Page 52 of Hopelessly Teavoted
He shrugged, snapping his ungloved fingers, on the hand opposite the one touching hers.
The music picked up again, louder, and their drinks refilled.
Wreaths of flowers settled around them on the table and danced into the air.
He scattered a few purple lilies around her table setting and drink with another snap, as though sensing how nervous she was about this new information.
“If it doesn’t work,” he said, running a gloved thumb over her own, “then I die.”
“Oh.” Vickie bit her lip. “So, no pressure, then.”
“It will work,” said Evelyn, confident. All business. “If you decide to do it. If you love each other completely, and without reserve, it will work.”
That was the catch, then. There could be no reservations. And just as she was finally sure she didn’t have any, she had the awful sensation that maybe, just maybe, he did.
Azrael didn’t meet Vickie’s eyes, and her stomach lurched.
What reserve was he hiding behind that sculpted face? She could keep going as they were, pretending when she needed, until she was sure that reserve wasn’t, well, deadly.
“Take some time,” said Priscilla, snapping her fingers so that the chicken appeared on their plates, garnished with fingerling potatoes and fresh herbs. “You two should talk about it after dinner. For now, let’s all go around the table and say things we like about one another.”
Azrael’s smile curled up, his eyes still crinkled in slight distress.
“Hart family grace. Like Mom and Dad used to do.”
“Yep. I’ll start. Evelyn, ma chérie , I love that you are as exquisite in the Council room as you are in my foyer.
Fucking perfect, everywhere.” Prissy winked, her hand resting on Evelyn’s back and the necklace there.
She and Evelyn smiled at each other, unspoken words passing between them.
“Az, I love that you are a good brother, despite never being as enthusiastic about my pranks as I want. And now that you’re back here, you always show up.
It means a lot. I know I could count on you to drive a getaway car if I ever needed it.
Vickie, I love that you bought Hopelessly Teavoted and stopped it from becoming bougie and boring. ”
Evelyn leaned in and brushed a kiss along Priscilla’s jaw that would have been too much for most dinner tables.
Not the Harts’, though.
“Priscilla, lovey, I worship that thing you do—you know which one. We’ll go to my place tonight.
” Evelyn winked, and Vickie was startled to see unflappable Priscilla blush, actually blush, and Azrael look like he did not want any further information.
“Azrael, I love that you are both a powerful witch and a high school teacher. You’re exactly the sort of absurdly noble combination I want in my chosen family.
” He smiled at this, clearly relieved she had shifted the subject.
“And Victoria, I simply love that gown. The corset is giving me Swiftie.”
“Thank you.” She loved Hart grace, and it was the perfect relief from the tension of discussing forevers.
“Well, Evelyn, I love your entire vibe. The outfit, your condo’s decor, the fact that you’re the president of the Witchery Council.
All of it. And Priscilla, I love that you don’t take any crap from anyone, including Azrael. ”
Vickie swallowed, looking across the table. Deciding between the smutty and the silly, the absurd and the thigh-clenching.
“Azrael Ashmedai Hart,” Vickie began. “I love that you’re willing to raise the dead with me if that’s what it takes to solve a mystery.”
“That’s what you’re going with? Not my stunning eyes, or all of this?” He gestured to his torso, and lower, and Priscilla snapped her fingers, magically throwing a bunch of bananas at him, from goddess knows where. They hit his shoulder with a thump, and she shook her head sternly.
“No judging, Az. Your turn.”
“Fine,” he said, his hazel eyes flashing, specks of green glinting against the brown.
“Evelyn, I love that you’re such a fierce leader, and your commitment to uniting the European Council with NACoW.
” Evelyn smiled. “Priscilla, I love that you took care of Mom and Dad when I couldn’t be here.
” His voice cracked, and Vickie squeezed his gloved hand, glad for the interfering table and its shortening shenanigans.
“Vickie,” he breathed, and the flowers paused for a moment, hovering in the air. “I love that you wear shoes that are too tall even though you are, by all means, very clumsy, and end up stumbling. Honestly, it’s a wonder you don’t fall into a ditch. You’re very lucky I’m here to catch you.”
Priscilla pelted him with plums now, each finger snap a barrage of purple fruit.
“Az, I thought you were going to be serious.”
“I will be,” he deadpanned. “I intend to be completely serious with Vickie in the future. But the things I want to be serious about are best said once we figure all of this out. And we all have business to attend to before that happens. Best not to start a thing until I can finish it.”
He winked, and to Vickie’s embarrassment, Evelyn and Priscilla exchanged a knowing smile.