crowded around several cars that had driven into the park. A Jeep with lifted
wheels sat beside a pair of coolers and lawn chairs, its speakers thrumming
’90s R&B jams.
But it was the flames curling from the huge bonfire in the center of the
gathering that drew my eyes. They weren’t the normal orange, but instead
cycled among a variety of colors—purple, blue, and green.
“A magic bonfire?” Just as I muttered the words, a woman across the way
pitched a glowing blue orb into the fire like it was a baseball. The flames
arced at least ten feet into the air, and shouts erupted from the crowd.
Casey shook his head as he put the ice in a cooler and pulled out a Coke.
“Some of the sorcerers like to show off.”
I raised a brow at him. “You don’t say?”
Though I’d been suspicious that this gathering might be like the keggers
I’d attended in high school, there were no keg stands, and the atmosphere was
mellow. Most of the people here looked to be in their twenties or thirties.
Casey took the Ramblers and mixed us some tequila cokes. “I keep
forgetting that this is all new to you. I’ll introduce you to some friends.”
An hour later, I’d met a handful of people whose names I couldn’t recall.
The bottle of Jose Cuervo was nearly empty, and the pop in my cup was flat.
Casey was chatting up some woman with pointy ears who genuinely seemed
interested in his humor. Shaking my head, I gulped down the last of my drink
and set the Rambler beside one of the coolers. Two women exited a stone
building that looked like a bathroom and
stumbled toward the coolers,
laughing.
“Wolf bait. ” Behind me, a voice carried above the din of the music.
I spun, meeting the gazes of two guys. “Excuse me?”
Their eyes were glassy, and a cold darkness snaked around them. My skin
crawled. Run, a voice deep in my mind said.
The tallest of them stepped forward, staring at me like a piece of candy