She was my friend. And because she was my friend, she’d helped me when I had needed it. That, in fact, was downright nice. Having friends was the best, and I’d do anything I could for them, too.
CHAPTER 22
We managed to get some sleep through the last hours of the night and early hours of the day, but by the time noon hit, my body had rebelled against the change in sleep schedule, and I was firmly awake.
It was a little annoying to not be able to sleep, but also, I couldn’t complain too much at my body trying to hold onto a better schedule than one that would land me asleep during my regular work hours.
Davin was either in the same boat or the lightest sleeper of all time, because when I got out of bed as quietly as I could and turned around, his eyes were already open, and he didn’t seem the least bit sleepy. I winced. “Sorry. I was trying not to wake you.”
“You didn’t,” he said, shaking his head, then sat up, stretching and pushing out of bed as well. “We’ve too much to do for me to sleep well.”
We showered together and dressed, and I loaned him one of my T-shirts, though it was a little...well, it looked good on him. Even if it was a bit tight, and also weird to see him in a shirt that said “Have the Day You Deserve.”
On the other hand, it was the attitude he usually took, even if he didn’t tend to say as much out loud.
We went downstairs together, and I took my own bag with me.
My mother wouldn’t approve, but with Fearson handled, I wasn’t too worried about being snatched off the street right there in Avalon. I wanted to sleep in a bed that didn’t live in my mother’s house. Preferably one that had my insanely hot boyfriend in it. Almost any bed would do.
Still, there was no harm in stopping for breakfast before we left. Especially since I could smell bacon from the landing at the top of the stairs, and Meg did sinful things with bacon. There was this hot and sweet glaze sometimes, that?—
Davin huffed and rolled his eyes. “Don’t go turning into a zombie and falling down the stairs. I promise we won’t leave without your bacon. I’m sure wherever the meat is, that’s where the cat is as well.”
It was an excellent point. Twist hadn’t been in the bedroom when I’d woken, but “where the meat is” was always a good first place to start looking for her.
It was dark downstairs, all the windows sealed up and none of the lights on, but it was technically still the house I’d grown up in, so I knew how to find the food.
We walked into the dining room to find a whole buffet of it, Twist on the table eating what looked like a...giant pile of breakfast sausages? Yikes. That was so fatty. Was that much fat good for a cat? Maybe...or maybe it was turkey sausage.
I could hope.
In addition to my tiny bottomless pit, though, were Sexton, hoovering down what looked to be his third plate of food, given the empties to one side of his place setting. My mother, awake despite the hour, sitting at the end of the table, looking on likea queen at court. That explained why the downstairs windows were all still sealed up tight.
And between them was my father, a man who hadn’t been able to sit up on his own the day before.
Oh, he still looked pale and wan and miserable, and I wasn’t inviting him to the North Sea for a fight anytime soon, but this much of a recovery was really nice to see.
“Fiona tells me you figured out about my father,” he said, then cringed a bit. “I...I can’t believe it wasn’t the first thing I said. Can’t believe I put it out of my mind.”
Impressively, Sexton was the one with an immediate response for that, and it was a good one. “Why? Flynn and Fiona don’t know him. He’s not relevant to them. They’re not impressed by his name. You told them what actually mattered to them. What was going on, and why it was important.”
I pointed at him as I met my father’s eye. “I was thinking about that last night,” I said, nodding to Sexton. “The fact that Albert Fearson is apparently my uncle and I really don’t care. Like, at all. Except maybe, fuck, I hope he has a will and left everything to science, because I don’t want to inherit things from him by default.”
Sexton jerked back a bit, his eyes widening. “Did you...did you kill him? Your mother said you took him alive.”
“He was alive last I saw him, but he’s going on senate trial for what he did.” For some reason, Sexton just kept staring at me. Not raised by vampires, I remembered. Right. How would he know what that meant? “He kidnapped a vampire to try to coerce that guy’s mother into kidnapping another vampire’s kid. Unlike human courts, vamp ones aren’t so much about rehabilitation or...whatever it is when people are put in cells to work for the state for the rest of their lives. If they find him guilty, and they will, because heis...they’re going to kill him.”
Sexton sat back in his chair, considering for a while, but then finally nodding. “That all makes sense. You could always give it to a domestic violence charity if they do give you any of his money. I would.” He went back to eating off his plate full of French toast and strawberries, and when he looked up to find my father staring at him, asked, mouth still full of food, “What?”
“By god, you’re rubbing off on him,” Davin said to me, even as he turned to grab two plates and hand me one of them. He motioned to the buffet. “Make sure to eat plenty. You probably burned it off yesterday.”
Sexton was clearly unimpressed with my boyfriend’s jokes, because he swallowed his food, stuck out his tongue at Davin and answered, “Oh do be quiet. I’m not taking feedback from snarky assholes today.”
“I will, yeah,” Davin said, and his tone said something more like “fuck off and die,” but in...kind of a joking way. Were my boyfriend and cousin getting along, in maybe the weirdest way ever?
I smiled to myself and turned to heap my plate full of eggs and sausage and other delicious things. Yeah I needed the protein more than strawberry French toast.
But did I really?
