Dev and Brody are late for the wake. So far only by twenty minutes, but I’m anxious without them here.

Moonhollow is swarming with people, most of them strangers to me. Jules looks surprisingly natural in his suit. It’s a look that I wouldn’t have pegged him as being able to pull off, but he looks dapper. Down to the little crescent moon cufflinks that Mama provided him with.

The two of us have our backs to the wall of the great room, watching as guests file in.

“I can certainly tell who’s in your family,” he says quietly to me, gesturing to a pack of gorgeous women with mahogany hair and almond eyes.

“That’s my mom’s younger sister, Clio. Her twin, Eos, and their daughters, calliope- twelve, Electra -thirteen and Persephone - eighteen.”

Jules blinks at me. “I didn’t know your family was that big. I thought it was just you, your mom and your Grandmother.”

“They live over in Alabama. I haven’t seen them in a while.”

I follow Jules’ eyes back to the group. Four men follow them closely, herding the girls and keeping eyes on the twins.

“Guardians?” he guesses.

“I’d assume so, yeah.”

Another group of dark haired women flush into the room, followed by a few silver haired crones.

“Those must be Grandmother’s younger sisters.” My eyes search hard for Brody and Devereaux even though I know they’re not here yet. I’d have felt if they got close. I did feel a burst of sheer euphoria about half an hour ago, so I assume they won the game. It must have gone into overtime.

“So how come you got the house? Isn’t Moonhollow like, the ancestral home to all of these witches?” Jules has a hand clasped gently around my wrist. I think the connection is almost subconscious for him.

“Moonhollow goes to the oldest daughter, I guess. Mama should have gotten it but Grandmother was mad at her for leaving in the first place, so she gave it to me. The oldest daughter of the oldest daughter.” I grab a few flutes of champagne from the tray of a passing server and hand one to Jules, just as I begin to feel the nearness of Dev and Brody. “They’re close,” I murmur.

Mama, Mr. Monroe and Maddox stand near the door, passing out service pamphlets that I put together a few days ago. Mostly it’s just pictures of Grandmother and a graph of the family tree.

“You didn’t hug Dev goodbye this morning,” Jules suddenly mutters to me.

“Hmm?” I ask, distracted by the sight of my cousin Persephone flagging down a server for her own champagne. She looks so much like me that it’s almost eerie. She’s a few inches taller, and much prettier. Her lips are more elegant and less full than mine, her nose just a little bit pointier. Her shiny hair is pulled up in a high ponytail. Our dresses are similar too. Black and backless with lace covering our shoulders and collarbones. That must be by design. Another one of those pesky family traditions.

“You didn’t touch Dev this morning. He’s going to be jonesing.” Jules squeezes my wrist a little to get my attention.

My stomach sinks as I realize that he’s right. I was in such a rush to get back to my house that I forgot to say goodbye to Dev. I didn’t even think about it, used to trying to avoid him so as not to annoy him. Guilt eats at me as I anxiously watch the door.

I feel them before I see them. Two dashing young men in a grey and a black suit, looking a little sweaty from having rushed here from a game. Dev’s eyes are anxious as he searches the crowd for me. I can feel the hunger inside him, feel the desperation.

I shiver and hand Jules my empty glass. Before I know it my feet are moving toward them. There is a mass of people between us but we each make our way to each other in record time, meeting in the middle of the crowd.

I don’t even have a second to admire him close-up in his suit before I’m swept up in his strong arms and pulled against his chest so hard my feet dangle off the ground a little. The rest of the room might as well not exist to me. All of the people chattering a moment ago now blend into the blurry background and all that’s left is me and Devereaux LaTour.

“Emmy,” he all but groans quietly in my ear, making my toes curl in my black flats.

“Dev, I’m so sorry about this morning. I was in a rush and I -”

“Sshh.” He gently kisses the space behind my ear to quiet me. “Forget it. We’re here now. All that matters.”

I nod and breath him in, relaxing as his spearmint and cedar scent permeates my senses.

Finally, after what is probably too long, I unwind my arms from Dev’s neck and he sets me lightly on the ground. The crowd comes back into focus, milling around us.

“Bia’s granddaughter,” some old lady passing by whispers to her companion, nodding to me with slight disapproval. “Just like her mother.”

I frown and turn to respond but they’ve already moved on and Dev’s hand is snaking down my arm to clasp my fingers in his, so I’m thoroughly distracted. I turn back to him and realize that he’s staring down at my black dress. It reaches mid-thigh and is A-line with the aforementioned lace and sleeves that come down to my elbow before belling out. It’s very witchy, and a little sexier than I would have picked for a wake, but now that I’ve seen the rest of my family wearing something similar, I understand why Mama chose it.

