“Yeah, but it was just something I said. Like I’d love a million dollars.”
“Do you want a million dollars?”
“Yeah, but wait, we’re really getting a pool?”
“Any excuse to see you in a bikini more. And happy. I like seeing you happy.”
“I like being happy. Okay, get back to work. And, uh, thank you.” I end the call and go to the closet to pick out something fancy to wear tonight. Now that I have some breathing room, maybe I can go shopping again, without Nina.
Since I’ve been slowly converting to “vampire hours” I don’t see the staff as much anymore, but they have to come sometime early in the morning because the house is always spotless and the fridge is always full of groceries.
“Wren?” Mabel calls, standing in my doorway.
“Come in, I’m in the closet!” I call back.
“I had an idea. We should all wear black dresses and matching bracelets.” She beams, so excited at the thought.
“I’ll text Delphi now because that would be so fun.” I fire off a text and she replies right away. “She’s in.”
Mabel squeaks with excitement. “I’ll pick something out and then wait for the cupcakes to finish baking. Will you eat one while I watch?”
“Totally,” I tell her, knowing only Mabel can make that request and have it not be weird. I lay my dress out on the bed and then spend the rest of the day doing pretty much nothing. It’s glorious.
“You look nice,” Devon compliments, looking up from his phone when I come down the stairs. He’s sitting in the parlor, and he’s been kinda quiet since we came back from Camp Dogwood. Demon hunting can be shockingly violent. Those of us raised in the order have been exposed to it since childhood, and aren’t bothered by things that would give a normal adult nightmares.
Devon grew up different than most, but he lived a polished life of privilege. He knew the lengths Xavier would go to for his family, but he never witnessed it first hand. The whole experience at Camp Dogwood was sobering for Devon.
I should be happy about it because he’s seeming more like his old self. But all it’s doing is making me feel a lot of guilt and I have the stupidest idea to invite him out with us and try and set him up with Delphi, not because I think either of them would really even like each other, but to ease my own conscience.
“Thanks. We’re having a girls’ night.”
“Mabel really likes you. She’s wanted friends since I’ve known her, which is my entire life.”
“She’s a good person.”
“She is.”
“And so are you,” I add.
He laughs. “That’s debatable. Have fun tonight. I’m sure I’ll see a million pictures on Mabel’s feed.”
“Oh you will. Do you, uh, have plans?”
“Zeke and I are going out. Doing guy stuff. It’s going to be very manly.”
I laugh and some of the tension leaves my chest. I get my shoes and borrow an anatomically correct, heart-shaped pursefrom Mabel. We meet Delphi at the restaurant and everyone hits it off right away.
Is this what life is like when you actually have people around you who care?
We go from the restaurant to the same nightclub Mabel and I encountered the succubus, and I’m having so much fun I don’t notice my phone ringing off the hook until I get it out to take pictures. Leo called me six times and Antonio called twice.
I slip into a backroom where there are thankfully no demons this time, and call Leo back first, but the call goes to voicemail. I call Antonio next.
“Please tell me you had nothing to do with it,” he rushes out.
“Do with what?” I say back, blinking a few times. My head spins from the drinks Delphi and I have had.
“Larissa just got arrested.”
