Page 49 of Best Hex Ever
“Ooh, what about some Whitney Houston? My grandma loved Whitney,” Immy said.
“Me and my sisters used to sing ‘I Have Nothing’ in the car at the top of our lungs,” Nour agreed.
“Whitney it is.” Dina selected a couple of her greatest hits.
Somewhere in the distance, a church bell chimed midnight.
Nour looked up at her daughter and smiled a witch’s smile. “It’s time.”
Sparks from the bonfire caught on the wind and spun ceremoniously into the air. One by one, they approached the fire with their candles.
Babylon candles weren’t your regular black spell candle. They could only be used once a year—Samhain at midnight—and they lasted only a few minutes. Rosemary might have beenable to see the ghosts of people who hadn’t crossed over, but a Babylon candle allowed anyone to spend a few fleeting moments with their loved one on the other side.
“For Khadija,” Dina’s mum said as the bonfire lent its fire to the candle. The flame flickered an incandescent blue. Immy sucked in a breath.
“For Naima,” Dina said as her candle was lit. A peal of laughter echoed in her ears, and for a moment she smelled honeysuckle on the air. A flicker of her aunt’s spirit, ready to dance beside them.
“For Grandma,” Immy whispered as she lit her candle over the fire. Her grandma had died six months ago, and Immy was still grieving that she wasn’t there for the wedding.
Immy gasped, her eyes flying open wide as the candle flamed blue. “I think…I think I can feel her.” She smiled. Nour squeezed Immy’s hand.
“For my mother,” Rosemary said, her face still. Blue light flickered from her candle, and she said nothing, her eyes locked on something in front of her. Even witches couldn’t see spirits that had crossed over, but with Rosemary’s gift, Dina wouldn’t be surprised if she could see her mother’s spirit before her. Dina saw the tears flowing freely down Rosemary’s cheeks, saw the way her friend reached out a hand and whispered “Hi, Mama” to the open air.
They placed their candles, the flames dancing wild and blue, around the bonfire. Babylon candles were thin and fragile, just like the visiting spirits that they helped tether to the mortal plane for a short while. They wouldn’t last more than three minutes.
Dina pressed play, sending “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” blasting out of the speaker. Dina shrugged out of her clothes until she stood totally naked in the field. Immy looked a bit abashed but did the same. Nour was already naked and boppingalong to the beat, her wild hair swaying about her, as was Rosemary.
Nour sang at the top of her lungs. As the chorus came, Dina lost herself to the song. Her feet skipped and danced around the bonfire, throwing out moves she would never in a million years have been seen doing in public.
When she looked over at Immy, her friend’s head was tipped back in laughter, and she looked like she was spinning someone around in a dance.She’s dancing with her grandma.Dina’s heart lifted.
Over on the other side of the fire, Dina could just about glimpse Rosemary twirling around, her red hair blazing in the firelight, her face lit up with an incandescent happiness.
Dina threw up her hands and sang, and she thought she heard a woman’s voice, a little raspy and slightly accented, singing just behind her. The wind lifted up around her, and she was spinning, kicking her feet up in the air. Dina imagined how her aunt would be dancing right now, if she could see her—probably throwing around some questionable dance moves from the eighties.
Dina glanced over at her mum, who seemed to be hovering slightly above the ground, doing what looked like a mish-mash of several different disco moves. She hadn’t seen her mother this happy for ages.
The song reached its climax, and Dina tipped her head back and howled with joy. Tonight, they were all shedding the versions of themselves that had to be neat, tidy women.
Tonight, they were wild things.
The music died down until all she could hear was the crackling of the bonfire and her breath heaving in and out. The Babylon candles had burned out, and were now a seep of black wax coating the grass. The spirits were gone.
“That was amazing,” Immy said, wiping the remains of tearsfrom her cheeks. “I never really got to say goodbye. But…but that felt like a proper goodbye.”
“I’m so glad, habiba,” Nour said. Dina pulled Immy into a hug and pressed a kiss to her cheek.
Rosemary walked over, muddied and glowing.
“Thank you,” she said, wiping the remnants of tears from her cheeks. “I didn’t know how much I missed her until now.” She pulled Dina into a ferocious hug.
“I hope you don’t feel too upset?” Dina asked them both.
“Only the good kind of upset.” Immy smiled sleepily. “But I do think I’ll head back to the house. After all, I should probably try and get some semblance of beauty sleep before tomorrow.”
“Wait, what’s happening tomorrow? Something important?”
Immy elbowed Dina, then threw her burial dress back on and headed back across the field.
