Page 322 of Castings & Curses

“Elephants,” she said. At Moni’s perplexed expression. As she hopped up and retrieved another desk chair and patted the seat to invite Moni to join the trio, she added, “I’m sure you have some questions about last night, and we’re all here, so feel free to ask away. We promise to answer with absolute candor!”

Moni gulped. Shehadbeen wondering about the night before, aware that she’d been slizzered and not completely sure exactly how it had all played out.

In the light of day, it seemed like some sort of witchy horny coed wet dream, not unlike some of the ones she’d come up with herself when masturbating. It would be nice to know if what she recalled in flashes had taken place, but she found her usually outspoken self tongue tied with three pairs of inquisitive eyes on her.

“I guess I was wondering what happened last night,” she began. “I don’t have amnesia or anything but I was pretty buzzed and I’m pretty sure at some point we were all naked?”

“We sure were!” Broody enthused. Shady smacked his arm immediately.

Broody gave Shady a baleful look, saying, “Hey, Sis, that’s mycastingarm, take it easy, would you?” And then in Moni’s direction as he rubbed at the injured arm, he commented, “I apologize, my little sister has some violent tendencies!”

Shady glared at him and then said to Moni, “Thisis why everyone assumes that I am the older sibling! And to answer your question, it is likely that everything you remember of last night happened, just as it was meant to. It wasn’t anything we planned… and you shouldn’t feel weird or awkward about it. Broody and I sort of knew something was in the air when you first showed up at the door to our room, Moni… Do you believe in destiny? Or fate?”

“To an extent,” Moni replied honestly. “Although, I like to think we make our own destiny, ultimately, I think some things, some synchronicities, are hard to explain.”

“Well, what happened between all of us last night, I think was meant to happen and I want you to consider it as more than a random orgiastic hook up times four—”

“We’re not a cult or anything,” Luca interjected, leaning forward and making sure that his eyes met Moni’s.

“Oh mygawd, Luca, I can’t believe you said that!” Broody said quickly. “Why did you use that word? Now she’ll be thinking she’s wandered into a nest of weirdos!”

“Luca you aresucha moron!” Shady added, scowling at him.

“Stop!” Moni said. “I honestly am not thinking anything. I’m still kind of unpacking what happened last night, and I don’t feel weird around you, all of you, but Idosense some sort of group energy of something. Something indefinable. I mean I know you’re notvampiresor anything, right?”

The other three looked stunned for a moment as they exchanged startled looks with each other, and then suddenly erupted into a cacophony of laughter.

After a moment Moni found herself laughing along with them.

Shady had laughed so hard she was wiping tears from her eyes.

“No we’re not vamps, although I think one of my Uncles is. He lives in Dubai with his partner!”

CHAPTER FOUR-FLYING IN FORMATION

Mountinga pitchfork was not as uncomfortable as it sounds, Moni was soon to discover.

She did, however, wonder whatever the male witches did with their balls so as not to cause harm to them. Since testicles were close together in a skin sack, she doubted they could fit the handle of the pitchfork between the two nards comfortably, one hanging on one side and the other dangling over the other side.

Being Moni, she was not afraid to ask Luca during Flying Maneuvers Class, and being Luca, he answered her question with aplomb.

“We wear a special cup jock,” he told her. “Kind of some under armor for the twins. Works very nicely, actually. Why are you so interested in my balls all of a sudden?”

“Just slightly intrigued,” Moni shot back.

She hadn’t slept very well the previous night. She had had the one recurrent dream that she was convinced was more than a dream. She’d been dreaming of Sam again.

Sam, bornSebastian, although no one had ever called him that, was her twin brother. He’d been abducted when they’d been younger, or at least that was the theory her parents had always had, offering bigger and bigger awards for his return until their own untimely deaths falling from a ski lift in Switzerland during an avalanche.

Within an eighteen-month time frame, her entire nuclear family was gone, leaving her the only surviving member.

That was, unless Sam was still alive and captive somewhere. He’d always felt like part of her, and the fact that they had been cosmically close caused her to think that he might be trying to communicate with her through her dreams.

Usually, he told her that he was alive, and decently treated, but unable to escape. The dreams always ended with his pleading with her to find him. But he never gave her a chance to ask where in the world he was. As long as Sam was missing it felt, even in her happiest moments, as though a cloud hovered over her constantly, a reminder of her many losses.

She never talked about him with other people, but one of the reasons that she had come to Pitchfork Prep was because she knew that she had a relative, an Uncle to be precise, teaching there under an assumed name.

She felt the presence of a relative as soon as she set foot on campus, but her instincts led her no further, as she’d been hoping they might. It would be up to her to find her long lost Uncle.

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