I grin when I find them and slip them on—my green elf slippers with curled toes and red pom poms.
Perfect.
After a brief search through the bags, I manage to locate my phone. I leave my room and head downstairs.
Adelaide and Piper are already there. Adelaide is barefoot, dressed in wide leg lounge trousers and a deep emerald long sleeved crop top. Her hair is piled into a messy bun, curls escaping as she opens cupboard after cupboard.
Piper stands by the fireplace in a green velvet tracksuit, her ginger hair braided down her back. The light catches her freckles, making her green eyes glow even more.
“It’s still freezing,” Piper says. “We should light the fireplace. It’ll make it warmer. And cozier.”
I smirk as I walk past her. “If you light it, we’ll lose you before the first night. Blanket, book, fireplace. Your perfect setup.”
She rolls her eyes but doesn’t deny it.
“The fridge is full,” Adelaide says from the kitchen, staring into it. “But I can’t decide what to make for dinner.”
I lean against the wall. “Please don’t.”
She looks at me.
“I don’t think it’ll be edible,” I continue. “On second thought, we’ll all die from a gas leak before food poisoning even gets a chance.”
She lifts the knife in her hand, one I don’t even know when she grabbed, and points it at me without blinking. “Don’t tempt me. I have excellent aim.”
“I actually dare you.”
The look in her eyes is pure challenge.
The knife leaves her hand the next second.
It whistles past my head and buries itself into the wooden wall behind me.
“You two are impossible,” Piper mutters.
Adelaide shrugs, strolls over, yanks the knife free, and walks back to the kitchen like she didn’t just attempt murder.
Piper bends down in front of the fireplace, and I crouch beside her, peering inside.
“There has to be some wood around here,” I say.
A noise makes me look up.
My sister is coming down the stairs, her steps light, her expression amused as she takes in the sight of Piper and me crouched by the fireplace.
“You need wood to start a fire,” she says.
I exhale. “Thank you, genius. Whatever would we do without your endless wisdom?”
She shakes her head, smiling.
Piper pushes herself up from the floor, brushing ash from her hands. “Come on,” she says to me. “Let’s find some wood before it gets too dark.”
It is already pitch black, but I don’t comment on it.
I nod and follow her to the entrance, grabbing my jacket, then adding the hat and gloves I bought earlier, pulling on my boots and tucking my scarf in properly.
We’re almost out when my sister murmurs, “Be careful.”
