Page 147 of Bite Marks

Garrett took one final furious look at the rest of us before he let the crowd swallow him, carrying him out the door and up the stairs onto the street.

I shoved the paper back into the envelope and into my bag to try and save it from the water just in time for Ren to scoop me up into her arms, twirling us.

“That’s my girl,” she said happily, catching me in a heavy kiss. “Thank you for coming back.”

“I think I missed enough time I could’ve spent with my coven, don’t you think?” I said, moving my mouth over hers for another kiss. “I’m home.”

“Yeah, you are,” Dana said, tugging me out of Ren’s grip and into hers. “I’m so fucking sorry, Vi. We didn’t know?—”

“You don’t need to be. I was confused and freaked and didn’t know what to do. I know this wasn’t your call.” I hugged her back tightly, eyes squeezing shut as her cool, wet body pressed against mine.

“What fuckingidiotpulled the fire alarm?” Juniper shouted as she came flying out of the back, her soggy orange hair sticking to her face.

“We were wondering the same thing,” a couple of firefighters asked as they stepped up to our little group in their reflective jackets.

“Garrett Aubert,” Dana said without missing a beat, heaving an irritated sigh that was so expertly paired with a pinch to the bridge of her nose that even I questioned if I’d been the one to do it. “He was furious that the owner asked him and his friends to leave. God, look at the damage!”

“And are you the owner, miss?” the shorter of the two asked.

“No, that would be me,” I said proudly, making Juniper gasp quietly behind me. “We all saw him do it. Can you communicate to him that he’s banned from the premises? Should I call the cops? Or the Coven Investigation Unit?”

“Uhhh.” The taller hesitated. “Can one of you come with us and point him out?”

“On it,” Dana said, following them. “Any way that I can help, really, please.” She cut me a look as she passed, triumph blazing in her warm eyes as she mouthed,Thank you, darling.

“I’ll get the sprinklers off,” Ren said, kissing me quickly before heading to the back, leaving me standing between Elsie and Juniper.

“Don’t you think the fire alarm was a little overkill?” Juniper asked, though the relief on her face was obvious as she enveloped me in her soft arms.

I pressed a kiss to the side of her head. “Insurance will pay for the remodel. Besides, it's time we shake up tradition a little, don’t you think?”

She caught my lips in a searing kiss, the anxiety of the day melting away as she cuddled in closer, leeching my body heat.

“Whatever, as long as I get to actually enjoy my life with you.”

“Long one that it is,” Elsie teased, wrapping her arms around my back in a three-person hug. “No matter what happens… We’ll get through it together.”

The memories that’d haunted me from Juniper’s birthday felt like shadows now, whispers of smoke from a stubbed-out cigarette.

Immaterial.

Unimportant.

But something was still troubling me.

“It wasn’t your fault,” I said softly, tilting Juniper’s face to mine. “What happened last year, it wasn’t on you. I know you… blamed yourself a lot. I remember that now.”

“Vi, I—” she said softly, voice tight with the threat of tears.

As difficult as my resurfaced memories were, they were just as hard for my family—my coven.

And I wasn’t going to disappear into myself. Not when they needed me.

Not ever again.

“I mean it,” I said, pressing tender kisses along her cheekbone. “I love you, Juniper. And I’m so fucking lucky—no,grateful—that I got to fall in love with you all over again. I think if you had to, you could probably make it a lucky three.”

“Let’s hope that two is enough to stick,” she said with a weak grin that showed off her pointed fangs.

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