“We’re trying to get Anna a man,” Isaura called out. I raised my eyebrows at Anna. She didn’t seem ready to share that the right man for her was a woman.

  “Why again?” I asked the room.

  “My father seems to think Raya is upset by my lack of a serious relationship.” Anna gulped a healthy drink of wine and refilled her glass. Her family took their religion seriously. “Isaura thinks if I’m involved, Daddy will be less likely to set me up with someone.”

  Isaura joined us in the kitchen. She was soft and curvy, with full lips and short tight curls that barely brushed the bottom of her ears. She was a perfect contrast to Anna’s tall, thin frame. Thankfully the two of them appealed to different crowds, so tonight there would be more than enough dance partners to go around. Sadly, we were one girl short from moving on to dancing and off the painful subject of Anna’s love life.

  “What about that nice vampire Mallory introduced us to this summer?” Isaura said, putting down a set of classified ads so covered in red they looked bloody.

  “No luck, he’s still in Phoebe’s mandatory I-might-get-back-together-with-him waiting period.”

  “Wait, Phoebe broke up with Mark?” It was the first I’d heard of it.

  “Hola chicas!” Phoebe blew in the room. “Your door was open.” She smiled at Anna and took her glass of wine.

  “Shut the door, Isa.” Anna poured herself a fresh glass. Isaura looked up from the paper, and a strong wind blew through the house. I heard the front door blow shut. Isaura was a fairly impressive air witch who didn’t mind showing off.

  “You broke up with Mark?” I repeated my question, this time directing it to the one who could answer it best.

  “Uh, yeah, umm, things weren’t working out…” she hedged.

  “Because, you know, he turned out to be normal.” Isaura laughed.

  “What?” It was Phoebe’s turn to be confused.

  “Face it, girl, you don’t date anyone who doesn’t need fixing,” Anna pronounced. “You’re practically incapable of a long-term relationship with someone decent.”

  “Look who’s talking. How many of your relationships last past breakfast the next morning?” Phoebe teased.

  “I don’t want a long-term thing, you do. We love you and all, but your taste in men sucks.” Anna’s voice was harsh.

  “Mallory, help me out,” Phoebe appealed to me.

  “At least we still love you?” I offered. “Let’s go dancing and forget about it.”

  We split into two cars for the ride to the club. I gladly took a seat in Anna’s zippy sports car, happy to spare her from more of Isaura’s matchmaking. The car only served as a reminder of the bigger issue. Like the house, it was a gift from her dad.

  “What’s going on with your folks?” I asked.

  She hesitated, nibbling the lipstick off her bottom lip for a second, then sighed. “I guess you know the big secret. Can’t hurt to tell you the little ones. You know how my family is pretty much the thing when it comes to fire witches around here?”

  “Blah, blah, name everyone after the fire goddess, blah, blah, four generations, blah. I’ve heard.” I rolled my eyes a little. Anna was actually Ray-Anna. Everyone else was Ray-something to honor their goddess. The pressure on Anna to be a witch was a bit laughable at times.

  “Right, except lately we’re not. It’s gotten to the point where nobody has any fire left.” She made a display of shifting gears, desperate to avoid my eyes.

  “Three months ago you channeled the goddess to turn a bunch of werewolves into ash and save my butt, doesn’t that count?”

  “Sure, but that was August, now it’s October. Dad can’t light a candle. My aunt, the one who can heal third-degree burns? She’s got nothing. The hospital put her on leave.”

  “What about you?” I asked the question I was afraid to hear the answer to.

  “Mating fire, a little, sometimes, but not always. Raya doesn’t like us anymore, Mal. It’s like we pissed Her off or She’s busy or something. The fire doesn’t come. She’s just…” Tears gathered in her eyes for a minute, and she stopped to pull it together. “…Just gone.”

  We were quiet for a second as the car headed toward downtown. In front of us, Phoebe was driving badly, talking animatedly with Isaura. I felt a twinge of jealously at their casual conversation.

  “And your dad thinks you finding a man will bring her back?”

