Page 72 of Vying Girls (Girls of Hazelhurst #2)

EPILOGUE

Tilda

I should be spooked, all things considered.

Alone, in the middle of the forest with night pressed around me, and only the lights from the moon, the moth trap to my right and far off floodlights.

But I just feel excited.

There wasn’t much to set up, but I wanted to make it special.

The scent of hot wax wafts up to me. The circle of candles is haphazard at best, emanating from the foot of a gnarled oak tree—a rarity in this forest. I tense every time the wind blows, already having relit the candles multiple times. Even in the dead of summer, this island is cool at night.

In the circle lies a nest of rose quartz and dried rose petals. In that, a pink candle, a ball of red twine and Nic’s grimoire, open to the page I want.

I turn in the centre of the candles, wondering if I’ve already messed up by entering before I’ve opened the spell. Then I decide it doesn’t matter. This is our ritual. It’ll work as long as we believe in it.

And we do, all of us, I’m sure of it.

I texted them a while ago that I was ready. Now I wait, shivering in my witch dress which seemed fitting at the time.

Through the trees, the moon is full and high. As rare as the oak tree is a cloudless night on Hazelhurst. It makes me feel blessed, something I’ve been feeling nothing but these last few weeks.

Is this our happy ending? Finally? Definitely feels like it. The monster’s gone. Taken to prison, Fina said, without a stop to the hospital to deal with his shattered foot.

As much as I’d felt relief, there’d also been this shivery sensation, looking into Fina’s dark and all-too-powerful eyes.

I felt like a flea, a nuisance, maybe some kind of entertainment for her.

I’d heard her say something to Nic about favours, about having to pay them back.

I don’t know what that means, if anything, but I do know I’d never want to find myself on her bad side.

I knew the Zaccaro family were influential, but it seems they’re a law unto their own too.

I wonder if he knows. Zaccaro. I can’t imagine that sort of ‘favour’ flies under the radar. There has to be records, surely. I doubt Tommy will keep Damien’s whereabouts from his mum and sister forever. I only hope forever is how long he rots there.

At any rate, he won’t be walking normally again.

Something that panicked me at first, swift, hot regret following a mere second after I’d fired the shot.

It had taken Blakely pinning me to the labyrinth wall with one meaty hand, telling me to chill the fuck out until the panic subsided.

Damien deserved nothing less but the idea of rotting in a cell alongside him hadn’t appealed.

Well, it’s been weeks now and nothing’s happened, so I think I’m good.

And I’ve found my Nicole. I have Elly and Haz, and, for now, the skin on my thighs is smooth.

The wind picks up, ruffling the hem of my dress. I close my eyes at the sensation of it on my legs. No underwear tonight. My lips tick up thinking of how well that’ll be received.

Despite the cold, I feel all primal and feminine tonight, some of that power I used to feel as a kid surging through me. Women and the moon. There definitely is a magic to it, I’d just forgotten. But we’re friends again, me and her.

I’m relighting the candles when I hear the snapping of twigs and Haz’s not so subtle voice. My heart thumps, my stomach doing a little roll. Happy nerves. I’ve still got them for all three of them.

Haz spots me, sauntering over in her grey joggers and tank, a thick chain gleaming on her chest.

‘Hey, little witch.’ She runs her eyes appreciatively over my dress, the candles at my feet. ‘Fuck yeah, sacrifice.’

I spot Nic in my periphery, dumping her tent bag, a sizable axe strapped to the back of it. She catches my eyes briefly, a smile shining in her own. She looks around the clearing, no doubt deciding where to pitch up.

‘Ay up,’ Elly says, hands in her blue jeans pockets as she comes to a stop at the edge of the candles. ‘What’s all this then?’

‘What’s it look like?’

She hums, looking over the artefacts on the floor. ‘Something very Tilda.’

I take her hand, dragging her into the circle. Haz follows, spinning the bracelet on her wrist. So cute how she still wears it. It’s become her favourite fidget toy.

‘We’re doing a spell,’ I tell them.

‘Are we now?’ Nic joins us, pushing her hair back as she spots her book on the floor. It’s getting long, flopping over her face. ‘Love spell, hm?’

‘Obviously. What else?’

She glances up at the sky. ‘Full moon, too.’ She catches my eyes. ‘Someone’s been planning.’

I give a nod, nervous all of a sudden. Yeah, I thought it would be fun to do a spell, but it was the significance behind it I was concerned with, the commitment I wanted to prove to them.

‘We don’t have to, obviously. You might think it’s weird.’ I glance at Elly, Haz. I know Nic gets all this stuff already. It’s her book after all. ‘I just thought—well, I’m serious about this. You guys. All of you. And I kind of wanted to do something to prove it.’

