The LaRussos’ Halloween party smells like money and fake magic — glittering lights, dry ice fog, and the faint scent of pumpkin candles that definitely cost too much.
Tory doesn’t belong here. She knows that. But she also knows how to blend in when she wants to.
Black lace dress, red lipstick, a silver ring she “borrowed” from a thrift store because it looked like it could do something.
Because tucked in her pocket is a folded piece of paper — a spell she found online at 3 a.m., half-asleep, half-joking.
“To reveal what the heart hides.”
She figured it’d be a fun Halloween trick. Maybe freak Sam out. Maybe make her blush.
But when she lights the candle near the fake tombstones out back, the flame flickers pink.
“Didn’t think you were the witchy type,” Sam says, crossing her arms. The halo on her head is slightly crooked, and Tory hates how much she wants to fix it.
“Didn’t think you were the type to crash your own party,” Tory fires back.
Sam snorts, glancing at the candle. “What’s that smell?”
“Don’t you just love it?” Tory says softly.
“Graveyard dirt, rotting flowers, and cheap booze?”
“ yeah,” Tory grins. “Doesn’t it remind you of your youth?”
Sam gives her that look — the kind that makes Tory’s stomach twist. “I’m starting to think we had very different upbringings.”
Tory steps closer, the glow from the candle catching in her eyes. “Maybe. But maybe we’re not as different as you think.”
The wind shifts. The candle flares brighter. And for a split second — just a second — the air between them feels alive.
And when the music from inside swells again, Sam swears she hears her own name whispered in the smoke — over and over, like a promise.
Sam’s breath catches. “What did you do?”
Tory smiles, slow and dangerous. “Nothing you didn’t want.”
You wanted to know what the heart hides, right?