Brody stands behind Dev and his eyes are doing a similar dance up and down my figure. I raise my eyebrows at him.

“What?” I ask.

“You clean up well, mistress.”

I sigh. “Maybe just call me Emmy tonight, huh?”

Someone taps me on the shoulder and I spin, expecting to see Jules but come face to face with my cousin, Persephone.

Her hazel eyes are narrowed at me. “Excuse me, Artemis Adelfi, but do you have fucking guardians?”

Caught off guard, I open my mouth to speak but nothing comes out. After a moment I swallow and find my voice. “Hello to you too, Seph. It’s been a while, yeah?”

“Yes, yes. Hello little cousin. I heard a rumor that you had guardians but I didn’t think it could be true. You’re too young. You’re still a freaking virgin!” She narrows her eyes at me. “You are still a virgin, right?”

I glance around. “Can we talk about this somewhere that’s not in the middle of the crowd at our Grandmother’s wake?”

She huffs and takes my arm, tugging me bodily through the throng of people.

Dev still has my hand so we form a chain through the room. We end up on the other side of the kitchen, in the mud room that is thankfully empty of people. I release Dev and face Persephone.

She crosses her arms, eyes flashing angrily. “So?”

“Uh, yes. I have guardians. This is Brody James and Julius and Devereaux LaTour.” I gesture to where the boys are standing behind me.

“This is ridiculous. I’m not allowed guardians and you are?! You’re only seventeen! You are a virgin, aren’t you?”

I blush but nod, seeing no reason to lie to her.

She throws her hands up. “Ugh! Why do you even need guardians if you haven’t unlocked your full powers yet? Ridiculous!” She storms past us and screams “MOTHER!” as she enters the kitchen.

The door swings shut behind her and I blink. I was not prepared for that interaction whatsoever.

I turn to the boys, my mouth hanging open, and find them with similar expressions on their faces.

Brody breaks the silence by stepping forward and planting a kiss on my temple. “Hey. So that was weird, right?”

I laugh a little, nervously, and nod. “Mama didn’t tell me this was going to be a thing.”

“Is Persephone the oldest daughter of the second oldest daughter?” Jules asks, raising an eyebrow.

I think about it for a moment. “She’s Clio’s oldest daughter. I .. think Clio was born first of the twins. So, yes?”

“Maybe she thought she was going to get the house. Since your mom was kinda… excommunicated,” he says, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“She wasn’t excommunicated.” I frown. “Just … estranged.”

“Estranged enough to get herself written out of Bia’s will,” Jules says.

I bite my lip. He has a point.

“Doesn’t explain why she’s so mad that I have guardians though,” I grumble, tossing my long braid over my shoulder and crossing my arms.

“She’s just jealous, mistress.” Brody offers me a cheshire grin and I find myself smiling back. “Doesn’t help that you’re way prettier than she is.”

That catches me off guard. “What? No way.”

“It’s true, Em.” Jules says. “Now let’s go back to the party and get more champagne, hm?”

“What did she mean, unlock your full powers?” Dev asks, ignoring his brother’s suggestion.

“Oh, um.” Damnit. Why am I always blushing? “When I lose my virginity I’ll become a real witch.”

“You’re not a real witch right now?” His eyebrows raise.

“I’m a portion of a witch. I can do parlor tricks. Light candles, unlock doors, attempt to fight off vengeful djinns and lose.” I shrug.

“You didn’t lose Emmy,” Jules reminds me. “You sent him packing.”

“Only because he was weak from captivity. And I’m sure the binding spell itself took a lot out of him. Not to mention his being tied to me did not work in his favor, and I had all of you to draw from and -”

My speech gets faster and faster until Devereaux grips my shoulders. Then my words fail me completely as I stare up into his beautiful face and the world falls away again. He’s scowling and all of the sudden, every fiber of me wants to kiss him again. I want to drown once more with him, so badly that I start to tremble.

I pull away before my self control breaks and stumble. Jules catches me against his chest, wrapping an arm over me.

“You two need to keep the heat to a minimum,” Brody growls, obviously having felt that spark between Dev and I that grew into a simmering volcano in the span of a breath. “Do I have to remind you that you have a girlfriend, asshole?”

My stomach drops and knots with guilt and so, I can tell, does Dev’s. He glares at Brody. “It’s just explosive because I hadn’t touched her since last night, James. Don’t talk about what you don’t know.”