  “Dad thinks a baby will bring her back. Mom’s not convinced, but being a witch was never that important to her. She’s like you and Isa, the only one in her family, a happy accident.”

  “What about your aunt?” I searched for some family member who wasn’t ready to turn Anna into a baby-making machine.

  “Which one? Aunt Jo isn’t a witch so she doesn’t have any say. She’s barely a family member. Grandma practically disowned her for being what we’re all turning into. Aunt Lynn is depressed. I mean can’t get out of bed, doesn’t remember to eat, depressed. I don’t know what’s going to happen to her if I don’t find some guy soon.”

  “Wait a minute, you’re not seriously considering this, are you?” It was insanity. I didn’t worship the fire goddess, but I couldn’t believe Anna’s family was right.

  “What’s my choice, Mal? My family is falling apart.”

  “Tell them you like girls.” It was harsh, but it had to be said.

  “You going to stand next to me when I do? Remember they barely speak to Aunt Jo, and all she did was make the mistake of being born normal.”

  “If you want me to, I’ll stand there. I’m your friend, friends do that.” I stressed the word friend a bit too much. I’d told Anna once I could never love her. I didn’t want to confuse the point when she needed me so much.

  “Sorry, Mal.” The tears in her eyes threatened to spill over. “I appreciate it, but I’m a wimp. I’d rather live a lie than face my father.”

  And with that the tears did come. We pulled into a dark parking space at the back of Convenire, and she cried.

  “You don’t have to lie to me,” I said, giving her a strong hug. Thankfully Convenire prided itself on looking like a destroyed shack. It sat back from the edge of the river, away from the rest of downtown, without a single streetlight of its own to display Anna at her most unsexy. Phoebe and Isaura gave us our space, no doubt helped by Phoebe’s ability to tell Anna was upset.

  I wondered how much the perky spirit witch actually could see about our emotions. She’d never picked up on Anna’s sexual preference. But then, Anna was good at hiding. Until she’d told me, the myriad array of sexual comments, the frank looks, and the way she danced with men fooled me. Maybe I was wrong to push Anna into telling her family. Maybe she could be happy with a man, fit into the life her family wanted for her. Even in my head it sounded like bullshit. She might not mind a man on the dance floor, but when she told me she loved me it meant something. I didn’t want anyone to live a meaningless life.

  4

  The inside of Convenire didn’t match the tattered shack exterior. The bistro tables surrounded a polished oak dance floor. The long bar was a darker wood, with floor to ceiling mirrors behind it and recessed lighting hidden away. There was a second floor that opened in the center so you could stand and look down at the people dancing. I’d spent my first hours with Jakob on that floor’s overstuffed velvet furniture, which was comfortable enough to pass the night away, even when the music was booming. The whole place seemed dark, with the colored lights on the dance floor and the occasional strobe effect making the experience surreal. It was everything I’d imagined a dance club to be when I lived in a small town. I loved it.

  Of course, the dance clubs of my dreams didn’t have a water witch bartender who could split liquor into four streams to pour several shots at once. He wasn’t showing off when he mixed drinks by putting his hand above the rim of the glass and making the fluids swirl. At Convenire, witchcraft was expected, not exceptional. Anna would dance with mating fire coming from her fingertips, and Isaura swirled breezes around her partners.

  Rhythm, the fifth girl in our group, was a Greek muse. No one here minded the way she threw power around, inspiring us all to dance. Phoebe and I were the odd ones out. She might get a contact high from all the emotions, but there was nothing either of us had to show on the dance floor.

  Rhythm was already out there, her long dark hair swirling around as some man who had probably never danced before spun her expertly. Outside it was early-October cool, but her olive skin was already coated in sweat, moisture soaking through her white linen dress. She broke off the dance as we walked in.

  “Ladies!” She squealed and offered air kisses all around. I took my kiss and tried not to notice how sweaty she was. “Anna, sorry about the daddy thing.”

  “Thanks. No advice?”

