to thank you.”
“So don’t,” Kyle said with a bright smile. “Just finish the tree and let us ooh and ahh with you.” He winked and lifted his cup in a small toast.
I smiled, grateful for the break, and wiped my eyes before digging out the silver star I’d bought special this year. It glittered in the fire and pixie light and was the perfect size for such a tiny tree. Carefully, I reached to the top of the tree, mindful of the lovely ornaments my friends had put up for me, and crowned the tree. I stepped back and everyone cheered—even Frankie. With a hiccupping laugh, I went to the table to eat something before it was all gone. The humans and Joey grabbed the gingerbread ornaments and filled in empty spots on the tree.
We carried on like that until everyone was full and lounging around the apartment. The hot chocolate was nearly gone, so some of the mugs were half full of whiskey and Irish cream. My eyes were becoming heavy, and Artie had ventured down from the bookshelf to curl up in Kyle’s lap.
“Yeah, it’s creepy.”
Whelan’s voice caught my ear, and I turned to focus on his conversation with Bu in front of the tree. Laney had fallen asleep with her head on Whelan’s thigh, and Joey was watching with wide eyes, listening to the boys.
Yuletide (Matilda Kavanagh Novels Book 3) Page 5
