Page 24 of Love’s a Witch (The Scottish Charms #1)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN Sloane

You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“I most certainly am not.” Lyra stuck her nose up, though it was hard to take her seriously in a hugely padded puffy toadstool costume.

“You look ridiculous.”

“I look amazing.” Lyra bounced around the room, her mushroom cap swinging about, and Blue zoomed in the air next to her, barking. “Blue agrees.”

“He’s just being nice because you give him snacks.”

“She doesn’t look as good as me.” I turned to see Nova dressed in red overalls, a mustache, and a cap grinning at me.

“It’s-a me! Mario! ” Nova lifted her hand in the air and pinched it together like Italians were known to do.

“I’m not going to lie.” I leaned back and crossed my arms over my chest, studying her. “This is a good look on you.”

“Of course it is.” Nova shrugged. “I can pull anything off, really.”

It was true too. Nova exuded effortless confidence in spades. She narrowed her eyes at me, leaning one hip against the kitchen counter.

“Where’s your costume?”

“Do I have to? Why can’t I be Luigi?” I asked, sticking my lower lip out in a pout.

“Because I am,” Broca said, coming out with her walker, wearing green overalls and a sparkly shirt.

“Are you coming to the contest?” I asked, delighted to see her up and about. It had been a challenge to get her to do her daily exercises, but she was slowly beginning to improve from her operation.

“I’m not. I’m staying here to answer the door with candy for any kids that come by. The contest is adults only, remember?”

“Is it?” I hadn’t paid much attention because I hadn’t honestly thought I’d be going. It wasn’t like the town had much warmed up to us, and I wasn’t sure our showing up at one of their parties was going to help things.

“What’s your magick today, Sloane?” Lyra asked, pausing her manic mushroom dancing to snatch Blue from the air and sprinkle kisses across his face.

“I don’t know. I’ve been able to suppress it so far,” I admitted.

I was doing my damnedest to try to pretend like I didn’t have magick, even though it simmered just below the surface.

It was like I was suddenly plugged into some universal magickal source, and power all but hummed through me.

Was this how witches felt all the time? It was wild, really, knowing they just walked around with power at their fingertips.

I mean, shouldn’t there be some sort of training for this? Maybe a license bureau? I worried my lower lip as I considered the intricacies of setting up such a system. It would be prudent to try, though. Maybe I needed to speak to someone about it.

“Sloane.” Nova snapped her fingers under my nose. “Go get dressed. We’re leaving in ten.”

“Ugh, fine.” I stomped upstairs. Broca had lectured me earlier about joining in the community activities to try to mitigate people’s bad opinions of us, so I reluctantly stripped and tugged the costume over my head.

Turning to look in the floor-length mirror affixed to the back of my door, I sighed.

Princess Peach was not a look I’d normally go for.

There was just so much tulle. And pink upon pink. The bodice clung low, and I tugged at it, certain that the video game version of the character was not in a low-cut gown. Suspicious, I picked up the discarded package lying on my bed.

“?‘Sexy Princess Peach,’?” I read out loud, groaning.

No wonder the skirt ended two inches above my knees.

Turning, I looked over my shoulder to see where the costume dipped in the back, exposing a wide expanse of skin.

I wouldn’t even be able to wear a bra. Surely my sisters didn’t expect me to go out like this.

Ignoring the awful fake wig, I jammed the crown onto my head and pulled on Ugg boots.

There was no way I was wearing heels in this snow, and frankly, I wasn’t sure I was even decent to leave the house like this.

“Wow,” Nova said, her mouth dropping open as I came downstairs in a huff, my arms held wide.

“Really? This is what you want me to wear?” I turned in a full circle while Lyra let out a low whistle. “Don’t you whistle at me. You get to wear the equivalent of a onesie out tonight, and you’ve shoved me into a skanky Peach outfit.”

“In fairness, you look really good in it,” Lyra said.

“She’s not wrong, Sloane. I think you need to go find Knox while wearing this. He’ll know what to do.” Broca winked at me, and my mouth dropped open.

“Broca! No. I’m never touching that man again. He wants to run us out of town, remember?” I raised a finger in the air. “Do you know what he did to me earlier?”

“No, do tell. In great detail, darling.” Broca leaned forward, a salacious light in her eyes, and I pressed my lips together and counted to ten in my head.

“He got me refused service at the bookstore!” I’d gone back to pick out the books I’d wanted for my birthday, and the cat sith fae woman had seen me coming and gently overturned the Open sign in the window just as I was about to walk in.

