“So they reveal themselves.”
Cash nodded and stood up. He didn’t often have to bother, but he pushed the monster down into his bones until they felt tight with it. The gray freckles on his hands faded down to faint blotches, just a shade darker than his skin.
“When does Yana get here?” he asked.
It took a second, but Arkady sighed and answered, “Soon.” He put a knuckle under Cash’s chin and tilted his head back until their eyes met. “She hasn’t asked about you.”
“So?”
Arkady scowled with a flash of peevish irritation at having his own flat statement turned against him, and then he dipped his head down for a kiss. It was soft and unhurried, gentle—not what Cash was usually into, but it felt like… champagne. The fizz of reaction tickled his nerves and made him shiver. Cash leaned into the kiss and caught Arkady’s hips to pull him closer.
This time it was Arkady who pulled away. He stepped back and smirked, his lips wet and well-kissed.
“So get over it.”
He turned and strode out of the room. Cash stared after him in exasperation and ran his hand through his hair.
“I was never under it,” he muttered as he looked around for his boots. “So….”
SHANKO GAVECash a skeptical look.
“The guest list?” he said as he hoisted a frozen carcass off a hook and braced it on one broad shoulder. Meltwater ran down his arm and soaked his collar pink. “What do you want that for?”
He shoved Cash unceremoniously out of the way as he headed out of the larder. Cash caught himself on one of the strung sides of meat and staggered as it spun listlessly on its hook. He pushed himself off the cold lump of flesh, brushed the frost from his T-shirt, and jogged after Shanko. His footsteps sounded too loud as they echoed from the frost-crusted walls.
“I just want to know who’s coming,” Cash said as he dodged through the hanging meat to get ahead of Shanko. His breath steamed as it left his lips, thin and gray on the cold air.
“Your betters,” Shanko snorted. The words didn’t fog on the air.
“That could be anyone.”
“Ask your boyfriend.”
The urge to debate that point caught in Cash’s throat. He ignored it as he stretched his legs to duck out of the larder first. There were other ways out of there—one of Donna’s more useful quirks was a dislike for any room with only one exit—but they weren’t pleasant.
“Arkady knows who’s been invited,” Cash said. “You know who’s coming.”
The corner of Shanko’s mouth turned up in a brief smirk. “I do.”
He dumped the carcass onto the trolley with the rest of the cuts for the wedding dinner. The wheels clicked and bounced on the rough floor as Shanko threw his weight against the handle. The kitchen would be busy tonight as they spiced and dressed the meat in cutlets and rolls. It was their one chance in the calendar to show off their skills. Traditionally most of the high-holiday feasts took a rustic approach, with as little preparation as possible before the food reached the table.
Ideally the meal would still be breathing, just lightly greased with a chili rub for pep.
Weddings, though, celebrated deception. Food that looked like one thing but was another, gifts with a hidden sting, and a few oblivious humans to play the fool. Preferably the bride or groom—Harry had been right about that particular hobby—but servers would do at a pinch.
“There’s some people I’d rather avoid,” Cash said as he half jogged along at Shanko’s heels.
“Still running on negative friends, then?” Shanko asked. “Hopefully the child takes after her mother.”
“Yana doesn’t have any friends either,” Cash said.
“That’s by choice. You couldn’t make a friend if you had a Mr. Potato Head and a Hand of Glory.”
Cash broke stride as he visualized that. It made him shudder. “I can live with that,” he said. “Besides, they aren’t enemies. They’re exes.”
It was the truth. Sort of. Only one of his exes was likely to beinvitedto something like this, even if they were low down the list, but there were a few who might work the event. Cash hadn’t dated a lot—humans thought it was hard to date as a single parent, they should try it with guys to whombabywas a superfood—but even in Roanoke the monster world was small. It was hard not to cross paths with your hookups.
Shanko stopped and leaned on the handle of the trolley. He pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket to fastidiously wipe his hands and neck and raised a heavy eyebrow at Cash. “You’re on good terms with them?”
