Ghost (The Halloween Boys #1) (83)
Raven cocked his head and with two big flaps of feathers, he perched on the edge of the table and pecked at his food. “You know, I kind of like having you around. The dead frogs are a little weird, and you know, the fact that you can turn into a dude-like-person sometimes. But you’re nice company.”
The black bird looked up at me with big shimmering eyes. He dipped his beak and nudged the bottle of pills closer until they spilled over. I groaned, “Yeah, these are necessary today. Service here is pretty good, huh?” I joked.
A knock on the door sounded, and before I could slowly pull myself to a stand, Yesenia whooshed in, her long yellow skirt billowing behind her like a cloud. She sat at the breakfast table and grabbed a muffin. “Girl,” she said, taking a bite.
I lowered myself with a hiss into the wooden chair. “Good morning,” I replied.
“The crones are beside themselves,” she started. “Tell me everything.”
A laugh strained from my throat. “Me tell you everything? How about you tell me some stuff first.”
Her eyebrows rose and she leaned back, crossing her legs. Raven still sat perched on the end of the table between us, looking at us both before pecking at his pastry. “What do you want to know?”
“You’re all witches, right? Like, real witches. Not just dress up?”
She giggled. “Yes, of course we are. What gave it away, the Magia Eclectics shop, the crystal balls, or the coven in the woods?”
“Well, when you put it like that,” I teased, scooping up Raven’s crumbs and brushing them onto my plate. “Is everything I’ve been seeing at Hallows . . . real?”
“Sure is,” she said simply. “Except, I think Ezmerelda uses autotune. Noone’s voice sounds that perfect live.”
I shook my head and tossed back a pain reliever with a sip of iced coffee. “Vampires, the deer and wolves, spirits . . . pirates, all real?”
“Yes. And demons, but I think you’ve figured that out already. I think you’ve really explored that topic.”
My mouth twitched in a grin. “I suspected, you know. But it’s all just so unreal. This shit doesn’t happen in real life, you know?”
She shrugged. “It does in Ash Grove.”
“Does everyone here know about it?”
Yesenia tightened the yellow ribbon holding up half her thick, curly hair. “That’s a little more complicated. Now, it's my turn to ask questions. Girl, a whole host of hot immortals at your disposal, and you go and pick the deadliest of the bunch? I mean, I like a bad boy as much as the next girl, but an Archdemon might be taking it a step too far. Aren’t you girls supposed to love vampires? Isn’t that a thing with normal human girls?”
“Are you not mortal?”
She sighed. “I’m not immortal, per say, but I will live a very long time. So will my husband and kids, thanks to my magic. But even when I die, I won’t be gone.”
I opened my mouth to ask more questions, but she shushed me. “You need to understand something before my abuela and the other crones talk to you. The older witches . . . they feel differently about things than us younger ones. They hold to a lot of old ways and traditions we’ve moved on from. My abuela means well, and she truly will help you, but you’ve just got to be patient with her . . . temperament. Her and Ghost . . . they go way back. Seriously, you couldn’t have picked a worse dude.”
“Thanks,” I muttered. “Is he really that bad?”
Yesenia poured herself a glass of iced coffee. “Bad? Yes, he is. Will he hurt you? No, I don’t think he will. The younger witches and I see The Halloween Boys differently than the crones. I think there’s more to the story than the crones are willing to share. But don’t tell them I told you that. I actually didn’t even figure out Ghost was Ames until that talk you and I had last week. Anyway—” She took a bite of muffin and gave Raven a stroke down his chest. “Abuela and the crones are waiting for you. I’m not allowed to go. You’re going to have to do all this weird shit, but trust me, just do it. You’ll all get some answers, and we might find a way to keep you safer from, you know, leagues of dark forces and all that.”
I held my head in my hands. “What is my life right now?”
She giggled and squeezed my arm as she stood. “Get used to it, babe. You’re one of us now.”
Raven cocked his head at me as I got ready, sprawling my makeup on the table. “What makeup look goes best with being interrogated by witches before a date with an Archdemon?” With a caw that was maybe a laugh, the bird hopped into its water bowl and began splashing. “A cat eye and a bold lip? That’s what I was thinking too.” Once my face was put together and I slipped on a green plaid skirt with a black cut-off shirt and boots, I fastened on my dark necklace from the willow spirit. I thumbed at the jewel, swallowing back guilt. Raven hopped onto my shoulder, and I grinned at us in the mirror. I may not be a witch, but I looked the part. “Stevie Nicks would be proud,” I said to my feathered accessory.
When I arrived downstairs, an old woman I hadn’t met before simply took me by the arm. “Your familiar must stay here.” I glanced at Raven, who bristled his feathers. “He needs to stretch his wings. You may fly in and out. There are no wards against you, friend.”
Raven nodded, seemingly satisfied, and hopped off my shoulder and onto the front desk of Magia. I cast him a worried look as the woman tugged my arm. I’d already grown attached to the guy.