Page 27 of Starry with a Chance of Nightshade

“Yay,” I responded with a grunt. “I’d hoped you’d given up on this.”

“No such luck,” she said.

Emily smiled at me as I went back to the seat that I’d started in. “It will be fun, Astria”

“For real, can we do anything elsebutthis tonight?” I asked as Torid trotted over to me and rolled onto his back, wanting me to rub his stomach. I did. “What about a scary movie marathon or something? We could tell ghost stories even.”

“Boring,” she said. “Light as a Feather will be fun. Then we’ll try to contact the spirit realm.”

Torid’s head whipped around as he eyed me.

Bad idea. Kissy is not a dar-rk ar-rts master.

I glanced at him, nodding. Explaining to Torid that her name was Krissy and not Kissy was something I’d given up on by the end of the first month of knowing her. He thought Emily’s name was Bitch because Colleen had called her that shortly after they’d met, so really, Krissy was winning by a long shot. “I know. I tried to tell her as much.”

“What?” asked Stevie.

Emily sighed, pulling the old book closer to her and opening it to a page with a sticky note on it. “I think she’s talking to her dog,again.”

Stevie patted the pillows next to her. “Come here, boy. You can sit by me while Emily moans and groans about you. She’s not a dog lover. She doesn’t get it.”

Torid had a major soft spot for Stevie. She was always sneaking him treats and people’s food. He jumped at the opportunity to sit by her.

Colleen chugged her soft drink and then burped. “How much longer before we get this show on the road?”

“Almost done,” said Krissy.

I glanced at the book Emily was reading from and stiffened when I saw it had passages from Samuel Pepys’s diary. As far as I was aware, Pepys’s was the first account of Light as a Feather. While he’d documented what he’d seen, he’d only seen a portion of the ritual. The “game,” as most thought it to be throughout the years, had changed slightly. Pepys had no way of knowing what he’d really witnessed—a dark summons.

There were days I was happy my aunt had taken the time to teach me everything she could about the supernatural, and then moments like this when ignorance really would have been bliss.

Emily put her finger over the French phrases Pepys had recorded. “Okay, I have what we’ll say.”

“We repeat the words ‘light as a feather, stiff as a board,’” said Krissy as she lit the last candle. “Easy enough.”

“No,” countered Emily. “This book has it listed differently.”

“Just go with what Krissy said,” I pleaded.

Emily snorted. “Fraidy-cat?”

Yes. Because I knew what could happen.

Eat Bitch?asked Torid.

I shook my head.

He grunted but then perked.Eat the Kissy?

Again, I shook my head. My friends were not on the menu.

“I’ll let you go hunt mice in the basement later,” I said, earning me a few odd stares from the others.

Krissy snorted. “He’s kind of gross.”

Torid lifted a leg and farted once more, his backside aimed at her.

Krissy had gotten into her version of witchcraft in the last two years. Mainly she just bought a bunch of crystals, hung them around the house, and burned a lot of incense. All of it was relatively harmless. At least, it had been until she, Willa, and Emily had decided to explore the library in the house. Since the home had come furnished, the shelves had already been full of old books.

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