Page 10

It felt good to be alone for a moment.

3

The wooden box in my hands hummed with magic. It was almost intoxicating to touch, and the residue of magic on my fingertips was impressive.

It was beautifully crafted, and I could tell Raven had put a lot of work into the thing. He was a master at woodworking. I knew he’d made every piece of wooden furniture in his coven’s home, and everything I’d seen while there had been quite lovely. I had almost asked him if I could purchase a few pieces.

I opened the box and picked up the envelope inside. I pulled out a note, a card, and hand drawn pictures. The card and the pictures were from Baxter. He’d made them for me for my birthday. They were incredibly sweet and made my heart hurt to look at them. He might not have been in my life for very long, but I sure missed the little guy. I knew Rain missed him like crazy too.

My dad had practically adopted the boy after his mother had died. Then he’d taken in Isobel too, and I think he missed her also, but he never said anything.

I didn’t miss her very much.

Honestly, it was almost a relief to not have her around for the time being. I thought maybe some time away from my dad might do her some good, and maybe she’d be able to get over her slightly psychotic crush she had on him.

For the time being, she was Raven’s problem, and I did not envy him in the slightest. Maybe she could latch onto him and his coven and find a new obsession.

I set the pictures and the card aside and picked up the note. I unfolded it and read.

Ariel,

This box is a place for you to keep your secrets safe and all to yourself. It’ll only ever open for you, and you can put as many things in it as you’d like. When you open it, just think of what you’d like, and it’ll show up on top for you. I thought it might come in handy for a girl like you. I hope you like it, and I hope you have a lovely birthday.

-Raven

Huh.

A girl like me? Just what the hell was that supposed to mean? If I could overlook that one line, the gift was incredibly cool. A magical box that only ever opened for me and hid all my secrets? Um, yes please.

Not that I had secrets from the people I lived with, but it would be nice to at least be able to keep a diary and know no one would be able to sneak a look through it. Like, say, some nosy twin in the mood to make trouble. They did that a lot. Or a nosy BFF.

But still... A girl like me?

I sighed as I placed the box on the foot of my bed and picked up my phone. I typed up a quick thank you text and sent it to Raven. I refrained from asking him just what the hell he meant, because it would be rude when he’d been so thoughtful and sweet to take the time to make me such a gift in the first place.

I tacked the pictures up on the cork board by my dresser. I stood the card up on one of my nightstands. I’d have to call Baxter later and thank him myself. A text wouldn’t be good enough. Plus, I missed the sound of his voice.

My phone pinged with a text message, and I ignored it. I didn’t feel like talking to Raven or anyone else at the moment.

I felt a gentle tug on the strings connected to my bond, and a smile stretched across my face. Dash. He just couldn’t seem to help himself today.

While everyone else had decided to take advantage of the pool, Dash had snuck away and followed me inside. He was in our living room doing who the hell knew what.

Now was my chance.

This was my time, and I wasn’t about to waste it.

I rarely got time to myself these days, and I thought maybe that was why the guys were outside. They were giving me some space to be alone because they knew how overwhelming this whole birthday party business had been for me.

I appreciated them so much at the moment, but I didn’t exactly want to be alone. Nope, I wanted to corner Dash and force him to pay attention to me.

I slipped out of my cover-up and tossed it onto the bed, careful not to disturb my sleeping princesses. There was a small set of stairs on the side of my bed that allowed them to climb on and off whenever they wanted to. Quinton had one next to his bed as well.

If it were up to him, Ash and Bone would spend all their nights in there with him, but I refused to allow that. And since the cats didn’t like to be separated, they spent most nights in my room with me, which meant Quinton spent more time in here with me even when one of the others slept with me, which wasn’t something he normally liked to do. He liked his time with me to be spent with just the two of us.

When I spent the night at Julian and Damien’s house, the cats had a sleepover with their Daddy Quinton. When I slept in any of the other guys’ rooms, they stayed in Quinton’s room with him.

I knew he wanted them all the time, but he needed to get over himself. We had shared custody, and they were my babies too.