Such a Witch - Celia Kyle Page 0,2

terrible liar.

Even so, Nathan’s flash of anger went out as quickly as it came. Not that he was happy about it, but at least the fire in his electric blue eyes had gone out. He plopped back into his chair and folded his arms.

“Yeah, well...”

Even if everyone else had found it a stone-cold riot, Aurora was rattled by the unexpected guest. Whatever they all might think of her, she wasn’t as put together as all that. Little things like that happened all the time, and she had to work hard to keep up the pretense of being so well-composed. Which was, you know, exhausting.

Worse, she felt like she couldn’t tell anyone about how hard it was to keep up the façade. After all, she had an image to maintain. Especially if she wanted to get anywhere in this life, which was only made that much harder because she was a necromancer. Other magicals had strong feelings about necromancers, not always good.

“Anyhoo,” Tiffany said, twinkling her little elfin, kohl-rimmed eyes. “When are your brothers coming for another visit?”

At the mere mention of her brothers, Aurora’s stomach dropped.

“You just wanna see the oldest one again… What’s his name?” Kelly asked Tiffany, knowing full well what his name was.

“Rhys,” Tiffany sighed happily, drawing out his name like a dream.

That brought another round of light chuckles, especially from Kelly. “You got it bad for that one.”

“Maybe.” Tiffany blushed, making her pale face contrast even more with the purple streaks threading through her dyed black hair. It seemed downright incongruous for such a dark goth to behave like a love-struck schoolgirl.

“No ‘maybe’ about it,” Kelly said. “This little girl wants Rhys’s pieces!” Again, the whole table came apart. In fact, the table itself shook in appreciation of the joke, coming dangerously close to sloshing milk out of Aurora’s bowl and onto her tidy little skirt.

“Damn.” Even Nathan was laughing. “Wish I’d thought of that one.”

Kelly looked proud of her word play. “Don’t worry about it, Tiff. I texted all of the Rhonelle bros invites to the party tonight. You’re welcome.”

Aurora’s eyes darted up at the news. “You invited the boys?”

“Are you kidding? I invited all the boys. Not just your brothers. So, you’re welcome too.”

“Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod,” Tiffany breathed, all but clapping her hands like a kid in a candy store. Little hearts began to circle her head and a basket of mewling kittens materialized on the table. If Aurora’s necromancy manifested itself through random animals coming back to life, then cutesy little tricks were Tiffany’s forte—for better or for worse.

“Say, Aurora, where’s that little mouse now?” Ronun feigned looking around. “One of these little kitties might be hungry.”

Everyone was in rare form this early in the morning. For her part, Aurora shifted uncomfortably. It wasn’t that there was any acrimony between her and her brothers—far from it. She loved her family fiercely. It was just that they actively embraced all of the darkness and gloom of necromancers she had so studiously worked to distance herself from. She didn’t even own a single scrap of black clothing.

Having them attend their house parties was usually fun, but it only served to remind everyone where she came from. What she was supposed to be. Aurora wanted so much more than that.

“Actually,” she said, rising from the table. “I ought to get going. Don’t want to be late.”

“Are you serious?” Kelly called after her, but Aurora was already in the hallway heading for the door. In a moment, Kelly was leaning out the kitchen door. Amazing that she had managed to pry herself off Ronun’s lap. “Your job doesn’t start for another two hours!”

“Still,” Aurora tossed back over her shoulder as she pulled the door open.

“Whatever,” Kelly called. “Maybe you can use going in early as an excuse to leave early for the par-tay!”

“Maybe.”

Tugging the door shut behind her, Aurora strode down the steps and paused for a second. The air at that time of day was always so crisp and the sun warmed her cheeks. Honestly, that was as good a reason as any to head out early.

After that incredibly brief snatch of pleasure she had allowed herself, Aurora turned her toes and began to walk briskly toward Othercross Judiciary. One of the other maxims she lived by reverberated between her ribs, driving her along the pavement.

“If you’re not early, you’re late.”

Two

The party was already in full swing by the time Aurora got home. But, then, it would be. Aurora had stayed at the Judiciary until nearly