He then presented me with the familiar velvet box I had requested from my older brother months ago. I took it greedily, and my eyes flicked to the plane, where the person I intended to give it to sat, comfortable and unaware.
“Thank you,” I said. For the first time, I was genuine. “I appreciate this.”
He nodded. “He said it would be very important to you. Good luck.” With that, he hurried up the metal stairs and onto the plane. I turned and didn’t look back. Now, with the ring in my possession, I had more incentive not to fuck this up again. I’d win Scout’s love back, even if it killed me.
Once in my car, I glanced at the backseat. I got a loud squawk from Tippi, and I scrunched up my nose. This trip was going to fucking suck if I had to be alone with this… what did Scout call me that first time we met?
Cabrón?
I smiled, remembering that day. For me, for us, actually, it had felt like we’d only just met, but in reality, we’d been searching for each other since for each other since nineteen-ninety-four.
The bird squawked again, and I pulled out my phone. It connected to the car’s Bluetooth. I cleared my throat and grabbed a piece of candy from the cup holder.
“Call Arsenio.”
***
“Greed and Wrath! Back in business!” Arsenio, my giant, overeager friend, ripped my car door open, shoved his bag in the back, and hopped into the passenger’s seat. He turned to face me. His face lit up with excitement that made me uncomfortable. He clapped and started to laugh. “Come on, my friend! I can’t tell you how long I’ve waited for this!”
I blinked and shifted back into drive. “I just didn’t want to be alone. Calm down.”
“Oh, stop.” He was practically bouncing in his seat. He brought his arm over to ruffle my hair. I gritted my teeth and shifted away. “You could have called anyone, but you called me. I’ve missed true Seven Sins fun!”
“Ludovica is on the plane with her,” I relented.
“We should invite the others! I mean, the ones we can find. Elvie told me about Ginata.” He frowned. “I’ll have to do some digging. Corrine might send you to find her next.”
“What am I, a fucking bloodhound? I agreed to help find Ludovica because we’ve always been close. Ginata was always kind of a bitch.”
“I never saw her like that.”
“She would never take no for an answer,” I muttered.
“Well, you’re not one to talk,” Arsenio blurted and then realized where he fucked up and promptly shut his mouth with a loud clack of his fangs on his teeth.
“What did you just fucking say to me?” I pushed on the gas pedal, hitting the highway. As the gauge went higher, so did the red staining my mood.
You think I won’t kill us all?
“I’m… I’m sorry, friend.” Arsenio actually flinched and reached for the shoulder that I had taken a bite out of the last time we fought. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
“What did you hear?” I raised an eyebrow and relaxed my foot. It calmed him down enough to explain.
“Toulouse called me when it happened. He was worried about you.”
“I call bullshit.”
“You took too much of his candy. The stuff he got from Elvie. It wasn’t your fault.”
“Don’t pander to me,” I snarled.
Silence reigned down in the car and was only broken when Tippi ruffled his feathers and made a light cooing. It spooked Arsenio, and he jumped.
“What the— is that a bird?”
The tension relaxed, and I explained how I came to own such an interesting-looking animal.
“You’re really working hard to fix things, aren’t you?” He said afterward.
