Page 14 of Seized By Magic

Chapter 4

“You just have to step through,” Ms. Chronis repeated.

I understood her words, but they didn’t make sense. She created a portal, and I needed to go into it. Sai, Theo, and Mrs. Hedgings had already gone. I watched them disappear. Now it was my turn, but I couldn’t do it.

I trusted her and her magic, but it was early. The boys dragged me out of bed without any warning. I was still in my pajamas and too confused to follow instructions.

“Can we go together?” Niall asked.

Ms. Chronis pursed her lips before nodding once. “Please hurry.”

Niall took my hand and, without hesitating, stepped forward into the swirling blue archway and tugged me with him.

A heavy, icy wave washed over me, and I clung to Niall’s hand. Less than a second later, we walked out to a massive room I didn’t recognize. The white and gold wallpaper, massive crystal chandelier, and crown molding alluded to wealth, but the rest of the room was empty. Where were we?

“This is the only venue we could get on such short notice, and they only gave us an hour this morning, so we must be quick.” Mrs. Hedgings waved me forward. “Come along, my dear.”

I squeezed Niall's hand once before following her to a side door. It opened to a beautiful and much smaller version of the room we were just in, but there was a partition, a huge gold mirror, and a white velvet chaise that took up most of the space.

“You can change right back here.” She pointed at the partition, so I walked around it and nearly fell back with a scream.

“Masie!”

“Oh, Saige!” My aunt wrapped me in her arms and held me tight.

“I thought our families couldn’t come.” I fought to keep back my tears, but lost.

“Mrs. Hedgings made arrangements so we could meet in a safe location.”

I stepped back and hugged my mentor. “Thank you so much.”

She grinned. “I’m glad it came together. I didn’t want to get your hopes up.”

“Are the guys’ families here?”

“Just their parents,” she confirmed.

“Are Mom and Dad?” I asked Masie.

She shook her head. “No, it was too last minute for them to make arrangements for Brielle and Aiden. I offered to watch them, but they insisted I come and make sure you know how much they love you. They’re proud of you.”

That broke the dam. “They are?” I choked out. “I thought they would be disappointed. I’m so young.”

She wiped my cheeks with her thumb. “They understand this isn’t a bunch of underage kids being irresponsible or impulsive. They know enough about the bond to accept this needs to happen.”

I sniffed and nodded. “Thank you.”

She hugged me again before looking me over. “We can’t let you go through the ceremony looking like a snotty mess. Let’s get you cleaned up.”

She had supplies in an attached bathroom, including a waiting curling iron. I washed my face and sat while she applied a quick layer of makeup. Then she turned me around to add soft curls to my hair.

“It’s so much smoother than the last time I saw you,” she noted.

I pointed to the other room. “Thanks to Mrs. Hedgings. She came up with a potion to detangle my hair.”

“And not a single braid.” Masie smiled at me through the mirror.

“I’ve been better about not doing them so often, and now I always brush them out before bed.”

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