Jude didn’t have that, which made me want to be closer to him. No one should feel alone, and especially not alone with a fate like his. I still couldn’t believe Jude had to die in twenty-seven days! My phone beeped from the other side of my bed, bringing my thoughts back to the present where they belonged.
Echo: We’re coming over, and we have junk food.
Today wasn’t really the best of days for a get-together, but they were most likely told to come see me by the all-knowing Phillip Griffin.
His sister was a powerful empath and while it was great to be around her, she wandered into my emotions when I was like this. I could see the pain inside her, and I knew if I wanted, she would make me feel happy for a few moments while she was around. But that’s not what I needed.
I didn’t respond. I didn’t feel like peopling earlier than I was supposed to. They’d seen me on my downs, so I didn’t have to fake it around anyone of the Hero Society. They just accepted me as I was. I was curious though who was coming over. Echo said “we” so I assumed more than one. There weren’t astronomical numbers of members since the Hero Society was still growing and branching out.
The knock on my door came five minutes after the text and I didn’t bother putting on a bra before answering the door. My cottage sat on the edge of the city and was small with only two bedrooms. It had a good-sized living room that I filled with a red couch and two black oversized chairs. The kitchen was my dream kitchen with retro-style appliances, and well, the bathrooms were also my favorite. This place was my sanctuary, and I liked to keep it that way. I always felt sad when someone told me their house wasn’t their calming, safe space.
“What did you bring?” I asked through the door, peeking through the peephole to see who was on the other side. Apparently, it was just a girls’ night.
“The fair is in town so we brought lots of fair food! Caramel apples. Fried Oreos. You must try them,” Gwendolyn answered, and I smiled. She was sweet. Hell, they all were.
“All right.” I unlocked my door and let the gang of girls into my home.
Rose had a bigger apartment, as did Gwendolyn, for these types of get-togethers but I suspected they were here for me and my mood, to support me and make me feel less alone. I hated to admit it, but the gesture was working already.
Echo was the first in and carried two food boxes in her hand. I always loved the way she carried herself, with confidence and a badass vibe with her medium-length black hair and tanned Native American skin topped off with a signature leather jacket and boots. She had the power to change into any animal she wanted to, and her boyfriend, Asher, was a witch, not from the demigod side of things but wild magic of the Earth. He owned a bar in Seahill with an apartment they shared above.
“I’ll grab the plates,” she muttered, as she walked in, and got straight to work. Not the best at chitchat, but I had more in common with her than the next woman who danced in. Literally. Lilith was one batshit crazy woman, with long black hair, beautiful brown eyes, and a body any person male or female would crave. She knew it, too. But she was also a retired spy and could take down anyone. She was dangerous but sweet and cared deeply about her friends, me included, thankfully.
Gwendolyn and Rose were the introverts of the group, who I usually hung out with the most. Both didn’t handle emotions well, but that didn’t stop them from trying to break away from their shy tendencies.
Then there was Esme. She was a nurse who fell in love with the villain who took over the world last year. He loved her, too, and willingly gave up everything to have a chance with her again. If it wasn’t for her story, I wouldn’t be here now. I had developed a bit of a secret girl crush on her. What she put on the line for love left me in awe every time I thought about it.
“I’m guessing Phillip said you guys needed to stop by?” I closed the door behind them and grinned as I watched them get their sweets and settle in my living room, like they’ve done many times.
“Nope, we just happened to get lots of food at the fair and think to ourselves, ‘Hey, I bet Selene would love some fried Oreos and cotton candy!’” Lilith exclaimed, while Rose became intensely intrigued in her caramel apple instead of looking in my direction. Lilith was not a good liar.
“Right. So I’m sure one of you has an agenda for tonight. What are the plans?” The girls had girls’ night frequently as a way to destress from the whole “saving the world gig” and getting away from their intense men. However, they did love their men with every fiber of their being. Separation was good for them from time to time, which was fine with me. It was sometimes hard being in a room with six perfectly matched soul mates. The sexual tension and love vibes were crushing.
“We were thinking maybe we’d just hang, chat for a bit, then watch a movie. Eat all the goodies. The men said they can handle the city tonight,” Echo answered and a few of the girls snickered at the thought of the boys handling the city without them. We all knew they were perfectly capable of it. I mean you had Draco, who used to be a general in an ancient Greek army turned immortal with another man who had super speed and strength. Add a witch, and a man who could manipulate water, then finally a villain turned to the good side, who happened to be the only demigod left in existence. I think they were good, but the gals still gave them shit.
As I sat down, I thought about what it would be like to have someone to smile with, laugh with, and also be serious and intense. Someone to have hot sex with . . . something that had been lacking for a while.
Jude flashed into my head when I thought about sex, but then I pushed the thought away. He only had a month to live, and as fun as I knew it would be, I wasn’t sure I wanted to hurt my heart.
Jude
“So how’s it going with Miss Reaper?” Rudy plopped his ghostly ass onto the couch beside me as I fiddled with a deck of cards in my hands.
“Fine. Hopefully we can help in some way to solve the murders at my show. You haven’t heard any of the others talk about killing anyone or being pissed at me for something, have you?” I still didn’t think it was my crew, but there wasn’t any harm in asking the biggest gossiper of the group. If anyone was contemplating murder, Rudy would know about it.
“Nope. None of us are wanting to fuck up our only chance of moving on.”
Frustrated, I knew he was right.
“Have you guys been feeling different at all? Selene said she felt someone push her into the cemetery. It wasn’t me, but it shouldn’t have been any of you, either.”
Rudy shook his head so quickly, it turned around like an owl’s would. Sadly, I wasn’t even fazed by the movement, having been so used to antics like that since I was a kid.
“I think you would know very quickly if we were able to actually touch things and move them. You probably would wake up with Lucy’s mouth on your cock if that were true.”
I groaned, as the she-devil walked in, as if she waited until someone said her name.
This was not a conversation I wanted to have. I just needed some alone time to think, which was not a common occurrence in a house where doors did not keep people from coming into your room to interrupt the peace.
