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She threw a balled-up napkin at my head and took her mug back as Else put another one in front of me. “They went out for a breakfast date; it’s their anniversary.”

My mug paused halfway to my mouth. “It’s already been a year?”

“Yup.”

Arthur was Mom’s familiar. He was an owl shifter, fierce and loyal to all of us, and he’d been in love with Mom for as long as they’d been together. That sometimes happened, familiars falling for their witches. Mom had been clueless up until a year ago—or in denial—now she was the happiest I’d ever seen her.

I glanced at Bram. Sadly, those feelings were not always reciprocated. And when that happened, you had a familiar tied to his or her witch, suffering when they were forced to stay, their unbreakable connection keeping them there. But it was even worse when they had to stand by and watch the person they loved find and fall in love with someone else.

Bram sat by Mags, and she smiled and slid her toast in his direction to share. She loved him, as her best friend, as family; I just didn’t know if there were any romantic feelings on her end or not. Mags had closed herself off after what happened a year ago. After Brody and his aunt Cora finally showed who they really were and tried to kill my entire family. Mags had been used as a pawn in the worst way to get to us and she was still struggling. She leaned on Bram, almost clung to him, but other guys and dating weren’t something she would even contemplate—and especially not with her best friend. Not that Bram had ever broached the subject with her.

All eyes had drifted in my direction. I knew what they were thinking because I was as well. “I’m fine.”

“How can you be?” Mags said. “The mother could call you at any time, aren’t you scared?”

“Willow’s prepared me,” I said instead of what screamed through my mind. I was utterly terrified, but saying it out loud would only make that fear worse and worry my family even more. I could fight—nowhere near as good as Willow, but I could handle myself if push came to shove. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a magic blade like my sister, but I did have my own special magic and my affinity with animals. Hopefully, all the practice I’d been doing would pay off.

“Wonder where she’ll bite you?” Else said unhelpfully.

“As long as it’s not the other side of my face, I don’t care,” I muttered and grabbed a piece of toast that Else had just put in the middle of the table.

There was this whole ritual that included a demon-infested forest, followed by face time with a giant serpent possessed by Mother Nature. After she bit you, you ended up with permanent tattoo-like markings made by her magical venom. They started off black, and if you passed the task she gave you, they became colorful. Just what every girl wanted on the side of her face. And no, that wasn’t out of the realms of possibility. We’d all seen the painting in our library of Selene Thornheart. She’d been a Keeper in our family a very long time ago, and the mother had marked her face. Why the hell would she do that? Seemed kind of bitchy to me.

And, of course, then there was the magical combat trial that came after that. I tried not to think about it.

Willow, our oldest sister, was the Keeper of our coven now, but the mother had decreed, after Willow had passed her tasks and trial, that since the position of Keeper had moved to a new branch of the family—again thanks to Brody and Cora’s treacherousness—each of us, me, Rose, and Mags, had to pass a task and trial of our own to prove our line was worthy of keeping the magical gifts she’d bestowed on our coven over the centuries. To lose those gifts would be devastating to not only our family but to our entire coven.

This all happened a year ago. The mother had given us time to prepare, and a year was more than we’d hoped for. But time was running out. I felt it; we all did.

“Surely, she’s not that evil,” Mags said. “Though, going by what Willow told us, maybe she is.”

The rumble of bikes came from outside the house.

“Speaking of your sister,” Else said.

I’d just topped off my coffee when Willow and her mate, Warrick, walked in. Relic, one of the younger hounds, and by younger, I mean only several hundred years old instead of a thousand like my sister’s mate, followed. Warrick greeted us with that low, rough voice, then sat and pulled the plate of toast toward him. Relic leaned against the counter, the handsome hound grinning and somehow managing to flirt with all of us at once.

Willow perched on the edge of the chaise and took Rose’s hand, kissing her pale skin and smiling down at her before her eyes came to me, that familiar anxiety there. “How’s everything going?”

As my turn drew closer and Rose got sicker, the tension in the house grew. My family tried to hide it, but I knew them too well.

“She just realized it’s been a year,” Mags added.

“It’s fine, I’m fine,” I said, repeating myself. “Nia and I totally have this.” My familiar sensed my stress and pressed against my thigh. I gave her side a rub to calm her down.

Willow leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. “You’re going to need help when the mother calls, more than Nia.” She tilted her head toward Relic.

I looked at the hound, and he smiled, or more bared his teeth. “Whatever you need, Iris. Just say the word.”

Okay, no. Willow had been throwing Relic at me every chance she got for the last twelve months. She’d been trying to fix us up and was more than obvious about it. Her obsession with getting me mated bordered on obsessive. She didn’t seem to care that Relic and I weren’t actually mates. Theoretically, they could mate with someone of their choosing, not the one “destined” for them, but what happened when Relic’s real mate eventually showed up? He’d drop me like a flaming turd, and I wouldn’t blame him.

“Thanks for the offer, Relic, but I’m fine,” I said. That word again, and the complete opposite of how I felt.

“Why would you turn down his offer?” Willow said and shot to her feet. “You don’t know what’ll be thrown at you, you need help.”

“Forcing me to spend time with Relic isn’t going to change anything. We’re not into each other.” I glanced at Relic. “No offense.”

He smirked. “None taken.”