I’d pointedly looked at the time on my iPhone, and then back at her posted hours.

She’d shrugged one shoulder, a sheepish look on her face, and I’d known.

Knox was blackballing me around town. He wanted to make life as inconvenient for me as possible.

It would almost be easier if he’d go back to outright trying to drag me out the door than these insidious attacks on our residency in Briarhaven.

“Sloane, you look adorable when you’re mad like that. Like a pink puff ball of anger.” Lyra grinned at me and began bopping her mushroom-cap head again to some unheard tune.

“Have you been indulging in some medicinal mushrooms tonight?” I asked.

“Nope, this is all me. I’m just excited to dance.” Lyra held out her arms and shimmied, her mushroom costume gyrating around her, and I laughed.

“You’re making it hard to hate you for putting me in this stupid costume.”

“You look fabulous, Knox will swallow his tongue, and we’re going to have a blast even if nobody else talks to us.” Nova hooked an arm through mine and dragged me toward the door. “No matter what, we have one another. And we always have fun together, don’t we?”

She wasn’t wrong. Every year we spent Halloween in a new town, and every year we managed to make it fun for ourselves. This would be no different, even with the added layer of most of Briarhaven hating us.

Pulling on a long wool coat to cover my barely there outfit, I kissed Broca and Blue goodbye and went out into the snow. It wasn’t a far walk to the community center, and there was no way I was getting through tonight without an adult beverage or two.

Despite the snow, the night held a festive air, with light from open front doors spilling onto the sidewalk as children in costumes sang or danced for their treats.

I remembered that feeling of excitement as a child, not caring if it was raining or cold, just wanting to be out on the streets late, with any excuse to earn a sweetie.

“Was it all bad?” Nova murmured, as two miniature witches and a werewolf scrambled past us, giggling as they tossed snow at one another.

“No,” I admitted, hooking my arm in hers, knowing she was talking about our childhood. “It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t all bad. We had one another. And when Mum and Dad weren’t fighting, they were quite fun.”

“Dad used to sing to us at the top of his lungs when we slept late,” Lyra remembered.

“Mum was killer at making our costumes.”

“Dad dominated during board game night.”

“Ugh, he never let us win, did he?” Nova remembered with a laugh.

“Nope. No mercy.” I smiled, the warmth of the good memories seeping in a bit. It had been easier to remember the bad instead of the good, as it helped to shore up my walls. If I couldn’t stay in Briarhaven with this stupid curse, why should I fall in love with it?

“Mum used to give me her cookbooks to read. Remember her stovies? So good. She just kind of got out of the habit of cooking, didn’t she?” Lyra murmured.

“Aye, I think it all became too much for her.” Maybe that was what happened when every day your magick changed, and you couldn’t rely upon anything.

It was already stressing me out, and I was only a few days into this particular affliction.

For the first time, my resentment toward my mother softened.

She was a difficult woman, but she’d also had her challenges, hadn’t she?

“Wow, this place is packed.” Nova drew my attention from my thoughts, and my eyebrows rose at the line of people snaking around the edge of the community center, waiting to get inside. Music bumped, and laughter carried on the frigid night air.

“I think tonight’s going to be fun,” Nova decided.

“Here’s hoping,” I said.

Twenty minutes later, I was huddled in the corner of a large open room, clutching a glass of white wine, watching as my sisters tore around the dance floor.

Despite the town professing to not like us, my sisters’ sheer enthusiasm at dancing had endeared them to most of the people on the dance floor, and soon Lyra was being twirled by Hannibal Lecter, while Nova was being dipped by Edward Scissorhands.

Nobody tried to talk to me, and frankly, I was fine with that.

I kind of needed a moment to readjust my thoughts about Briarhaven, the talk I’d had with my sisters on the way here bringing to the surface long-buried memories.

Finishing my glass, I turned to go get another and bumped into someone.

“I’m sorry. Oh—”

“Sloane.” Knox grinned at me, and I gulped, suddenly wishing I still had wine in my glass to drink.

There was just so much muscle.

Everywhere.

He wore dark green fitted pants and… well… basically nothing else. A gold bodysuit, like a second skin, showcased his muscles, a pair of football-like shoulder pads dripped in fake fish scales, and dark liner coated his eyes.

Need bloomed as I remembered straddling him in the library, his mouth on mine, and I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his muscular chest.

I wanted to lick my way down—