“IfIdo the killing, Goldie can’t take the blame.” Brexley's eyes flash an amber glow. Despite his grumbly voice, there is a congested thickness to his words. Turns out he’s allergic to Red’s house rabbits, Bangs and Bombs. But I know he’d rather die via stuffy nose than make Red give up her fur babies.
“Oh! Or maybe I can request the hit on Goldie’s behalf,” Red pipes up excitedly. “Seeing as tonight’s my last night working the Poison Apple, so I can’t be fired.”
Cinder loudly groans as if she’s in physical pain as she rejoins us. “Don’t remind us.”
Cinder’s strappy black top and dark purple lipstick complete her goth aesthetic. And she winged her narrow Asian eyes with a stiletto-sharp liner. I watched her hold up an actual knife against the corner of her eye as a guide for a sharper line. Faelords, I love the shit out of her.
“How dare you leave us to live your dreams to go work as an accountant,” I add, hopping on the blame train.
Red shrugs with a lop-sided smile. “It’s your fault for encouraging me to go after my dreams. Now I get to intern at a firm before I even graduate, and I can pay the rest of my way through college.”
Not that she needed to with her insanely rich and famous grandma.
Still, I respect Red’s tenacity in building a life on her own terms. She’s always wanted a human life and she’s getting it.
Granted, I may have initially strong-armed Red into joining our ranks at the Poison Apple, but I wasn’t sorry for a second. Once a shy, insecure girl, she rocked her boots and red leather bustier like a dominatrix who owns everyone in the room.
No one would guess looking at her that she’s now one of the few level five mages on Earth, like her grandma.
Not that I want Red’s power. She can literally devour and destroy anyone’s magic. It’s a power the mage council has never seen before.
After Red used it in self-defense against some bloodthirsty mages, she was forced to agree to never use her power again.
What fun is it having powers if you can’t use them?
But seeing as I also ate one of those magic cookies, along with Cinder, I was hoping to unlock some kind of awesome magic powers of my own. Unlike Red’s heritage though, the two of us are one hundred percent human, so it might not happen.
Red was half mage already, but her grandma explained the recipe was meant to unlock genetic code, so if there are any dormant mage abilities in us, we might find ourselves with some unusual talents. But that was months ago and so far Cinder and I had seen zero, zippo, and zilch on the magic powers front.
“Hey,” Brexley interjects, wrapping a hand around his beer, “I helped you achieve your dreams, too, little Red. All those tireless hours I put in helping you study.” Then he shoots Red a wolfish grin packed with heat.
Red’s cheeks flush into a color that matches her hair. “Yeah, you helped me… study.”
My eyes bounce between the two of them, then avert when I realize there is some sexual subtext going on.
“Flirt on your own time,” Rap says in a deadpan tone, eyes still glued to the keyboard.
“I thought you paid us to flirt,” Cinder points out with a sly side smile.
“I do, but don’t tell the new girl that or you might scare her away,” Rap says, finally looking up. Her emerald eyes flashing in warning.
“Oh,” I cry out, clapping my hands when a familiar head of white hair bobs through the room, heading our way. “She’s here.”
Barely an inch over five feet, the diminutive girl flashes me an uncertain smile that almost looks like she’s baring her teeth. Her white hair contrasts yet complements her cool, twilight skin. Her icy blue eyes are large, round, and doe-like. Her lips are set in a permanent sultry pout. There is something dangerous and dark that licks around the corners of her that makes me want to squeeze her tight.
“Everyone, meet Snow,” I announce, waving my hands in her direction like Vanna White.
“Hi, Snow,” comes the chorus.
She ducks her head, hair falling in front of her face.
If I didn’t know better, I would have pegged her as a nymph. But nymphs tend to stay amongst their own fae-kind and tend to be about six inches tall. Still, there is something so unearthly about my new friend. Though she assures me she’s human, I’m sure there is more to her than even she realizes.
Red casts me a knowing look. I know exactly what she’s thinking. Snow lacks confidence, grounding, all the things Red was missing before she came here. We’ve found another Lost Girl.
Rap’s laptop shuts with an audible click. “Nice to finally meet you. I’m Rap. Goldie’s told me a lot about you. Why don’t we have a chat in my office and see if this is a good fit, eh?”
Cinder, Red, and I exchange glances. We already recognize one of our own. Snow isdefinitelya Lost Girl. She dutifully follows Rap to the back, where I’ve no doubt she’ll be hired on the spot.
