“MA rituals are exhausting,” Rafi says, rubbing his hands together. I notice they look sore.
“Especially Mage funerals,” Luisa adds.
“I wouldn’t know, I’ve never been to one.” Saying it out loud carves a hollow into me. My father didn’t have a funeral. I don’t say the last bit, I don’t want to dampen the mood. “But I did grow up with all that ritual bullshit. Some families have Sunday night dinners, we had Sunday night séances.”
“Sometimes I’m grateful my parents weren’t Witches,” Rafi replies. “At least my life was normal growing up.”
Ping.
It’s amazing how quickly people forget I’m a Verity Witch, or maybe everyone is just used to lying to themselves all the time. No way was Rafi happy about having grown up in a non-magical family, but I don’t rat him out. Everyone’s entitled to a couple of lies when it comes to family.
We slow down at a mosaic-covered wall and I sigh at the view. Even at night, there’s enough light to make out what is what. The sea in the distance, Montjuic mountain to the right where the ball was held, and Gaudí’s most famous creation – La Sagrada Familia cathedral, lit up and jutting out from the center like a giant crown. It was only half-finished when he died, and although new parts are added to it every year, the MA secretly ensures it will never be finished. A homage to his Mage legacy.
Luisa wraps her arms around my waist and kisses the back of my neck.
“You smell so good,” she whispers.
I’m used to Shifters telling me I smell like shit, and Vamps telling me I’m poison to them, so having Luisa enjoy her lips on my skin gives me an extra thrill of pleasure.
I turn my head and Luisa finds my mouth, kissing me deeply.
Rafi shifts uncomfortably beside us.
“You two need to get a room,” he mumbles.
“Cabró, we had a room yesterday,” Luisa says. “But…”
“Great, you’re never going to let me live that down.”
Rafi turns on his heels and marches back to the woods. “Come on, then!” he shouts over his shoulder, the bottle of champagne swinging by his side.
I look at Luisa and she shrugs, her lips twitching into a smile. We follow, Luisa having to hold me up as my heels sink into the pine needle-covered ground. Where the fuck’s he taking us? We venture deeper and deeper into the woods, him marching furiously and Luisa and I hand in hand holding back giggles.
“OK,” he announces. “It’s quiet here. This will do.”
Luisa’s eyes widen. “Do for what?”
He raises his hand and sweeps it over a nearby tree. The park is filled with a mix of palm trees, pines, and a bunch of simple-looking green trees, the kind with spindly branches and budding lime-colored leaves. It’s these he’s pointing at. I don’t know what he’s doing at first until I notice the branches are beginning to move and grow.
What the hell?
The trees slowly bend towards one another, their branches interconnecting and weaving together over our heads.
“Think of me as your personal Maleficent,” he says with a wink. “Now you have a room. Accept my humblest of apologies and enjoy.”
He holds his champagne bottle up in a toast, blows us a kiss, and walks away.
I whistle. “Did Rafi just build us a fucking tree cocoon?”
Hand-in-hand, our faces frozen in wonder, we stand back and watch the Elemental magic take shape. The trees are still moving, an entire wall already formed out of threaded twigs and leaves. We remain rooted to the spot as a roof grows over his giant creation and a doorway appears. We duck inside. It’s big enough to stand in.
My cheeks grow hot, thankful Luisa can’t tell in the dusky light.
“Rafi, the old romantic,” I say.
“Yeah, he’s a good guy.” She turns me around and kisses my bottom lip, whispering against my skin. “We really should make the most of his gift.”
“Absolutely,” I murmur, pressing my lips to hers and kissing her cupid’s bow. “It would be ungrateful if we didn’t.”
Leaves are growing over the opening, giving us a way out but ensuring privacy. The light turns from shadows to light greens to shafts of pale moonlight as leaves and branches keep moving overhead.
Luisa’s hand slides down the length of my dress and cups my ass through my gown, pulling me closer. Her tongue traces a soft line over my collarbone until she reaches the strap of my dress. She tugs it down with her teeth, reminding me of her moves in the studio. I let out an involuntary moan, licking the hollow of her throat and unzipping the back of her dress slowly. It slips off one shoulder, making more room for my mouth.
Moving my hair to one side she kisses up my neck, running her teeth lightly behind my ear. I shudder and she smiles, her grin widening as she looks over my shoulder.
“He really went all out.”
Flower buds are sprouting between the thin branches over our heads and beneath our feet. Petals are everywhere, the floor now a carpet of silken pink.
Luisa plucks a flower, and it blooms in her hand.
“Sakura,” she whispers. Cherry blossoms.
Deliciously slowly, she runs the delicate petals down the other side of my neck and across the skin exposed by my décolleté.
Her gaze is swirling fire. Want and need flood her darkened eyes as they lock on mine. She plucks the other strap of my dress, pulling the fabric lower until I feel it graze my breasts. Mouth taunting mine, Luisa reaches behind me and unhooks my bra. Torturously, she slides it off, exposing my peaked nipples to the night’s chill.
There’s a wicked glint in her eye.
“Oops,” she says, throwing the lacy piece aside.
Witch goddess, spare me.
Luisa runs
