Page 38 of The Serpent King

Travis went around in circles until finally he just did it.

Hey, he texted.

Hey yourself mister, Amelia texted back, almost immediately. How are you?

Rough. I got into it with my dad.

OMG. You ok?

Yeah. I guess I just needed cheering up.

If I were there I’d give you a huge hug and remind you that Deathstorm comes out soon.

That’s working!

His phone buzzed again. It was a photo of a baby elephant playing with a beach ball.

Yes!

A funny Bloodfall meme. And then another. And another. Travis almost laughed out loud but caught himself.

Thank you!

When we meet in person, I’m going to give you a million hugs and tell you it’s not your fault your dad is an asshole.

As Amelia’s disembodied words of encouragement continued to stream in, the warm sugar-buttery smell of baking cake filled the house.

He lit the candles the moment he heard her pull up. There were only five of them.

“Dillard, you home?” she called out when she entered the dark house.

“In here, Mom.”

She walked into the kitchen, where Dill stood behind the cake, candlelight illuminating his face. “Happy birthday!”

She shook her head and set down her things. “Dillard Wayne Early, what have you done?”

Dill grinned. “I made you this cake. Sort of. I got the stuff and Travis’s mom made it. It turned out a lot better than if I’d done it, I promise.”

She smiled. “I don’t even—”

“Well. What are you waiting for? Blow out the candles. Let’s have a piece or two.”

She sat down and blew out the candles. They sat in the dark for a second while Dill fumbled for the light switch.

“Did you make a wish?”

“I sure did. I wished for—”

“No, no, you can’t tell me. Then the wish won’t come true. Besides, I can probably guess.”

“Wishes don’t matter anyway. Prayer does.”

Dill got up and grabbed a knife, two forks, and two plates. He pulled out the candles and cut two large pieces of the vanilla-frosted yellow cake.

“Did your work do anything special for your birthday?”

“The gals on the cleaning staff put their money together and got me a twenty-dollar gift card to Walgreens. I think I’ll buy a little something and see if they’ll cash out the rest. We need stamps to write your father.”