  “Sorry, when your dad is the head of an entire pantheon, he tends not to bother with you. But I promise you’ll dance the night away.” She smiled and led Anna out to the dance floor. Phoebe went after them while Isaura and I grabbed our usual table and ordered drinks. True to her word, Rhythm saw to it that Anna wasn’t worrying about her family in a matter of minutes.

  “So you’re going to get Anna a man?” I asked Isaura as the waiter dropped off five glasses.

  “Not a man, a boyfriend. She gets plenty of men every time we’re here.” Isaura and I watched Anna dance close to the table. One of her frequent partners, a fire witch who never wore anything but tight black leather pants with a chain for a belt, was dancing behind her. They looked like a happy couple, but I knew better.

  “Having someone to dance with doesn’t seem to be a problem for her.” I turned back to Isa. “What about you? Why do you always go home alone?”

  “Guys you meet in a bar are fine for a night, but in the end, they don’t appreciate my callipygian properties.”

  “Callipygian?” I asked.

  “It means she has a phat ass,” Anna said. She had stopped by for a drink. One swallow later, she was back out on the floor.

  “Not every man wants some stick of a model like you,” Isaura called after her, but her sparring partner was too far away to retort. Isa finished the sentence for my benefit. “Just the ones who comes to a bar.”

  “Good point.” I remembered how men had stopped seeing me when I was heavier. At a size eighteen, I was a buddy, a friend, a pal, but now that I was down to a twelve, I was someone to notice again. “Should we be dragging you somewhere else?”

  “To meet someone? No.” She shook her head. “I’m Jewish, remember? My mother sets me up with more than enough good kosher boys. I don’t need you and the girls doing it too.”

  “I’ll keep an eye out all the same. Any other requirements?”

  “Make sure he has a pulse. I want kids someday,” she said with a laugh.

  We danced all night, switching to bottles of water as it got late. We were young and supernatural, but we all still had to work the next day. Isaura might not think much of the men at Convenire, but she didn’t sit without a dance partner for long. After midnight, she begged me for water from the dance floor, and I headed over to the bar, ready to buy a round for the crew. The bartender was chatting with a man who looked out of place. I waited for a few minutes, cursed myself for never learning the bartender’s name, and finally walked over. I was two feet away when I realized it wasn’t a man but a woman with a slim figure and haircut. And not just any woman, E.

  I could act like I didn’t recognize her, go back to the table and hide, or be a grown-up about this. I’d already told Phoebe I was going to be a grown-up. I might as well do it. I didn’t even have a good reason to avoid her. We’d just gotten off on the wrong foot. Jakob helped raise her so she had to be a good person. The little spat we’d had at the fire wasn’t important. My shock at meeting her was no big deal. Friends. We were going to be wonderful friends. I ordered the waters, took a deep breath, and turned toward her with mock surprise.

  “Hey,” I said with a smile.

  She gave me a blank look.

  “We met at Jakob’s place. Mallory?”

  “It wasn’t really a meeting.”

  This friendship thing wasn’t going to be easy. “I didn’t realize you came here,” I shouted over the bar’s sound system.

  “I don’t, not really anyway. I’ve only been back in town a week, so first time.”

  “I’m a regular.”

  “Really? You know Patrick?” She gestured to the bartender who had turned around to grab my order.

  “A little. I’m more of a dance floor kind of girl.” I pointed back to the girls.

  “Ah, dancing’s not my thing.”

  “So why come?”

  “Raya wants me here. She says go, I go.”

  “Well, I can’t leave you sitting alone, come met my girlfriends. I’ll introduce you to one of the local fire witches.” I hoped my smile didn’t look as fake as it felt.

  “Really?” Her eyes narrowed as if she suspected a trick. “You don’t seem to like me.”

  “I never said that.”

  “You didn’t need to.” She shrugged.

  “Jakob likes you. I think I can trust his judgment.”

  “Oh, I don’t know, he’s let Mark stick around longer than I would’ve.”

  “He’s gotten better. He’s not nearly as much of an ass as he was.”

  “And what cosmic force managed that conversion?” Her voice dripped with sarcasm.

  “Phoebe. Come meet her.”

