Eliana stood on my front step, holding my snow shovel and two bags loaded with groceries. The food made sense. The shovel was a little weird.
As soon as I opened the door, her eyes began to water.
“No more crying,” I said. “Now, get in here so I can safely give you a hug.”
“I dare anyone to try to hurt you when I’m around,” Eliana said. “I let it happen once. Never again.”
She set aside the bags and shovel and hugged me. It was another first. I’d always liked Eliana, but I never forgot what she was. A succubus could be dangerous to a human. Especially physical contact. But I didn’t pull away from her.
“I’m so glad you’re back,” she said with a final squeeze before retreating. “Mrs. Quill and I cleaned out your fridge after you disappeared, so I figured you’d need some supplies.”
“Your timing is perfect,” I said, closing the door behind her.
“Actually, I’ve been outside for an hour, waiting for your light to go on.” She shot me a sheepish look. “I didn’t want you to go hungry because of me.”
“I won’t let Ashlyn starve,” Zotera said from where she hesitated in the kitchen archway.
Eliana turned toward Zotera and, with a friendly smile, held out her hand.
“It’s nice to finally meet you, Zotera,” Eliana said. “Any friend of Ashlyn’s is a friend of mine.”
Zotera looked at Eliana’s hand and then at me. I nodded my encouragement and struggled with another pang when they shook hands. Poor Zotera had no basis for trust.
“What’s up with the shovel?” I asked, nodding to where it now leaned against the wall beside the door.
“I borrowed it for a location spell after you disappeared,” Eliana said. “Didn’t work for the spell, but I used it to keep your driveway clean.” She picked up the bags. “I have what we need to make a big breakfast and some brownies. The good kind, not the kind that sparkles all over the place.” Her eyes flashed black for a second.
“Uh, everything okay?” I asked.
“It’s getting there. I have so much to tell you.”
Zotera joined us in the kitchen, and as Eliana started sharing everything that had happened to her after I’d disappeared from the bathroom, she gave Zotera tasks. Little things like cracking the eggs and mixing the batter. But those little things were huge in Zotera’s eyes. I could see it, and Eliana could too. Persephone’s unloved daughter was being included in something normal and nice for the first time in her life.
Zotera was also hanging onto every word of Eliana’s story. By the time the brownies were in the oven and we had our eggs and toast in front of us, Eliana had reached the sparkle-fest point of her story.
“I thought I was going to kill him,” she said before taking a bite of jellied toast.
“It sounds like he wouldn’t have minded,” Zotera said. “I’d like to meet Piepen. Do you think one of his kind would mark me?”
Eliana set down her toast. “Trust me, Zotera. You don’t want to be marked by a brownie. If you’re interested in affection, go with a werewolf. Or a dragon.”
“A dragon?” I asked.
Eliana shared what had happened to Kelsey, one of my fellow resident humans in Uttira. Then she relayed what Eugene was up to with one of the girls from the pack.
“I can’t believe how much changed while I was gone,” I said, half to myself, as the timer went off.
“Same,” Eliana said. “I mean, I know nothing stays the same forever, but still. Everything just seems to be changing so quickly.”
“You and Fenris?” I guessed.
She sighed and pulled the brownies from the oven.
“Yeah. We’re staying at the Quills for now because I’m not a fan of his father, Raiden. But I know Fenris misses the pack. Eventually, we’ll need to go back. And then what?”
Smiling, I took out the plastic knife I kept just to cut warm brownies cleanly. Waiting for them to cool was overrated.
“I remember a certain fury freaking out about the same thing while we made brownies at her house,” I said as I cut the squares. “And look at how things turned out. Spend less time worrying about the future and more time living in the present.”
