Poppy snorted, tucking a blanket around her waist, snuggling deeper into the soft material. “So witches and warlocks are really into Halloween? I guess I’ve watched too many movies. I got the impression you guys hated the commercialization of it all.”
“Well, you know what it’s like. Traditionally, I mean not the costumes-and-candy, commercial kind of Halloween. There’s lots of folklore and such surrounding the day, of course, but it’s a lot like Christmas for Christians. Only it’s Samhain and such. But in the interest of blending with humans, mostly I just like seeing all the kids in their costumes trick or treating, and there’s nothing I like more than a cool skull.”
“You give out candy to the kids in the hood? Stop. You’re making me like you. I won’t have it,” she teased, poking his shoulder with a playful finger.
“Full-size candy bars. Assholes have hearts, too.”
She gasped and feigned over-the-top surprise with a hand to her throat. “Color me aghast.”
“This year, a blood moon’s supposed to appear on All Hallows Eve. You know what that means.”
A shiver skittered up Poppy’s spine. “A blood moon? Sounds rather ominous.”
Rick cocked his head, leaning forward, his eyes going dark and hard. “Sounds ominous?”
She gazed back at him, frowning. “Yeah. I mean, anything with ‘blood’ in it sounds ominous, don’t you think? So explain to me about this blood moon.”
“Explain?”
“Again with the communication problems. Am I the one who’s speaking a foreign language now? What. Is. A. Blood. Moon?”
Sliding to the end of his chair, his strong thigh muscles flexing as he braced himself on the edge, he asked, “Why don’t you know what a blood moon is, Poppy?”
Oh, damn. He looked serious. “Is this some kind of history test? Did I fail?” she joked, twisting the length of her braid in her free hand.
“This isn’t a history test. It’s your heritage. As a familiar, you should know what the blood moon means.”
She was growing more insulted by the second. How the hell was she supposed to know about the moon? “Well, I don’t. I mean, I’ll go right back to the shed now and Google it, if it’s so important to you, but I have no idea what it means.”
“Again, as a familiar, you should know,” he insisted.
“Okay, we’re going around in circles here,” she accused, her voice rising. “I’m a familiar, not an astronaut. I know not thing one about the moon other than Neil Armstrong planted a flag there. So chill out already and tell me.”
Setting his wine glass on the table next to him, he said, “We’re obviously missing some kind of link here. If you were raised in the white witch way as a familiar, you should know what the blood moon means, Poppy.”
Oh. That explained it. “Phew. So intense. Ease off there, warlock. I can explain why I don’t know what the heck you’re talking about.”
“Oh, no. Wait. Let me guess. You missed the class on the blood moon because you were on an audition for Grease? Or were you doing another local commercial for Maury The Mattress Guy?”
“You know, funny you should mention Grease. Do you have any idea what goes into teasing your hair that high? I had knots for days.”
“Yeah. I got chills, they’re multiplyin’. Get to the explanation, please.”
“Like I said, that’s easy. I just became a familiar yesterday evening. It was an accident.”
“And you failed to mention this…why?” he asked, his voice rising.
Poppy blinked in astonishment, her voice rising, too. “I did tell you I was a newb.” Hadn’t she?
“Hey! What’s the ruckus, you two? Jesus, I’m trying to turn water into wine over there. Can’t you see that takes concentration?” Nina yelped, suddenly standing between them. “It’s like you damn well want me to set your fancy house on fire, Ricky baby.”
But Rick hopped up out of his seat, his eyes filled with anger. “What I want is someone to explain to me why no one ever mentioned a single word about Poppy being fresh off the familiar turnip truck?”
“But I told you I was new at this. Why do you think they’re all here with me?”
“I thought they were your friends! And yeah, you said you were new at this, but I didn’t know you weren’t born a familiar! I didn’t know you didn’t know anything about familiaring!”
Oh, dear. Had they skipped that part? She hadn’t done it on purpose. In fact, it now occurred to her, she’d been so wrapped up in proving herself, in nailing this familiar thing, she’d maybe forgotten a detail or two.
Sliding out of her chair, she stepped around Nina to look up at him. “Okay, so I’m new-new. What’s the big deal? I can learn. I’m a quick learner. Just ask Miss Debra at Dee-Dee’s School of Dance. I learned the soft-shoe in like three days.”
“I don’t care if you found the equation for the meaning of life in three days, you have no idea what you’re doing!”