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“No, Noa does. This one is on him. I will hide behind his girlfriend’s sister—there is no way Cave will touch her.”

“If anyone is using the sister as a shield, it’s me. I will gut the rest of you,” the reply crackles back.

“She speaks to my cold, dead heart,” the Jester’s voice chimes in.

“Ignore the decorative idiot. I will get them to unload the trees there, but this better not come back on me.” With that, Vesper’s voice vanishes.

“We better make sure this is sorted. Do you want to come?” I ask Cipher.

“No, I’ll stay here.”

I nod and lean down to place a kiss on his lips, then we head out. As we walk toward the main path, I fill Leni in on the family situation, which she thinks is hilarious. Neither of us really knows how to deal with parental figures since we lost ours so young, and neither of us has really ever been in a serious relationship before, as Rowan was not someone you wanted people around.

The Jester is near the cornfield when we arrive, watching the men unload trucks of trees. He appears to be teaching a group of guests a card trick. He spots me over the head of a woman in a Christmas jumper and gives me a wave.

I wave back, and he extracts himself from the group with a bow and bounces over, his bells jingling with every step. “You look worried,” he says. “Is it Cave? Do we need to move to Plan B? Because I have been thinking a lot about it, and I think I can pull it off easily.”

“I don’t doubt you could, but Cave is fine. I’m just processing some news.”

“What news? Good or bad?”

“It’s complicated.”

“Oh, that’s the best kind. I love complicated things. Well, you know where to find me if you need Plan B, C, or even D.”

I laugh. “Thank you.”

He winks and bounces back toward the guests. The men unloading the trees seem to be doing a good job, so I leave Noa to micromanage them; he really can’t mess it up any worse than he has so far. Leni and Khodi follow me to Ares’s Bar, as I need hot coffee fast, since I feel like my face is about to freeze.

Kayla is at the bar, sitting on a stool and watching Vero hang some tinsel, while Brawley stands beside him pointing to something, looking frustrated.

“Hey,” Kayla says when she sees me. “You doing okay? You look a little . . .”

“Stressed,” Leni says helpfully.

“I’m meeting the parents.”

Kayla laughs. “Me too. It will be fine.”

“Valli is not fine.” Leni giggles.

“I’m working on it,” I say when Vero appears at my side, a ball of tinsel in his hands. “What are we working on? Is it a scheme? I love schemes. Brawley says I’m not allowed to, but Brawley isn’t the boss of me.”

“Do you want me to show them how I can make you drop to your knees and call me boss?” Brawley growls.

Vero nods. “Yes, please.”

We all laugh. Vero is excitable all the time, more so than Noa, and can be funny to watch.

“I take it you’re here to get a coffee,” Kayla says, and I nod.

She jumps over the counter, and Ares pops his head out from the back and warns her to be careful, to which she just rolls her eyes. Leni gets a call from Noa and says she’s going to meet him outside. As she leaves, Khodi follows behind her like an obedient puppy.

I wait for Kayla to make my coffee order, and when it’s ready, she tells me not to worry about meeting the parents. That if all else fails, it’s only for a few days. She puts all my coffees in a tray, and I head back outside to find Noa and my sister.

When I locate them, Noa is standing beside Leni, with Khodi on her other side, so close that their arms are practically touching. Nails stands in front of them, looking a little embarrassed.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Nails protests.