Chapter 459: Sunny's Love
If there were indeed levels of hell, doing laundry was one of them. I shoved a half-dozen pair of wadded up underwear into a drawer and said good enough. Who folded that stuff, anyway?
I kicked the basket into my closet and closed the door before sinking to my bed with a sigh. Now for a nice, quiet afternoon catching up on my favorite book series-romance fanatic? Guilty-and snack on junk while ignoring the world for one more day.
Alas, the best laid plans. How quickly life returned to normal.
With a rush of power, three witches passed through the family wards, two of them tied to the coven's magic. The other one was still welcome by the power living in the house, though. Acceptable since she'd spent most of her life as part of the coven.
I could hardly blame the family magic for welcoming my mother home.
Bouncing down to greet them seemed a little over the top, but despite my previous expectations of the day to the contrary, I was really happy for the distraction. Until I spotted the bags, boxes and bows Erica and Mom loaded onto the kitchen table before Mom opened her arms to me for a hug.
"Oh no," I whispered in her ear. "Sunny's shower." How much did I suck? Here I was, maid of honor, and I'd forgotten the shower.
Bad, Syd. Bad, bad, bad.
Mom laughed and kissed my cheek, hers pale and a little drawn though her eyes were merry.
"I wanted you to have a nice vacation," Mom said, stepping away so Meira could hug me too. My little sister had grown again, her chin the height of my shoulder now. She was like the amazing stretching girl, her face maturing much faster than I liked. She'd been away most of the summer at Harvard, taking her extra training, so I forgot how fast she was growing up since she returned from Demonicon. Only eleven years old-eleven and a half if you asked her-she now looked fifteen.
I'd be beating off the boys with magic-drenched sticks in the next little while.
"Hey, Meems." Her right horn poked my cheek as she turned her head to smile up at me.
"Hey, Syd," she said. "We brought everything, so don't worry."
"All under control." Erica Plower, Mom's former second and now the Hayle coven representative on the Council, tossed back her blonde bob and winked, her cropped jacket and skinny jeans every inch the woman I knew. Mom might have still clung to the old ways with her floor-length black velvet skirts and puffy silk blouses, but Erica embraced what was current and hip.
I just wished my butt looked that good. Sigh.
Where once I would have dreaded family time, I found myself laughing and enjoying myself as we all pitched in to decorate the back yard. Even Gram got into the swing, though the embarrassingly shaped balloons she created were quickly popped while we all giggled like mad and Gram cackled with her hands on her knees and her eyes snapping with mischief.
If Meira was blushing she hid it well behind her human facade. Because I know I was.
Mom winked as she looked up, the soft gray clouds hovering over us twitching in the dying light of the afternoon. No, it wasn't really legal to mess with the weather, but I wasn't about to say anything for ensuring we'd have a dry and pleasant evening.
I had just enough time to dash upstairs and change into a sundress and sandals, stuffing Sunny's present into the gift bag I'd bought and drenching it in fancy paper before the feeling of more people arriving drove me downstairs to play hostess.
Weird, but fun and kind of gratifying, too. This was my first real experience with being a grown up when it came to having people over and, I'm happy to say, I wasn't as nervous as I expected. And yes, this whole shindig was my idea. The moment I had a chance, I jumped online and did some research into my duties, quickly filling in Mom, Erica and Meira who were instantly on my side and eager to help. Good thing, or this whole shower would have consisted of me standing in the kitchen with a lame excuse to explain why I'd forgotten once I mentioned it.
Maybe my week spent relaxing in California did help though, considering I usually wasn't all that confident around the family unless there was a major disaster to tackle, but it was more likely my new-found appreciation for the people in my life the real culprit.
A stream of witches arrived first, younger members and older, all women. Naturally. Female witches and vampires were as excitable as the next girl when it came to a good bridal shower.
By the time the sun finally set, the back yard was full of chattering, laughing witches sipping drinks and snacking on hors d'oeuvres as I anxiously checked my watch for the time.
"They'll be here soon," Mom said, tipping her glass to me. "This was a lovely idea, sweetheart. The perfect way to welcome Sunny into our family." Was it hard for her to sit back and let me run the party? She didn't show it, if that was the case.
I loved my mom.
And then, with a shudder of shadow, the vampires began to arrive, flooding the yard with their glowing white power as they eagerly came forward to hug and mingle with the family. I found myself grinning at the spectacle, feeling my heart swell. Yes, we were allies and had been for some time, but ever since Sebastian's clan joined us in the fight against the Brotherhood, carrying the coven in partnership to do battle against a common enemy, the bond between our two people had firmed up. Old walls shattered, friendships formed between witch and vampire until I felt like my family had grown by another hundred people or so.
