Page 14 of Bewitched by the Fruit Bat King (The Bewitching Hour #3)

"Just like Viktor and Hazel's story," Bethany says softly. "Their bond was supposed to be forever too."

I sink onto the bed, careful of the dress. "What if... what if whatever happened to them is happening again? Marcus acting strange, Kane being all possessive, this weird family connection..."

"That's why you need to go to dinner." Luna starts gathering her cards. "Get answers. About the stamps, sure, but also about everything else. This can't be coincidence."

"And looking like that," Bethany adds with a satisfied nod at the dress, "he'll tell you anything you want to know."

My phone buzzes – a text from an unknown number.

"Car will arrive in thirty minutes. Wear something blue. -K"

I look down at the midnight blue dress, then at my friends' smirking faces.

"How did he...?"

"Vampire king secret powers, remember?" Luna waggles her eyebrows. "Now sit still while I fix your hair. You've got stamps to discuss and family mysteries to unravel."

"And a mate bond to figure out," Bethany adds, already diving into my jewelry box.

I close my eyes as they work their magic, trying to sort through everything. The cards' strange behavior, the missing grimoire pages, Marcus's attack, and now Kane's seemingly prescient text about the dress color.

Something bigger is happening here. I just hope I'm ready for whatever truths come out over dinner.

"Oh!" Bethany's voice breaks through my thoughts. "What about these earrings? They're perfect for..."

"These are my grandmother's moonstones," I protest as Bethany holds up the delicate silver earrings.

"Exactly." Her cupid senses are practically vibrating. "Family heirlooms for a dinner about family history. Plus, they'll help ground your magic if things get... intense."

Luna snorts from behind me where she's weaving tiny starflowers into my hair. "When don't things get intense around those two?"

I reach for my private family grimoire again, flipping to the entry about Hazel while they work. There's something about the way the ink bleeds into the paper, like the words themselves are trying to tell me something. I run my fingers over the decorative sketches around the edges.

"Wait." I squint at a section I hadn't noticed before. The margins contain tiny symbols, almost invisible unless you know to look for them. "Luna, can you hand me my mother's cipher key?"

"The one in the carved box?"

"No, the... actually, yes. Both of them."

While Luna rummages through my magical supplies, I trace the symbols with trembling fingers. "These aren't just decorative. They're coded messages."

Bethany pauses with the second earring. "From Hazel?"

"I think so. Look at how they change after the entry about Viktor. They get more frantic, less precise." I accept the cipher keys from Luna, laying them beside the grimoire. "Like she was writing in a hurry."

Luna leans over my shoulder, nearly dropping the starflower she's holding. "Can you read them?"

"Maybe. Some of these match our family's traditional cipher, but others..." I frown at a particularly complex symbol. "It's like she created her own code within the code."

"Smart witch," Bethany murmurs. "If she was trying to hide something from Viktor's family..."

"Or protect something," I add, remembering the torn grimoire pages. "'Must protect—' protect what? Or who?"

A knock at my door makes us all jump. Luna checks her phone. "Car's not due for fifteen minutes."

I gather my magic instinctively, but the wards aren't signaling danger. When I open the door, there's no one there – just a small package wrapped in midnight blue paper that matches my dress exactly.

"Okay, that's either romantic or creepy," Bethany says from behind me. "Possibly both."

I lift the package carefully – it's lighter than expected, and thrums with familiar magic. The note attached simply reads: "For research purposes. -K"

Inside is a book. Not just any book – a first edition of "Metaphysical Philately: A Complete History." The one I'd been reaching for in the library.

"Well," Luna says after a moment of stunned silence, "at least he's consistent with his stalking aesthetic."

I open the book randomly, and something falls out – a pressed flower, preserved between the pages. A black rose, its petals still perfectly intact despite their age.

"That's..." Bethany peers closer. "Is that what I think it is?"

"A Death's Midnight rose." I lift it carefully. "They were supposed to be extinct. The last known specimen died out during the Great Transition, when..." I trail off as realization hits. "When Viktor Drake married Evangeline Blackstone."

Luna's cards spill across my dresser as she fumbles them. "That can't be coincidence."

"None of this is coincidence." I check my reflection one last time – midnight blue dress perfect, moonstones glinting at my ears, starflowers crowning my dark hair like a constellation. "And I'm going to find out why."

Another text buzzes: "Car's waiting. Bring the book. -K"

"How does he DO that?" Luna demands.

I gather my things – clutch, phone, grimoire, and now Kane's gift. "I'm going to find that out too."

"Along with the stamp mystery, the Marcus situation, the mate bond, and centuries of family drama?" Bethany's eyebrows rise. "Ambitious for one dinner."

"Who says it has to be just one dinner?" Luna's grin is wicked. "After all, some mysteries take time to unravel."

I shoot her a look as I head for the door. "This is strictly business."

"Keep telling yourself that, honey!" they chorus behind me.

I take one last look in my bedroom mirror, watching starlight shimmer across the midnight blue silk Luna and Bethany insisted was perfect.

The dress looks like I'm wearing a piece of the night sky, which feels appropriate given I'm about to have dinner with a vampire who's probably older than some constellations.

"You look amazing," Bethany calls from where she's sprawled across my bed, surrounded by the aftermath of our getting-ready session.

"He won't know what hit him," Luna agrees, gathering up scattered tarot cards.

The bond starts its usual interference before I even reach for my door, humming with an anticipation I'm not quite ready to examine. I try to ignore how it grows stronger with each step down the stairs, like it knows exactly who's waiting outside.

When I step outside, Kane goes completely still.

The bond flares between us, hot and bright and demanding things I'm not prepared to give.

I catch the subtle flex of his fingers against his leg, like he's physically stopping himself from reaching out, and pretend not to notice how my own hands want to tremble in response.

"Willow." Just my name, but he manages to make it sound like something between a prayer and a promise.

I focus on my steps down the path, grateful for the excuse to break eye contact. "Don't look so surprised. You're the one who invited me to dinner."

His lips curve into a smile that shouldn't be allowed to look that good. "True. Though I'm learning that no one can make you do anything you don't already want to do."

Behind me, I hear my friends giggling through the open window, and I resist the urge to turn around and hex them both.