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The ticking of the Grandfather clock synced up perfectly to the tapping of Jasper’s shoe against the black-and-white checkered floor until he finally shifted his eyes to the stairs. “Hurry up, Sugar!”

After he tousled the dark curls on his head in the mirror, his eyes dropped to Teddy’s reflection. “Will you go drag your sister down here, please? She’s going to be late for her own goddamn birthday party.”

From the warm, burgundy wall he leaned on, Teddy pulled his hand from his pocket and pointed his finger gun at his father. “Don’t you worry about a thing, Daddy; I’m on it.”

The ting of his fingers bouncing off the cast-iron spindles of the staircase kept time with his shoes sliding across the Oriental runner that led him to Tessa’s room.

Her lips made a perfect pout as she slathered on her red lip gloss and shook out her dark, curly hair. “Hell’s Bells! I’ll be down in a minute, Daddy! You think a face like this grows on trees?”

While she peeked down over herself, she straightened her simple black dress and tugged nervously on her pearl necklace. “This is my party; I’m supposed to make a grand entrance. All those pricks can just wait until I’m good and ready to show up.”

Just hours shy from thirteen now, Tessa prepared herself for the first formal affair she ever attended at her Order.

These were the days when the witching world’s families introduced their children, hoping for them to find their someday mates, or at least like someone enough that a future marriage can be arranged.

Among the Savannah elite, alliances start early and tonight promised to be interesting because a new family recently arrived from Morocco with five sons, one close to her age.

“Aren’t you ready yet?” Teddy leaned against the doorway and shared the mirror with his sister.

While he tried to tame the wayward curl that kept poking his forehead, he tilted his head to the side as he appreciated his reflection. “We’re all waiting for you, you know. You’re being rude as hell to our guests.”

“I give nary a shit about any of those parasites.” The nerves she battled all day long dripped from her fingertips as she shook out her hands and turned to face him. “Do we really have to go to this thing? I don’t feel very well.”

An amused smile came to his lips, and the always relaxed Teddy winked his green eye at her. His sister never turned down an opportunity to complain, and he never wasted the chance to support her. “Time to find you a mate, Tess; you’re nearly an old maid.”

Her arms wove across her chest, and her eyes rolled in an arrogant act of defiance. No matter the outcome of tonight’s party, she would be unimpressed by any specimen presented to her. “No goddamn way. You know I don’t believe in that old-timey bullshit.”

He chuckled to himself as he pointed at her because he expected nothing less from her smart mouth. Although her mother was a regal, graceful woman born of royal blood, Tessa inherited her father’s quick temper and love of profanity. “That’s it. That kind of talk will sweep any potential suitor right off his feet.”

“Like I give a damn.” While she wiggled her toes into her high-heeled shoes, she flipped him the middle finger. “I can’t believe I’m going through with this. This whole mating thing is one tradition that needs to die.”

As Teddy took one last look at himself, he straightened the bow tie he never could quite figure out.

Only a smidge less vain than his sister, he puckered his lips at his reflection and shrugged off her concerns. “Don’t go working yourself up into a tizzy over it yet, Tess; it’s only a party. No one said you have to jump the broom tonight. Nobody will expect that of you for a couple of decades or so.”

While they walked down the hall, she continued her list of grievances about her over-privileged lot in life. “I wish I were human; they can decide for themselves who they end up with.”

The antique, textured burgundy and gold wallpaper tickled the ridges of his fingers as he slid them across while he did his best to calm her down. “Yes, that’s true, but they often pick poorly. Your mate is hand-picked for you by the Fates; these things are meant to be. Go with it for once and see where it leads you.”

Her head shaking rebelliously, Tessa delivered her usual response to anyone who disagreed with her as he opened the front door. “What a load of shit! No one’s going to tell me how I’m going to live my life, especially not some crusty, old sky wizard that doesn’t even know anything about me.”