The two lock eyes and a fierceness passes between them so intense that even Jules seems to feel the need to intervene, but just as he takes a breath to do so the door flies open again and in march Aunt Clio, Aunt Eos, Persephone and Mama.

I turn to face them, backing up into the boys.

“See?” Persephone all but screeches. “Look!” She grabs Jules’ wrist and flips it over, shoving up the suit sleeve to reveal the little moon scar that marks him as mine.

Just seeing her touch him has me bristling. Possessiveness sears through me and I step up to her, baring my teeth.

She drops his hand and takes a step back, actually looking a little fearful. “Guardians,” she sniffs, having proved her point to her mother.

Clio purses her lips disapprovingly and turns to Mama. “Really, Rose? She’s only seventeen. Did Mother even vet these boys?”

“She didn’t get the chance, Clio,” Mama says calmly. “She was killed by a djinn she’d been keeping as a pet. The same djinn that bound these three to Artemis when the kids happened upon the estate late one evening.”

Aunt Clio and Aunt Eos gasp dramatically in unison.

“Bite your tongue!” Eos hisses. “Mother would never!”

“Well, she did.” Mama folds her hands in front of her.

“Why would she?! She had Moonhollow. The land, the ancestors, her guardians!” Clio’s tone is full of disbelief.

“I don’t know. Maybe it wasn’t enough power. She was down to one guardian. Edward. He’s here tonight, you should pay your respects,” Mama says.

Eos rolls her eyes. “We’re not you, Aphrodite. We don’t feel the same way you do about guardians.” Her eyes flick briefly over to the guys at my back before turning back to her older sister.

Clio is grinding her teeth. “This doesn’t make any sense. And her leaving the house to Artemis is bullshit. You left the coven Aphrodite!”

Mama takes another deep, calming breath and it settles my nerves a little bit. “Yes. But Mother wanted Artemis to remain within it until she was old enough to make an informed decision one way or the other. You know this.”

“And? What has she decided?” Clio turns to me. Her cold eyes look me up and down disdainfully.

“She’s still a virgin, mother,” Persephone hisses.

Clio’s eyes nearly bug out of her head. “And she has GUARDIANS?! There is an order to things, Rose!”

Apparently the virginity loss usually happens before the guardians are acquired. Oops.

“Like I said. The binding was done by the djinn. Who is bound to her now as well.” Mama says the last sentence quietly.

I understand why as both Aunt Clio and Aunt Eos start to gasp in tandem. “The high priestess can not be bound to a fucking djinn!”

“I’m working to rectify the situation!” Mama finally seems a little flustered. “Don’t worry. I’ll have it figured out.”

My brain is stuck on the phrase high priestess being spoken in reference to me.

“I want to challenge her,” Persephone pipes up.

“What?” Mama asks.

“I want to challenge her. For coven head and Moonhollow.” Persephone crosses her arms and lifts her chin defiantly.

Clio and Eos both stare at her for a moment, open mouthed before Clio finally speaks.

“You can’t, sweetheart. Not until she’s come into her powers,” she says. “And you should probably find your guardians first before challenging someone with three of them.” This time it is her eyes that move over Jules and Dev and Brody, assessing.

I deflate a little with relief, knowing for certain that I couldn’t survive a magical fight with my obviously already devirginated cousin. At least not tonight.

Persephone huffs before storming angrily out of the room.

Clio and Eos turn back to Mama. “Take care of the djinn situation, Aphrodite. Or we’ll be traveling back here very quickly.”

Mama nods and offers them a saccharine smile. “There’s sweet tea in the dining room, girls. I remember how you both used to love it.”

Clio and Eos push past her and leave the way Persephone did, the door banging rudely behind them.

Mama turns to me. I’m sure she can tell by my wide eyes that I’m freaked out. I realize that one of my hands is twined with Jules’ and the other with Dev’s, and Brody’s hand is on my back.

“Baby, you okay?”

“High priestess?” I squeak.

“We can discuss this later, alright? We need to get back to our guests now. We are hosting this thing, you know.” She puts on another smile and turns to the door. “Just rest assured that I won’t let anyone take Moonhollow from you.”

I blink and then she’s gone, the door swinging shut behind her just like it did her sisters.

I untangle myself from the guys and step away from them, taking a few deep breaths as I try to digest everything that just happened.

“Your cousin is a bitch,” Brody says, breaking the silence.

“The whole freaking family is, cept Rose,” Jules says in agreement. “No offense, Em.”

“None taken,” I murmur, bringing my necklace up and rubbing it against my lips absently.

The three of them watch me until I drop the necklace and straighten up. “Guess I’d better head back out and host or whatever. You guys coming?”