Haz grins. ‘Like marriage.’

‘Kind of. Just without the legal stuff. And witnesses.’

‘We’ve got the moon,’ Nic murmurs, looking up at it. ‘And technically enough people for witnesses.’

‘I’m in,’ Haz says, punching her fist into her palm. ‘Wife me up, Scotty.’

I look at Elly, who tilts her head with a smile, like she always does when I’ve done something adorable. She pulls on my hand until I’m right up against her. ‘This is so cute, babe.’ She gives me a gentle kiss. ‘Always wanted to be a witch’s wife.’

‘Sweet.’ I glance at Nic who’s standing with her hands in the pockets of her low-slung jeans. ‘Take it you’re in?’

‘Since you’re using my gear, yeah.’

Despite her casual words, she lands a heartfelt kiss on my shoulder as she crosses the circle to pick up the book. Balancing it on an open palm, she casts her eyes over the spell.

‘No thrills,’ she says approvingly. ‘Straight to the point.’

I pick up the twine, unravelling the end of it. ‘We need to stand in a circle. This is for two people, obviously, but I’m sure we can figure out how it goes.’

Dutifully, they each raise a hand. I make a loop over my thumb before crossing the twine over the rest of my fingers and handing it to Haz who does the same.

It’s like a fiddly, four-person game of cat’s cradle.

Once Nic’s looped the twine on her own thumb, I snip the end and drop it back to the ground.

Then I pick up the pink candle, etched already with a sigil I made earlier, and light it.

Using the flame for light, I hold it up to the book Nic holds.

I glance up at the others, Haz’s and Elly’s eyes studiously on the spell. Nic’s looking at me, her face soft in the candlelight. She gives a small smile, as gentle as the rest of her. It’s such a new, precious thing. A look I’d never thought I’d ever see on her, and certainly not aimed at me.

‘Ready? We say this three times, alright? Then we blow out the candle together.’

Haz and Elly nod. Nic looks down at the page. Then, together, we chant,

With this string and with this knot,

the candle burning bright and hot,

forever now our love must last

entwined as one, this spell we cast.

Our voices vibrate in the night, oscillating between the trees and the full moon and all the night creatures bearing witness to our joining.

I could keep chanting forever, high on the esoteric power of it, but after the third iteration, we all fall silent, leaning forward to blow out the flame in unison.

Darkness surrounds us. We look around. All the other candles have gone out too.

‘Fuck, yeah,’ Haz whispers. ‘That for sure worked.’

I catch eyes with Nic in the dark. Her eyebrow twitches as she closes the book. We never had any doubt magic is real, just another one of our spells cast into the ether, the trust that it’ll keep on spinning for eternity.

We remove the twine. Elly flexes out her hand. ‘Now what?’

‘Now’—I drag her closer by her belt, leaving a lingering kiss on her lips—‘we seal it properly.’

Haz chuckles, moving in too. ‘Can get down with that.’

With a hand still around Elly, I share a kiss with Haz, the two of them buffeting me in that way that makes me feel both safe and horny. Nic watches from behind, a speculative expression on her face.

When I release Haz, Elly takes me by the waist and ushers me back until I hit the tree. I wind my arms around her as we kiss, loving it when she does stuff like that. Sweet, easy-going Elly with her soft dominant streak, hardening the more turned on she gets.

Haz leans on the trunk beside us, one arm above her head. She strokes my cheek with the backs of her fingers. ‘You kiss so beautifully, baby girl. Gonna suck on Elly for me?’

Pulling back, Elly offers me her fingers.

I take them into my mouth, sucking the warm digits.

They smell like sweet hand soap. I look into Haz’s eyes as I bob my head, loving her wicked grin.

Anything that involves sucking is her jam.

Nothing gets her hotter than watching me suck her dick, sometimes Elly’s. Fingers will do in a pinch.

‘Perfect.’ She touches my hair where it’s tangled on the trunk. ‘Perfect dick sucker.’

I frown, as I do every time she says that. It makes her grin even more.

When Elly ducks to kiss my neck, I look for Nic but can’t see her. Her bag’s still on the floor, the top of it open like she’s removed something, her axe still there. Then Elly’s teeth are touching my skin and I’m no longer thinking about Nic.

Haz’s hand is on my thigh, methodically bunching up the skirt of my dress. I help her out, giving her just a glimpse of the fact I’m not wearing anything beneath it.

She releases a harsh breath. ‘Dirty, dirty girl. What if someone else had stumbled upon you out here?’ Her hand leaves the bare skin of my thigh, trailing dangerously close to my ass. ‘Think they could resist this?’