  Anna and Isaura were greedily gulping down their water, so I introduced Phoebe first. She smiled and asked, “E, like the letter? Unique name.”

  “It’s a nickname. My real name is a mouthful. I got stuck with it because of family tradition.”

  “Don’t tell me your family does the Ray-something for the fire goddess too?” Anna rolled her eyes.

  “Oh, it’s worse than that. The first girl in every generation gets stuck with it. Story goes that the first one died terribly and we all get named after her, so she’s never forgotten.” Her tone of voice told me she wouldn’t mind forgetting all that much.

  “What’s the name?” Phoebe asked.

  “Elsebeth.”

  Phoebe smiled at her. “And are you anything like the first Elsebeth?”

  “No,” she said, but at the exact same time I heard Jakob say, “Yes.” I hadn’t even realized he’d arrived. She laughed and finished speaking. “Well, you would know. You were married to her.”

  “Wow, so you two are related?” Isaura asked, but I didn’t bother listening, I was back in Jakob’s living room, remembering how he’d held a woman named after his dead wife. I tried to sort through my feelings—hurt that he hadn’t shared the story behind her name with me or hell, even her actual name. Worry, too. What did it mean that he hadn’t shared it with me? Anger, or maybe jealousy. She had a connection with him that I couldn’t have. Sure, she was his descendant, not a romantic rival, but until she showed up, I was the only woman in his world. Yep, jealousy, that’s what I was feeling for sure.

  The conversation had moved on, with everyone talking about how late it was. The only person who didn’t have to get up in the morning was Rhythm. I stopped analyzing my emotions long enough to wave goodbye to her.

  Anna shook her head as Rhythm left. “And there she goes.”

  “While the rest of us go home alone.” Isaura sighed and leaned her head on Anna’s shoulder.

  “It’s tragic, isn’t it?” Anna agreed, giving her a gentle pat.

  “You can give me a ride home,” E suggested. “At least you won’t be alone.”

  “Sure, why not.” Anna sounded flip, but I doubted she was happy being stuck taking a stranger home. The two of them left. A few minutes later, Phoebe and Isaura walked out to the parking lot with Jakob and me. I was still more than a little upset, but their laughter covered it. If Phoebe noticed something, she kept it to herself.

  I took my time organizing my thoughts as Jakob pulled out of the parking lot. After a few minutes, my silence became a second sore point. Shouldn’t he be asking why I hadn’t said anything? How long would he quietly drive while I sat furious? I worked myself into a strong rage in the time it took to get halfway to his place.

  “She’s named after your wife,” I said finally, sure he would get the point.

  “The first girl in each generation is,” he agreed, oblivious to my anger.

  “That doesn’t bother you?”

  “No, it made it easier to trace the family tree.”

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  Jakob must have caught my tone because he waited a few minutes before saying, “I like the name.”

  “It’s a wonderful name. Just not one I want to hear connected with a woman I found you cuddling.”

  “I explained that, and I’m not sure I like what you’re implying.” His voice took on a hint of anger.

  “Then I won’t imply. It bothers me that she’s named after your wife. It bothers me more that she looks like her.”

  “That’s not a problem so much now—”

  “Now that her hair is short?” I interrupted, frustrated with the way this conversation was going.

  “Now that I’m in love with you,” he said simply. It mollified my anger, brought me back to a place where I could think straight. We drove on in silence for a few minutes while I thought about it all, my thoughts turning to something else entirely.

  “I want you.” I let my hand dance along the back of his neck, watching the lines of his face as he drove.

  “I thought we were fighting?” he asked.

  “We finished fighting. I won. Now I want my prize.” He pulled into the long driveway of the house. Above us, the sandy pines made a canopy. When he turned off the lights of the car, there was absolute darkness and the noisy silence of the woods.

  He moved to take of his seat belt, but I stopped him. “Don’t. Put the seat back instead.”

  I wanted to be in control. I wanted to give him a moment his wife never had, to chase her ghost away. He slid the seat back, confused and amused all at once. I took off my own seat belt and moved my hands under my dress. I took my underwear off while he watched, intent on my movements.

 

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