Free A Circle of Ashes by Cate Tiernan

“That kid hits me up for more money….”
    “Race, Della’s telling us what happened with Collier Collier,” I said pointedly.
    “Ooh,” said Racey, sitting up. “Do tell. How’s cradle robbing going?”
    Della made a face at her, and Racey held up her hands. “What? He’s younger than Trey!”
    “That’s ‘cause Trey is only eleven months younger than you!” Della said. “You’re like Irish twins!”
    Racey rolled her eyes. “Go on. I’m all ears.”
    “He’s really sweet,” Della said, kind of lamely since she had all of our attention.
    “
Sweet
?” I said.
    “Yeah. He’s just… really sweet. He doesn’t take anything for granted,” said Della. “Anything I do, he’s all ‘thank you’ and everything.”
    “I bet.” Kris smirked.
    “No, I mean little things, like if I drive or ask him if he wants something to drink. He just doesn’t take me for granted. It’s really… different. Nice.”
    We all looked at her in silence.
    Della sighed. “And okay, he’s really hot too.”
    “Now we’re talking,” Eugenie said.”Are you teaching him everything?”
    “He
knows
everything,” Della said wryly. “If this is instinct, I’m all for it. That boy was made to please. He’s… fabulous. Like he’s made for me.”
    I knew how that felt.
Don’t think about it.
    “Huh,” Racey said, looking at Della speculatively. “Sounds serious.”
    “Oh, well, I don’t know.” Della picked up her soft drink can and drank from it. She seemed embarrassed, as if she hadn’t mean to say so much.
    I exchanged a look with Racey. Della was usually the love-’em-and-leave-’em girl, like me. Or at least, how I used to be. I’d never heard her say anyone was sweet before or talk about someone’s actual personality. I looked around the school grounds and saw Collier Collier sitting with a bunch of sophomore guys. His eyes were on Della, and the puppy-love look on his face made my eyebrows raise.
    How nice that some people had guys who were interested in them and only them.
    “So, you know, if you want to borrow this car sometime, it’s cool,” I told Thais as I pulled up in front of our house.
    “Oh, okay. Thanks,” she said. “I don’t even have a Louisiana driver’s license. Guess I should get one.”
    I got out of the Camry and headed through the front gate. “Yeah. Then you won’t have to use turn signals anymore.”
    Thais laughed, following me up the steps, and for just a second I flashed on how different our lives would have been if we’d grown up together. We would have come home from school together just like this every day. And we would have hung out and fought over stuff and known each other really well. And either she wouldn’t have known our dad or I wouldn’t have had Nan.
    I was putting my key in the lock when Thais said, “I wish you could have known Dad.”
    Just like that, out of the blue. One of those twin things, I guessed. I bit my lip. “Me too,” I said softly.
    Inside, Nan was waiting for us with Melysa, one of my teachers, in the kitchen. I hadn’t seen Melysa since she’d saved our lives last week, and now I saw that she was checking us out for aftereffects.
    “Ready to do some metal work?” Melysa asked me.
    “Yeah—just let me grab something to eat,” I said. “And that reminds me—I guess Thais won’t be doing her rite of ascension, will she?”
    Nan shook her head. “Not this year.”
    “Well, maybe by the time she’s thirty,” I said brightly, and Thais groaned.
    Nan and Melysa laughed.
    “What exactly is the rite of ascension, anyway?” Thais asked. “I’ve heard you mention it.”
    “It’s a rite where a witch is tested on how much he or she knows on any number of given subjects,” Nan explained. “About spellcraft skills, historical knowledge, decision-making abilities, and even just raw magickal ability.”
    “It’s an incredibly important rite,” Melysa clarified. “Passing it, undergoing the process, greatly enhances your