She looked like the victim and had painted us as the maniacs. It’d barely taken any effort.
Now the bitch was ruining our reputation. There wasn’t any situation, it seemed, she couldn’t turn to her advantage.
“You know I don’t think that, right?” Charlie asked me softly. “You’re not a burden. Nothing could make me stop caring for you.”
Oberi laid his head on my lap, and I rested my hand there. “I know,” I replied quietly. “Let’s just play.”
I tried to keep Esther’s nasty words out of my mind as we played the first round. She didn’t matter. She was just trying to utilize any weakness she could to get inside my head.
Didn’t mean her words hadn’t hurt.
“Hey guys!” Marcus’ cheerful voice from the entrance lifted my spirits. When I saw him,
I laughed out loud. Marcus had shown up wearing a wizard’s hat and a sparkly robe. He’d put Rishi into a little bard costume. Rishi waddled up to the table in a wide-brimmed cap with a feather tucked into the side and meowed. I whispered to Charlie the details of Marcus’ outfit, and he grinned.
Marcus stopped at the table and blinked when he looked at us. “Why am I the only one who dressed up?”
“What are you wearing?” Chancey snickered.
Marcus appeared baffled. “Are we… are we not playingDungeons and Dragons?”
“No.” I laughed. “I mean, we could if they had it here, but it’s not approved by the Warden.”
“Aw, man.” Marcus dropped his gaze, clearly disappointed.
“You arenotinto role-playing board games,” Kallie said scathingly.
“I won a competition once!” Marcus said brightly. “I was the dungeon master of my play group.”
“He’s the dungeon master of their bedroom,” Ivy snickered under his breath.
“Marcus, that is the nerdiest thing you’ve ever said to me,” Kallie said dryly. She hadn’t heard Ivy.
“Come on, you haven’t lived until you’ve tried an RPG. Please promise you’ll play with me once we graduate,” Marcus begged.
Kallie huffed. “Fine.One game.”
Marcus appeared thrilled. Oberi sat at his feet and looked up, banging his tail against the floor.
I amsojealous of those hats, Oberi said enviously.I wish I could add them to my collection.
Marcus plopped into a chair beside Kallie. “Okay, D&D is out, but you still have a chance to see my mad wicked board game skills.”
“Why do I like you?” Kallie hissed under her breath, and I burst out laughing again. It was nice to spend time like this with friends, when we weren’t trying to save the world or solve mysteries. I was glad we’d taken some time out to just chill.
We kept playing board games until around nine. We had about an hour before curfew, but hadn’t wanted to leave just yet, so we’d stuck around the Villain’s Den to talk. Charlie had helped me out of my chair and onto the couch, moving my legs so they were curled up on the cushion. My head lay against his chest, and he had an arm around me as Oberi slept over my feet. I felt very cozy and warm, snuggled up to my husband and listening to his heartbeats while Oberi let out soft snores.
This time of night, we were the only ones in here. I had been sleeping for quite a while, though I’d just woken up a moment ago. I dozed in and out of it, creaking my eyes open for just a moment to observe my surroundings. On the opposite couch, Ivy had fallen asleep with his head on Chancey’s lap, and Chancey himself had his head thrown back against the edge of the cushions, off in dreamland. Marcus lay still on the floor, his arm around his wizard’s hat while Rishi snoozed on top of him.
My eyes lulled, wanting to go back to sleep. Charlie and Kallie spoke lowly, their voices the only sound amidst the quiet.
“Ava passed out pretty quick,” Kallie murmured.
“She gets tired easily these days.” Charlie’s fingers brushed my face lightly as he played with the ends of my hair.
“Do you think she’s getting any better?”
There was a pause, until Charlie said, “No.”
