“It’s not pride,” he insisted. “The Twelve targetedme. This ismyresponsibility. I’m just trying to keep everyone safe.”
Calamity sighed. “Okay, yeah, they targeted you. But it was just a letter. A taunt, directed at all of us. This isn’t just ayouproblem, Yorick. It’s anusproblem. And thatusincludes Eden now.”
“Are we sure that’s wise?” Yorick mumbled. Calamity looked back at him sadly.
“How’s that for unexpected consequences?” she asked, then followed after the others, leaving Yorick alone in a crowded room.
Chapter24
Amy
Being Phil’s girlfriend came unbelievably naturally to me. And not just the touching, or the time together, but even just how normal it felt to combine those things with the dynamic we already had. We were pretty much back to our usual levels of antagonism in front of the others, since we weren’t trying to put on a performance of being together. Except now, the heat simmering beneath the surface when we argued was clear. It wasn’t rivalry or annoyance like I’d thought. It was raw attraction, and we had it in spades.
We actually got kicked out of Chloe’s birthday party at an escape room when we found a secret room but, instead of solving the clues inside, used it as an excuse to snog the shit out of one another. And sure, it got a bit hot and heavy, but the others were too busy trying to fit some Tetris-esque block into a tabletop. And given that Phil had me propped up on the tabletop they actually needed to try, we knew they’d be a while. The camera operator, unfortunately, was less impressed, and we were asked to leave. Chloe didn’t mind though, egging us on, firmly on-side after we gifted her a mead-making day course at a local meadery.
After one D&D session, Jack banished me to the kitchen to help Fatima and Grey with the washing up, feigning disgust over Phil and my PDA. Though I knew he secretly loved seeing Phil happy. And he did seem happy, didn’t he?
But as I crossed the hallway towards the kitchen, I froze when I heard Grey say my name.
“Amy does complicate things, doesn’t she.”
“I mean, it’s not a big deal,” Fatima responded. “We just won’t do the camper van road trip.”
“But it’s perfect. I knew you should have mentioned it before.”
“There’s too much in the diary already, and February’s still so far out. I was waiting until after the ball.”
I knew Fatima had been pushing for another US Renaissance Faire trip, but not as soon as February. And as far as she and Grey knew, Phil and I had been together for months now. I tried not to be annoyed that she hadn’t factored me in.
“Well, what do you wanna do?”
Fatima groaned. “I did really want that one RV. It was so cool.”
“Then we can get two, and I’ll drive, too,” Grey said matter-of-factly. “Or maybe someone won’t be free.”
“But I want everyone together. I’ve already got characters planned for a Western-themed session.”
“Including Amy?”
“Well, no, not yet…”
I heard someone else push back from the table in the dining room, so I knew I couldn’t lurk in the hallway anymore. But I didn’t want to walk into that conversation, so I ducked into the downstairs toilet and pulled the door shut behind me.
I pulled out my phone and opened WhatsApp; I’d muted Niamh’s hen do chat when I’d been added to it, but I’d been checking it obsessively all day knowing they’d arrived at the spa in Scotland at around lunchtime. And as I scrolled, I was surprised to see that I’d actually been tagged in a couple of messages.
SOPHIE
@Amy Evans, remember this??
That one was followed by a picture of Sophie, Maya, and Niamh, the latter with a veil headband on her head, holding up pink and blue frozen cocktails. I laughed to myself– they were a weird grenadine and curaçao concoction we’d created when already drunk one night, and they’d become our signature cocktail when we wanted to annoy bartenders. I replied to the message:
AMY
What did the poor sod do to make you so angry?
The second message I was tagged in was a group photo of all of them in what looked like a circus tent, or at least a room draped with curtains on every surface. Behind the seven women was a table, where a fortune teller was sat with a crystal ball.
NIAMH