Who cared if they were undead? I'd take them in a heartbeat.
Mine. Since they didn't have one. Whatever.
When Sunny appeared at last, Anastasia beside her, I rushed forward and hugged her, feeling her wrap herself around me in return. The second blonde vampire, one of Sebastian's most trusted lieutenants, stepped aside, allowing us space, though with good humor for once. It took her a long time to warm up to me, even worse since I carried the vampire essence inside me, but despite our last uncomfortable run-in she seemed much more relaxed and even smiled my way.
Not that I was really paying attention. Sunny gave the best hugs. Whole body squeezes telling me with no uncertainty how much she loved me. Her beautiful face lit up when she turned from our embrace to look over the crowd now watching her, as I leaned inside the house and turned on the lights.
I could have used magic. But we had neighbors. So the strings of white bulbs and floating gauze fabrics Mom and Erica brought would have to do. Sunny gasped and covered her mouth with her hands, turning to me with a smile and tears in her eyes.
"Syd," she whispered. "Thank you."
The applause greeting her when she stepped forward made my heart sing.
If anyone deserved to be happy, it was Sunny and my Uncle Frank. Sunny was welcomed and the party really started. Though I watched Mom's face as she hugged Sunny around the shoulders and saw her eyes fill with tears.
I knew she was thinking about Dad. So was I. Meira too, from the hug she gave Mom. Their pairing severed and his ass firmly in the Second Seat of Demonicon, Dad's departure left a hole in all of our lives, but none more so than Mom's.
She smiled at both Meems and me, kissed us as she shooed us away. "I'm fine," she said. "I promise. This is a happy night. Let's make sure Sunny knows we're thrilled to have her join our family."
Did we. Gifts and funny stories and games filled the evening, bows and ribbon torn from packages stuck to Sunny's hair. I nervously waited for her reaction to her present, unsure if I'd made the right choice. But when she held up the carefully secured pentagram necklace inside its blue velvet box, smiling at me like the sun coming up, I knew I'd done okay.
Tied to my magic, like the one I wore was tied to Mom, Sunny would now have a piece of me everywhere she went.
Which reminded me. I glanced Mom's way, finding her neck bare. She really must not have liked the new one Meira and I bought her to replace the necklace she lost. I tried not to feel hurt, focusing on the smiling vampire.
"I love you, too," Sunny whispered, voice catching as she hugged me, the pentagram warm between us. "Sister."
I grinned at her. "Um, niece."
That made her laugh.
"Last game of the evening." Erica held out a blindfold with a wicked grin. "Hide and seek, bride to be."
Sunny accepted the challenge. The moment she had her back turned, we all scattered. Well, not all of us. Some of the older witches remained behind, still chattering with their vampire friends but, for the most part, we took off for the park and dove for cover.
I had the perfect spot picked out. The grove where she and I once talked, when I'd asked her to make me a vampire. Memory ran through me in a shudder, of the girl I was then, powerless and afraid for my family. That night, Sunny showed me a different side of her, the warrior inside the beautiful and giving vampire I already loved. Her strength helped me through one of the hardest times in my life.
I wondered if she remembered.
The only crimp in my style? Charlotte hovered next to me, as always, totally ruining my chances of hiding. Sunny may have been blindfolded, but no way would her heightened vampire senses miss a combo of witch, demon, vampire and Sidhe being clung to by a werewolf.
I hissed at my bodywere who scowled back at me. Still miffed, clearly. Too freaking bad. If she chose to be a wet blanket and not enjoy herself, that was Charlotte's decision. I waved her off, watched as she relented, drifting a little way away to hide behind another tree. Not far enough for my liking and still close enough she could keep an eye on me, but it would have to do.
Squealing echoed from further away. I found myself giggling, holding my hand over my mouth to keep in my nervous excitement. I had it all worked out. The moment Sunny tried to tag me I was going to dive into the veil and hide elsewhere. No way was she going to catch me.
Shadow flickered next to me, the rush of a vampire arriving making me laugh. I turned, mock anger on my face, to accuse Sunny of cheating.
Only to stop, shocked. Look up. Into a face I knew. But not the one I expected.
Charlotte's howl behind me didn't come fast enough. Piotr, the vampire I'd met thanks to Ameline Benoit and a crap-ton of trouble, blew a handful of white powder into my face. I inhaled with a gasp as I drew breath in surprise, choking on the dust just as I felt Sebastian's mind reach for mine.
Sydlynn!
Too late, all of them too late. I felt Charlotte's hand brush over the back of my dress as the world shuddered and went black.
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