I maneuvered through the school, anxious to see if Tabby was in the cafeteria since I couldn’t find her yesterday. A part of me worried I’d be accosted by fans of my family again, and that definitely wasn’t something I wanted to deal with right now, especially after my mom’s visit earlier. Who knew what poor bastards were subjected to my dads’ full attention?
Thankfully, when I pushed the cafeteria door open, no one immediately rushed me. It was past breakfast and not quite lunch yet, so most of the tables were empty. There were a few that looked like they were nursing hangovers while hanging their heads over oatmeal and eggs.
“Seems like they had fun last night,” a voice announced next to me.
I turned to find Iris with a half-asleep Xinyi on her arm. “I could say the same about you.”
“Ugh, what?” Xinyi blinked at me.
I raised my voice and leaned in close. “I said, it looks like you had fun last night.”
“Oh, God. Fuck. Why?” Xinyi whined, burying her face into Iris’s shoulder. “I don’t know why we couldn’t have just stayed in bed all day.”
“Because you need food, and I have a meeting.” Iris gentle pried the woman off her side. “Go with Jack. I’m sure she can help you find something that will soak up all that witch’s brew.”
Before I could protest, I had the smaller woman hanging off my arm.
“Alright, let’s find you something to eat.”
I dragged Xinyi over to a table, sat her down, patted her on the head, then headed to the cafeteria line. I grabbed a variety of things because everyone handled a hangover differently. While I preferred black coffee and sleep, others wanted grease and sugar. Xinyi seemed like the later type of person.
“Here we go,” I said once I’d paid and sat down next to her.
Xinyi groaned, not lifting her head from the table. “Just let me die. Iris will move on. She’s hot. She’ll find someone else like that.” She half-heartedly snapped her fingers.
I shook my head, grinning at her dramatics. “I find it hard to believe you’d just give up like that. I thought you were made of stronger stuff than this.”
“Not giving up,” Xinyi grumbled, turning her face so her cheek pressed against the table. “Just the inevitable ending of all human servants. We die while they go on, mourning us for a short while before time makes us nothing more than a memory.”
“So hangovers make you morose,” I chuckled. “Good to know. And not every human servant dies before their masters. She could die first and then you would go with her.”
“Oh great,” Xinyi threw her hands up, “so we’ll die together.” Her hand clapped down on my arm. “Jack, I’m too young to die. Look at this face. Look at this body. I might make a beautiful corpse, but I’d still be dead.”
Shaking my head, I took a cup of coffee and a small plate for myself before shoving the tray of food toward her. “Then eat.”
Reluctantly, Xinyi took the tray and picked at the food, taking small bites and sips while she glanced around the cafeteria.
“This place is dead. Where is everyone?”
“Well, it’s already eleven, so I’m guessing they’ll start wandering here shortly for lunch.” My eyes caught on a familiarwitch walking through the door. “Tabby!” I stood and waved, gesturing for her to come over.
Tabby said something to her friends before approaching us, a smile on her face.
“Hi, Jack. Xinyi, right?”
Xinyi nodded her greeting, her mouth full of food.
“Some party last night, huh?”
“Yeah,” I drew out and then decided to just get down to it. “I was looking for you, but didn’t see you around? Did you leave early?”
“No?” Tabby cocked her head to the side. “I did have to head back to the tower for a bit because I forgot an ingredient for the fireworks. Maybe we missed each other then?”
“Maybe,” I mumbled, sipping from my cup. I’d been at that party until dawn started to break and hadn’t seen her the entire time. So, either she was lying or we really had just missed each other.
“What did you want me for?” Tabby continued, not at all bothered by me not catching her. “Did you decide to let us study you?” She almost squealed, bouncing a bit in place. “I promise it will be completely professional. You won’t feel like a lab rat or anything.”
“Uhhhh... no. Sorry.” I winced, then pulled my phone out and showed her the sigil. “I was hoping you could tell me which coven this belongs to?”
