He flipped her off but kept churning through the mental possibilities. Because... if he and Mollyweregoing to have a totally unnecessary define-the-relationship talk? Tonight would be the time. Middle-aged prom—as Molly called it—would be the place.
For the first time in two decades, they’d be back at Harlot’s Bay High, where everything started for them. And if he laid all his cards on the table?
Might be where everything ended for them too.
Or... where their future began.
“Fuck my fucking life,” he grunted, and stomped toward the limo.
25
One step inside the crowded school gym, Karl halted abruptly. “What the hell?”
For the first time since Molly came down the stairs in that shit-hot suit, he wasn’t devoting at least half his attention to her bared cleavage. Or wallowing in the gut-deep satisfaction he got every time he spotted the bizarro corsage he’d slipped on her wrist, with its crystal-studded starfish and what appeared to be tiny metallic and aqua-lacquered Pepperidge Farm Goldfish crackers nestled among the ivory mini roses. Or glancing down at his matching boutonniere and wondering how to keep his family from ever seeing him wear that thing, because he’d never hear the end of it.
Latoria was talented, but also a goddamn menace.
Much like whoever had decorated this gym, becauseJesus H. Christ.
Athena’s sharp elbow moved him aside and out of the gym doorway, and the other three members of the party joined him inside the room. Then drifted to a stop almost immediately, as soon as they caught sight of the weird-ass shit awaiting them all.
“This is...” Matthew trailed off, agape, then tried again. “I don’t...”
“Oh, wow.” Eyes shining, lips parted, Athena turned in a slow circle and surveyed the dimly lit space. “This isincredible.”
“Yeeees,” her husband said slowly. “In the sense that it’s very difficult to believe someone did this.”
If Karl wasn’t mistaken, a song from theTitanicsoundtrack was playing over the loudspeakers. Which would normally be romantic, but in this room? Beyond fucking macabre.
“Hey, everyone.” Lise suddenly appeared at Molly’s side, wearing a dark-green dress that could’ve come from a Ren Faire. “You’re finally here!”
“Unfortunately,” Matthew muttered.
Lise waved a hand at their surroundings. “Janel tells me Victor Diab and the other science nerds on the reunion committee took charge of themed decorations. Which may help to explain what you’re seeing.”
“I’m not sure a sufficient explanation exists for the choices made here tonight, Lise. But thank you for trying.” Molly’s tone was so dry, it would’ve killed most of the creatures inhabiting the gym, back when they were alive.
They weren’t alive anymore, as far as Karl could tell, but...
Holy shit, please let them not be alive.
Diab—a marine biology professor at Ladywright College—and his pals had clearly taken the “Under the Sea” theme andrunwith it.
Actually, no. Screw that. The wordrunwas inadequate as hell.
Armed with their favorite theme, those overenthusiastic nerds hadsprintedtoward the horizon like marathoners on fucking speed, directly into an aquatic nightmare of horror-movie proportions, then sprinted some more.
Shifting blue lights illuminated the large room. Instead of streamers, brownish-green kelp dangled along the walls, arranged in wide swoops. Hanging from the ceiling? Not a mirror ball. Not balloons. Horrifying blobby fish, who looked like the mutated offspring of a terrible nuclear accident. Pissed-off, powerfully builtorcas ramming model yachts. Clawed, beady-eyed crustaceans. Sea snakes with beaky noses and fangs that glistened whenever spotlights passed their way. Other creatures with spiny protrusions and huge, sightless eyes—or no eyes at all—and way,waytoo many goddamn teeth.
Crooked teeth. Needle-sharp.
“Holy shit,” Karl muttered. “Thought there’d be coral and frilly-ass fish, not the open-water equivalents of Charles fucking Manson.”
“When she sat down to design deep-sea creatures, Mother Nature was clearly going through some stuff.” Molly squeezed his arm, sounding amused. “Or so it seems.”
Lise followed their gaze. “They’re completely accurate reproductions of the committee’s chosen species, according to Janel.”
Reproductions? Meantnever alive. Thank fuck.
