Page 71 of A Wolf for Winter

They’d all hurried to bring up the chafers of roasted potatoes, Brussel sprouts with candied bacon and red onions, and cranberry sauce spiked with Cassis liqueur without ruining their costumes. They’d portion out the roasted pig later after the Lighting of the Stars.

“Why don’t you quit being such a worry wort and cast a Scouting Spell?” Rose asked. She abandoned the hearth where she had been testing the cook on the hog. A rune on the spit handle kept it turning without physical assistance.

“I’m not strong enough to narrow a Scouting Spell down,” Lilac admitted begrudgingly.

The magical sonar would pick up every living thing in its radius, not just the one person she sought. The robed elders of the coven and some of the other uninitiated witches had honed their precision over time, but her talents had always lain with the cauldron.

“Boar?” she asked hopefully, pleadingly.

“What am I, chopped liver?” Rose demanded. “I’m the wild roamer of this family, yet I always find my home, not to mention food when I’m out on my sojourns.”

“Ugh, you use the Scouting Spell to help you hunt? That’s cheating.”

“That’s using every resource to my advantage, thank you very much. Now, you want me to find your boyfriend or not?”

“He’s not my boyfriend!” He was much more than that. He’s my mate. She glanced down at her palm, rubbing at its center where the glow of the green spark had originated.

Rose just snickered and closed her eyes. Her fingertips glowed with a pulse of green magic—the ping—and a moment later, she scrunched up her face in concentration. Another moment passed, and the tension drained out of her shoulders. She flipped her curly brown hair over her shoulder. “He’s on the edge of the forest, Lilac. Patrolling, just as he said he was. Avoiding you, just as Boar said he was.”

“See?” Boar said.

Lilac puffed out a breath and wrung her fan some more, not entirely convinced. Surely he would’ve swung by after a few hours just to check in with her? Or was this his lone wolf personality at work?

“Oh,” Rose added. “And someone unlock the doors. The guests are like twenty feet away from the doorstep.”

“Rose!” Boar admonished, hurrying the few yards from mirror to doorknobs and giving the latch a hasty swat. He opened the doors just in time for the first guests to arrive, and just like that, the Yuletide Masquerade had begun.

The string quartet arrived with the first volley of guests, quickly assuming their seats in the corner and striking up a merry tune. Rose and Lilac ushered the villagers—all dressed in their finest gowns and suits—to the mask table to choose which creature matched them best.

Lilac quickly snatched away the white wolf mask before anyone could claim it, hanging it on the nearby library doorknob with a note with Allen’s name on it. No sooner had she finished scribing the note did a navy-blue suit appear, its hanger hooked upon the library door lintel—Hawthorne Hall had indeed taken a liking to its new caretaker, despite him being a werewolf. Apparently Grandmother’s rules and prejudices didn’t apply within its walls.

Sam Barley had arrived with his crew from the Cat & Cauldron—there was no work for them tonight with the Hawthorne’s ball happening—and selected the badger. Edith chose the butterfly as Lilac hoped she would, and Talia chose the androgynous forest spirit.

Lilac took hold of the little faun’s arm before she could join the rest of the crowd further in, giving her friend a little squeeze. “I got your note, you sassy doe.”

“Did you? Well, I have another one for you, too.” She glanced around before whispering, “More impatient customers. When can you get your cauldron up and running? Here, put this in your purse.”

Lilac quickly wiggled the little scroll down into the satin of the purse hanging from her wrist. “Can we talk later?”

“Only if it’s about Allen Sharpe,” Edith replied, grinning mischievously.

“Okay,” Lilac readily agreed, not at all the response the little bookseller had been expecting.

“Wait, what? For real?” the faun squealed. “Oh, I want all the juicy details, you hear me?”

“Keep your voice down!”

“For now.” She gave Lilac a swat on her thigh and trotted off with little bounces of her cloven feet.

Lilac turned back to greet the other guests, yelping when she found the forest spirit mask directly in front of her.

“Would you like some punch, mistress?” Talia asked. “I’m already so parched from the hike up here.”

“Talia, you gave me a start! And thank you, but maybe later?” Lilac deflected with a small smile. She’d had her fill of punch since the incident at the Craft Faire. “After my hostess duties have concluded, perhaps.”

“Okay,” the practitioner said cheerfully. “Come find me when you do!” Talia bobbed a hasty curtsy and whisked herself away to join the festivities.

The Hall was twinkling and glowing with the light of a thousand candles reflecting off the crystal chandelier, the colorful ornaments, and all the glistening silverware. The electric lights would remain off for the entire night; the Lighting of the Stars would provide plenty of illumination once the glass balls were activated. In the massive hearth, the fire popped and sizzled as the fat of the hog dripped upon the flames, and the smell of roasting meat mingled with the scent of evergreen and spiced punch. It was awash in color from all the costumes and finery, absolutely perfect.