Page 12 of Truth Revealed

“Only the best, duh,” Misery announced, and greeted him with a slap on the back.

“You mean the only,” Truth responded, and Daria smiled at that.

There weren’t a whole lot of options in Maleston for pizza, at least none that weren’t restaurant chains. But everyone knew the best place to get pizza was anywhere local—and Slice, Slice, Baby was their go-to.

Daria glanced at the multiple boxes on the island countertop, and fondly remembered the days she would order one pizza and it lasted her at least a few days. Okay, maybe fondly wasn’t the right word, since she could admit it had been lonely and kind of sad. But, even with… she squinted her eyes as she counted the stacked boxes. Five pizzas, there wouldn’t be any left in the morning.

Oh, the joys of living with immortal demons and their fast metabolisms.

Hey, you’re immortal too.

Oh, yeah.

One would think Daria would get used to the notion, considering how often she kept dying, but it was such a foreign concept to her that she didn’t think she’d quite wrapped her mind around it yet.

Dinner passed quickly after she rushed upstairs to change into something comfortable. Pizza was delicious, but she was quiet for the most part. She couldn’t help it. This ever-bubbling feeling of… happiness rooted in her chest as they all sat down to eat. Misery and Truth teased each other mercilessly, and even Wrath was starting to feel comfortable enough to joke around.

He’d been carrying the weight of his guilt over what he’d done to Misery, but slowly, Daria hoped anyway, he was letting it go.

With everyone around her safe and happy, she didn’t have much more to ask for.

As her gaze made another trip around the room, she faltered over her sister. Sofia.

I could always talk to her about my demon troubles. She’d understand more than anyone.

Daria couldn’t see herself doing that just yet. It wasn’t fair to Sofia, because Daria knew she was innocent in everything Pandora had planned, but it was also just… awkward. The demons, Daria’s demons, tended to her and had stars in their eyes when it came to the girl. And she could understand that—really. They’d known her as a baby, a toddler, only to believe she’d been dead all this time.

And no, Daria wasn’t jealous. Not even when Hope brought her another slice of pizza, seeing her plate was empty. It was a… brotherly love, if anything, and it made Daria’s heart happy too.

I’m just a bunch of fucking sunshine and rainbows, aren’t I?

Smiling to herself, she finished off her pizza and took her plate to the sink, washing it quickly and setting it in the drying rack. Everyone was winding down, and even Daria could admit she was exhausted after a busy night at the bar.

With a nod to everyone and a cheerful goodnight called over her shoulder, she disappeared upstairs.

And paced anxiously. But not for long. Only a few moments later, a soft knock tapped against the door before it opened a crack.

“Is it okay if I come in?” Truth asked hesitantly.

“Yeah, of course,” she replied, nibbling on her bottom lip as she crossed her arms.

“You look anxious,” Truth observed, as he came to a stop in front of her. Like her, he’d changed into his form of comfort clothing, which meant sweats and a t-shirt.

“Maybe I am.”

“Why? It’s just me,” he countered with a small smile, but Daria recognized the hesitancy and the slight… fear deep in his blue eyes.

Guilt washed over her and she crossed the room to him. Truth opened his arms wide and enclosed them around her as she wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her head into his chest.

“It’ll be okay, I promise. This is nothing to worry about.”

“This, being…?” Daria prompted in a mumble.

“This being whatever you want it to be. With all of us, or one of us, or none of us.”

The butterflies in her stomach turned to pixies, wielding axes and knives as her stomach turned. Just the thought of not having any of them made her heart falter.

Or was it skipping at the thought of having all of them?