Page 49 of Practically Witches

“He’s in the shower,” Mom says from behind me. “He had a bag of clothes in his Jeep.”

I nod because somewhere in my house, in one of the three bathrooms, Zane Bradbury is showering. Naked. Idon’t have any words and I doubt my mother will be impressed if I blurt out that particular thought, so I shut my pie hole. The nod is my only safe move.

“Go wake up your sister. We’ve called a meeting of the nine families.” She gives me a push toward the stairs. “Tell her to get dressed.”

I turn to look at Mom. She’s wearing her June Cleaver pearls with a pair of jeans and a high collared summer sweater that doesn’t have sleeves. Her hair is falling loosely over her shoulders and she’s smiling. It’s been a while since I’ve seen her look so carefree. As happy as she is, though, I’m still not quite ready to welcome Dad back with open arms.

As I run up the stairs, the bathroom door opens and Zane steps into the hallway, and I watch a droplet of water fall from a curl onto his white shirt and spread into a small circle. I never knew water could be so damned sexy. And maybe it isn’t the water, but the man on whom the water falls. I don’t know. But I’m speechless, mouth dry, heart pounding, palms sweaty.

“Good morning.” His voice is enough to make my stomach flutter. He tilts his head. “You look pretty.”

There’s a very real chance I’m going to swoon, so I lean my shoulder against the wall. “Thanks.” I try to keep my voice normal, but I sound like one of those girls who knows how to seduce. You can bet I’ll be practicing that tone, though.

“RJ, did you wake up Aimee?” Mom’s calling up the stairs like she knows I’m about to say Aimee who and invite Zane into my room.

“On my way,” I call back to her. Softer, I say, “I got sidetracked.”

He grins. It’s a brushed his teeth already grin, and I amclose enough to smell the toothpaste. I never thought of minty fresh Crest as a particularly erotic smell, but damn. Zane, dripping and minty is a lot for a girl to resist.

“I’ll see you downstairs.” He smiles again and walks past me. I wish he would come back for one of those quick kisses couples give one another, but he’s down the stairs before I can blink away the fog. If things weren’t so fucked up, I would talk to Aimee about it, but my love life insecurity is nothing compared to what she’s going through.

Before I can knock on her door, she opens it and yanks me in then slams it shut behind me. “Did he kiss you?”

I shake my head. “Not this morning.”

Her eyes are wide. “He kissed you last night and you didn’t tell me?” She’s way too giddy, far too involved in my life at the moment for this to be normal.

“I didn’t know if you would want to see me.” I don’t know how to explain so she doesn’t end up blaming me.

She squinches her brow as if I’m not speaking English. “Why would I not want to see you?” For a second, I think I’ve hurt her feelings. “You’re the one who’s going to get my power back. And even if you don’t, you’re my best friend. Of course, I care that the boy you like kisses you.” She hugs me. “Was it amazing?”

I nod because words don’t do it justice. They’re going to have to create a new word to describe how much I enjoyed that kiss.

I wonder if it’s always going to be this way for us. If we’re always going to be this close or if we’ll end up like Dad and Elizabeth.

The doorbell starts ringing downstairs and I tell Aimee, “They invited over the other families.”

“What for?”

“I don’t know.” I shrug. “Maybe to talk about thescepter?” I only know that each of the nine families has a wand that fits into the staff and makes the scepter. “Mom has donuts and pastries downstairs, and fresh fruit.”

If there’s anything that will get Aimee up and moving, it’s the promise of glazed donuts and fresh berries. “I’ll be down in ten minutes.”

The doorbell rings again. “Better make it five.”

“Go guard the donuts. I have no magic, I’d better at least get something dipped in sugar.” She runs for her bathroom and I head downstairs. I suppose she’s getting used to the idea of not having magic for now, enough she can make jokes about it anyway. I only hope she doesn’t have to be without it much longer.

When I get to the dining room, I see the Bradbury’s have arrived and Zane is standing beside his mom holding a goblet—I didn’t know we owned goblets—of orange juice. The Faulkners are standing near the pastry platter and the Glover and Foster mothers are huddled together in the corner with my mom. The Steros and Dupree families arrive together soon after, and Finnick shows up with his parents, the Strains. We’re still waiting for the Muricks when the Devilles and Tempests arrive.

I haven’t seen Dad since the kitchen and I wonder if the great Viktor Hadley is waiting to make an entrance. My mother moves to stand at the head of the table and apparently, we aren’t waiting for the Murick family to arrive.

She lifts her glass and we, the children, gravitate toward the other end of the dining room as the mothers take seats at the table. Three of our kitchen chairs have been added to the dining room table to accommodate nine families. The fathers stand behind the mothers and, like they’ve rehearsed it, the wives all sit at the same time.

I look at Zane, then Aimee, who just joined us. “What about Isador?” she asks Zane.

“The Muricks aren’t a first family, but they hold a seat of power at the Institute since Viktor left.” He keeps his voice low, but my mother nods as though she’s confirming his story, although how she heard it is beyond me.

After about twenty or twenty-five seconds of the women sitting straight and the men moving to stand behind them, my father walks out of the kitchen. They all gasp. Well, all except my mom. She doesn’t share the shock and awe that comes with seeing a banished man walking in like he owns the place. And technically, he does. Our house anyway.

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