Us against the world,I could nearly hear her whisper to me, beautiful and haunting.
“I just need to make sure she’s okay, but I don’t have to involve you if you want to stay out of it.” I took a step back toward my bedroom, and Inara meowed like I’d committed a crime against her species.
“Not so fast,” Hudson said, rolling his eyes as he dusted off his sweater and put his plate in the sink. “Youobviouslysucceeded in piquing my interest. As intended.”
I bent down to pet Inara, hiding my smug smile as I cooed to her. “Hi, stinky baby. Soft, stinky baby. Softest, stinkiest baby in the whole world.”
“Nova!” Hudson snapped impatiently.
I looked up and batted my eyes before straightening and walking back to the small kitchen island.
Inara hopped up on the island and watched us like a sentinel as we hunched over my phone. We’d long given up trying to keep her off the counters.
My hand shook as I unlocked my phone and pulled up my new PicWave account. Of course, this was when Delilah decided to wake up and stroll into the kitchen with a dramatic yawn. Her pink robe trailed behind her in a pile of fluffy tulle.
“Darlings,” she greeted with a sweeping nod. Her blonde hair, swept up in a bun that hung on for dear life, communicated a lack of effort that was cool and chic. She homed in on the screen between Hudson and me immediately. “What are we up to?”
“Sleuthing on Judas,” Hudson said.
“Oooh! Naughty.”
Before I could toggle to the search bar, a familiar ad popped up.
“Do you ever get this weird ad?” I asked them.
“Nova,” Hudson groaned. “Focus!”
“Okay, okay, sorry!”
I gave the ad, a blank black square, one more glance. The handle was just @O. And the call-to-action banner waslearn more.In the middle of the black square, if you waited long enough, two words would appear:The Circle.
And that was it. Gimmicky marketing I refused to fall victim to. Likely for some absurdly expensive new restaurant or gym or AI bracelet that told you the optimal time to take a shit.
In the PicWave search bar, I typed Lorelei’s handle. I felt Delilah at my back, spying over my shoulder.
My body buzzed with intense emotions. As if I were a bomb technician, beads of sweat formed along my brow while I sliced through each wire.
The page loaded.
The first line of her bio read:Freedom in service of something greater.
Then, in italics:We live in a broken world. It’s time to come closer.
All I could see were the emojis. I ignored the bizarre spiritual speak altogether.
“What the actualfuck, Lorelei?” I bit out. I saw red, flashes of memory threatening to surface before I slammed a psychic door in their face.
“Did she find religion?” Delilah asked with a snort.
I bristled, my whole body going rigid. “No.”
Hudson made a condescending noise of derision. “I’m guessing her new man is some manifestation alpha crypto Chad.”
I quickly scanned her page, surprised she’d only posted three new pieces of content in the past two months.
I wasn’t sure what I had expected or even wanted. A picture of the man she’d moved in with who I’d never even met? A picture of her, safe and healthy? A video of her out drinking, clearly miserable but pretending to be wild and free after the latest failed relationship with someone who treated her like garbage?
I got none of those things. Instead, I saw a picture of an artfully arranged charcuterie board on a sleek marble countertop captionedI love serving Him.
