The angel of death enjoys diet soda.
Dayna was uncharacteristically quiet all the way home. She ate, slept, and drank, but refused to discuss what her own mother had tried to do. She was shaken and with good reason.
Luckily, we’d brought Hudson’s Escalade to the airport so we had plenty of room for an extra person.
Dayna seemed to come out of her haze as we pulled onto my property, her back straightening as she eyeballed the house. It was going to be a difficult conversation with Aunt Liz, but first, I needed a shower to get rid of the two day grit and dirt that coated my skin.
Sebastian and Dayna opened the rear doors and spilled out. Hudson caught my hand. “You did the right thing,” he told me again. He’d been repeating it nearly every hour, and while I appreciated the support, I didn’t doubt my actions for one minute.
“I know. Why do you keep saying it?”
“Because you might know, but I can see the guilt shining in your eyes, and I’ll keep saying it until you actually believe it.”
I sighed as Sebastian and Dayna disappeared into the house. “We played right into her hands.”
“Also not your fault. We agreed collectively to go get the book.”
“I should have seen it coming.”
His fingers wrapped around my chin and drew my gaze to his. “Are you a precog?”
“No.”
“Do you have divine insight I’m unaware of?”
“No.”
“Then why should you have seen it coming?”
My eyes fluttered closed for a second as I let his faith in me bolster my confidence. “Okay, I get it. Thank you.”
“Anytime,” he said as my eyes flipped open to find him smiling at me. After a soft, lingering kiss, he jumped out of the car and I followed.
Aunt Liz was already fussing over Aunt Dayna as we breached the house. She turned her stare on me and pointed to the parlor. “I need details.”
“After I’ve showered,” I told her. “I need to get the stench of The Hound off me.”
Her eyes softened and she nodded.
Aunt Sophia’s head appeared from the kitchen. “You need cabbage rolls.” It wasn’t a question, as far as she was concerned everything could be solved with cabbage rolls.
“Shower first,” I gritted out.
“Fine, then food.”
I nodded in acquiescence. Food, family feuds, and exposure. It was time to show those I love what I truly am and trust that they won’t reject me. It was only a matter of time before everything was revealed, and it would be better coming from me.
Dave appeared down the stairs and swept his gaze over Hudson, then me. “What happened? Where’s the evil book?”
Hudson met him on the stairs. “Come with me, and I’ll tell you.”
He sent a wink over his shoulder and I relaxed as I dragged my heavy limbs up the two flights of stairs.
Harry shot out of my room waving his arms in the air. “Pineapples, pineapples, pineapples, pineapples, pineapples.”
A five pineapple situation was like DEFCON 1. My body sprang into motion as adrenaline shot through my limbs and I power walked the last few steps before flinging open my bedroom door. My body froze and my eyes widened. Well, fuck. This was not a five pineapple situation, it was more like a ten pineapple situation. Or perhaps a pineapple smoothie, it takes a lot of pineapples to make a smoothie. There was a fire-haired being with identical green eyes to my own lounging on my sofa with his giant wings spread out.
I carefully closed the door behind me. Harry stayed outside—probably a wise decision.
