“Oh! Okay! I mean, the vampire is okay, too,” Athaliah said with a little shrug, biting his lip coyly in
Lorenzo’s direction and waving.
Lorenzo waved back, but didn’t dare put himself within Snod’s striking range.
Frankie smiled warmly, chuckling to himself as he approached to gently shake Athaliah’s hand. “It’s
nice to finally meet you.”
“Ditto,” Athaliah said, grinning happily. “Look, vampire, whatever. I don’t care. You got my brother
away from those fucking nut-jobs and gave me the chance to follow right behind him. For that, thank
you.” He surged forward to hug Frankie’s neck, sweetly kissing his cheek. “Thank you, from the
bottom of my heart.”
Frankie would have blushed if he could have, eyes moving to find Snod’s in search of answers he
couldn’t have right now.
“Where are you staying?” Snod asked suddenly, peering intently at his brother.
“A hotel for now,” Athaliah replied. “I pawned some of the junk I swiped, been doing okay. What
about you? Where are you staying?”
Snod glanced back at Frankie, a silent question that was answered with a nod. He smiled at his
brother, replying, “With Frankie. Come with me. Please. We have so much to talk about.”
“Got alcohol?” Athaliah chirped, a wicked grin lighting up his face.
“We can totally get some,” Lorenzo said immediately, smiling dopily as Athaliah turned that charming
grin toward him.
Snod’s blood boiled, but he ignored his rage for now. He wasn’t going to let Lorenzo drooling over
his brother ruin his mood. They were finally together again, and the weight of his terrible burden had
been magically lifted away.
“Let’s go,” Frankie said, reaching to take Snod’s hand and offering him a warm smile. “We can keep
the celebration going at home.”
Athaliah was reaching into his pocket, saying excitedly, “I’m parked right down the block, I’ll follow
you guys over!”
“How do you even have a car?” Snod marveled, laughing brightly.
“I’ve been a very busy boy,” Athaliah replied with a smug smirk.
“I should ride with you!” Lorenzo said quickly, not even flinching under Snod’s furious leer. “You
know, just in case you get lost. I know the way back to Frankie’s.”
