“Really?”
“Yeah, but don’t tell her that.” She snickered. “Make sure you want to—that you’re all in—heart, mind and soul. Because once you give Miss Virginia away, she aint never coming back.” She tapped my knee with a finger.
“Miss Virginia?” I asked, totally confused.
“Virgin-eee-aaaaaa,” she said slowly, sarcastically.
I colored, and we both laughed, falling onto our sides.
Cindy wiped at her eyes, her face serious. “And even if you love him, it’s not like there’s a law that says you have to have sex with him… well, unless you’re married, then there might be a law.” She paused. “Holy hot guy on a vampire girl. Please say you aren’t getting married.”
“What? No.” I slapped her leg, and sat up. “That didn’t even cross my mind.”
But has the idea of marriage crossed Christopher’s, my inner voice cooed.
She gazed at me perceptively. “I’d better be the first to know when it happens. There are ways I can make sure.” She winked.
“Like how? A spell?” I giggled. She was crazy. I was eighteen. No wedding bells for years. Graduation from college came first. Plus, there was another little item. The whole me-being-the-Seal–and-destined-to-restore-magic issue.
Cindy climbed off the bed, and grabbed a book from her backpack. It was her spell book. The one with the eye of Abernathy on it. “See this,” she asked.
“Yeah?” I responded nervously.
She crossed her legs again. “There’s a spell we can cast to make him ask you to marry him.”
I tucked a strand of hair behind my ears. “I don’t want to make him do anything, Cin.”
She sighed, casually flipping through the pages. “Fine.” Then she leaned forward so her lips were next to my ear. “I found a spell to take us to Abernathy.”
Shocked, I said, “You didn’t?”
“I did,” she scolded, leaning back. “I can take us there right now if you want.”
“No way.”
She placed her book on her legs, and her hands on her hips. “Do you want me to prove it, Snow Merryweather White?” A firm line tightened her lips, and her brow was furrowed.
“Like with magic?” I verified.
“Like, I set some things up, say a spell, and poof, we’ll be at Abernathy’s.”
“You know he lives in a cave, right? With bats? He also breathes fire. And he’s huge. You understand all of that, right?” I crossed my arms, but a part of me was excited. If her and I went with magic, we could be there and back tonight.
Her face screwed up with concerned horror. She glanced at her off the shoulder pink shirt with the word, Merde, written across the front. With one hand she brushed her hands down her black jeans, and black boots. “A smelly cave? How cliché.”
I hid a smile. She wasn’t worried about bats or the fire breathing dragon, but whether her clothes got ruined.
A moment later, her eyes, so familiar to mine, twinkled. “You wanna go?”
I made an instant decision. “Definitely.”
Chapter 8
Cindy pulled fourteen thick, white candles from her backpack. They smelled of vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg—a combination that reminded me of my mother’s oatmeal. We placed them on the carpet next to my bed in the shape of a seven-pointed star.
I shut off the lights. The sun was setting, and brilliant oranges, pinks, and golden rays glinted across my shadowed room.
“Is there a reason for the scented candles?” I asked, as she and I sat cross-legged in the center of the candles. Our knees almost touched, we were so close, but the position was like second nature to her and me.
She shrugged. “I like the smell.”
“Oh.” I smiled. Nervous butterflies danced in my stomach. “Now what?”
“Shhhhh,” she said. “I’m concentrating.”
“Oops.” I stifled a giggle.
She placed her middle finger and thumb together, resting her hands on her knees. Then she closed her eyes. I watched her face become serene. And suddenly the candles flickered on.
I gulped.
She opened her eyes. “Cool, right?”
“So cool,” I responded, feeling like we were back in junior high and having a sleep over.
“The spell is easy. You’re going to repeat what I say. It may take a few times, but it should get us there.”
“Okay.” I hoped I didn’t say something wrong.
“Now, put your hands like mine.”
I copied her.
“Close your eyes, and remember as many different things about the cave, and Abernathy as you can. What it smelled like. The color of his scales. The way the air felt. What the cave looked like. Anything you saw or tasted. Can you do that?”