“I’m sure it’ll be just grand, Gabriela.”
Mom blushed at Donovan’s accent. I had to admit, it was pretty hot. I lived for the times he said ‘ehm’—the Irish version of ‘uh.’
The doorbell rang. I paused what I was doing. Pretty much everyone who knew where I lived was already here. “I’ll get it.” I cut through the house to find my cousins Claudia and Raphael on the porch.
I never saw them unless something was wrong. “Hi. What’s going on?”
“We just wanted to stop by and wish you a happy birthday.” Raphael wore his usual khaki shorts and flip-flops. His black hair was cut short, and he rubbed his hand back and forth over the top of it as he spoke.
That was a surprise. I didn’t think they knew when my birthday was. “Thanks.” I swung the door wide and waved them in. “You got here just in time for cake.”
Claudia gave me a hug. Her hair was pulled back in two braids, like always. She wore a flower-print sundress. “Felicidades.”
“Is that Claudia?” Mom asked from the kitchen.
“Yes. And Raphael.”
Mom appeared and gave them both hugs. “Come on in. We’re lighting candles.”
I cringed. “Oh, we’re not doing the whole singing thing, right? Because that’s really not necessary. We can skip straight to the cake part.” I hated getting sung to. It was embarrassing.
“We absolutely are singing.” Mom pushed me into the kitchen. “Get in there,” she said as she slapped my butt.
I jumped. “All right. All right,” I said as I rubbed my stinging tush.
As soon as I got back in the kitchen, everyone started singing. I wanted to shrink into the ground. I’d never had so many people be around for this, so I avoided their gazes and stared at the cake. When the song was done, I leaned down, made a wish, and blew out the candles.
Dastien pulled me into his side while Mom cut the cake. “What’d you wish for?”
I glanced up at him. “I can’t tell you. That’d nullify my wish.”
“Does it have anything to do with tonight?” He squeezed me, and all I could see was him.
“Maybe.” I gave him what I hoped was my best flirty look.
“What’s happening tonight?” Raphael asked, dragging me back to reality.
I wasn’t sure how I should answer the question. La Alquelarre—the coven—had been pretty pissed about Dastien biting me. My cousins had been cool though, no matter what the rest of the other brujos thought. They’d even helped me out a few times.
Dastien gave a small nod and I took that as the okay to tell. “The full moon is tonight, so we’re formalizing our bond.”
The twins shared a long look, before Claudia turned to me. “I thought you were waiting until after the Tribunal.” She said the words carefully.
I knew that the relationship between the pack and la Aquelarre was strained, but the way her hands fisted at her sides made me realize she was a little more upset by this than I’d thought.
I should’ve kept my mouth shut. This was totally going to come back to bite me in the ass. We were rushing things because Dastien and I wanted a stronger case when we defended ourselves at the Tribunal for the whole biting thing and all the drama that had happened afterward. If the brujos started interfering… “No. We’re doing it tonight,” I said as casually as possible.
“Are you sure about joining into this kind of a bond? Once done, it can’t be easily undone. Not even by us,” Raphael said.
I didn’t like the threat of them breaking our bond, let alone the fact that that was even possible. Should I lie? I asked Dastien through our bond.
He shrugged.
Way to be helpful. I’d grown up being told honesty was the best policy. Guess that applied here. “Yeah. I’m sure.”
The twins gave each other another long look.
A horrible sinking feeling crept over me. It was like someone had just walked over my grave, and all the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.
I’d come to know that feeling well. It usually meant bad things were coming. It wasn’t exactly a premonition—I didn’t have those. My visions were only of the past and present, but every once in a while I got really good gut feelings about what was going to happen.
As soon as I answered, I knew in my soul that I should’ve lied. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, but we should go. Let you celebrate with your friends.” Raphael smiled, but the expression wasn’t real. “Felicidades, prima.” The way he said it, all soft, made it sound like an apology.