The Promise (Book 1, The Coven Series)

Chapter Seven

The rain woke me up as it pounded against the house. I cracked an eye to check the time. 9:47 am. With a groan, I burrowed under my blankets. Mom would be by any minute to demand I leave the warm cocoon of my bed. Ten o'clock on a Saturday was her limit to sleeping in. I was a little shocked she hadn't been in here at the crack of dawn to roll me out of bed. She'd drafted me last night to help decorate for Halloween. The rain must have hampered her plans.

Rain. It was raining. A smile tugged at my lips. Megan would be ecstatic. Rain was the best possible omen for her induction ceremony tonight. It represented the purification process as one passed through the various stages of life. Today, for Megan, she would pass from novice to apprentice and become a part of the circle. She deserved for her induction to go well and the rain could only add to all of her blessings today.

"CJ! Time to get up!" Mom knocked sharply on the door.

"Give me five more minutes, please?"

"CJ!"

"I'm up!" I grouched at the door and threw back the covers. I bit back a curse as my feet hit the cold floor. I gave my bed one last look of longing and then headed for the bathroom.

Thirty minutes later, showered and fed, I dragged myself up to the attic. Mom was bent over one of the trunks on the floor throwing costumes out of it. Goodness, but she'd pulled out everything. And I do mean everything—boxes, trunks, and storage containers were open with their contents strewn over every inch of the floor.

"Mom, you do have a plan, right?" I asked and surveyed the mess with dread.

"No, I don't have one," she said with a frustrated sigh. "I seem to be uninspired this year. Or it could just be the Parkers have the most amazing scene I've ever seen set up."

"I could go flirt with Jeff and get him to sabotage it," I offered with a perfectly straight face.

She burst out laughing.

"I'm serious here, Mom. We lost last year to their stupid headless horseman display. I am not above using my wiles to lure him to our side." I wiggled my eyebrows at her.

"Stop, CJ," she pleaded between giggles. "I might be tempted to let you if you don't."

"I'll bet for a kiss I could even get him to trash the yard right before the judges showed up." Wet, slobbery lips... shudder...it would be worth it for Mom to win. She'd looked so dejected when she was talking about it last night. With the fifteenth coming up, I didn't want her anymore unhappy than necessary.

"That's terrible, CJ," she grinned at me. I smiled back. Maybe today wouldn't turn out to be so bad after all. Mom and I hadn't spent a lot of time together recently. I'd missed her.

"Oh, look at this!" I scooped up my favorite witch's hat and put it on. "How do I look?"

"About twelve," she laughed and donned a hat of her own. "Now, back to this kissing business. Are you and Jeff Parker dating?"

"Uh, definitely not."

"He likes you, though." Mom pulled out a jumbled mess of orange lights. "I told your father not to just throw these lights in here!"

"Just make Dad untangle them," I told her and opened a container with more lights. She was right. Dad had made a mess of them. No way was I going to sit here all day and untangle these things.

"So who were you kissing on the porch Tuesday afternoon then?"

Huh? I dropped the tombstone I'd just picked up. How did Mom know about that?