Westlyn shrugs again, and I swear that bare shoulder is going to be my complete undoing.
“Jude,” I say, rolling my eyes as I flip a few pancakes onto a serving plate, “went to Brooklyn to collect your things.”
“What? Without me?” She hops off the counter in a huff. “He can’t just go to my place and—”
“Andyoucan’t risk running into your parents.”
She crosses her arms over her chest and blows out a breath. “My father and Eloise are probably in hiding by now. If they’re even still alive.”
Drae told me what she asked him for last night. The terms of the deal. I know she wants them dead, and that’s her prerogative. But still. Can’t be easy on her.
It’s never an easy thing when you wake up one day and realize the people who were supposed to love and protect you are the ones you need protectingfrom.
She turns back to the counter and dumps the offending non-organic strawberries into a colander.
“Why did you try to run last night?” I ask softly, and I know she knows I’m not talking about the wedding. “If you and Jude are already… friends. What spooked you?”
“I don’t know. I just… I freaked out, okay?” She grabs a bottle of water from the fridge and pours it over the berries, giving the colander a good shake. “He locked me in the bedroom. I don’t do well with being locked in. Oh, and that was after he gave me this.” She sticks up her thumb, and I recognize the ring Jude was playing with at the ceremony. “I think he made it out of real human bone.”
“Affirmative,” I say. “That’s kind of his… art.”
“Well, his art is creepy, andhe’screepy, and I wasn’t exactly thinking straight last night, and I thought I’d have a better chance on my own. But—”
“But you’re still wearing the ring, and his clothes, and here you are, brightening our dark nights like the ray of sunshine we all so desperately need.”
This gets a little laugh, and suddenly I feel like a god.Look, lowly mortals, what I have created with my charm and wit! A smile where before there was only a scowl! A laugh where before there was only snark!
“I’m sorry about the window,” she says. “Oh, and the nightstand.”
“And the fireplace?”
She cringes. “Drae told you about that too, huh?”
“Don’t worry, witchling. I’m sure he’ll come up with a suitable repayment plan. Maybe he’ll—”
“Oh my goddess! Lucinda!” Abandoning the berries—and me and my godlike charm—she makes a mad dash for the glass door. Soon as she slides it open, two large ravens hop inside.
“Friends of yours?” I ask.
“The best. This is Lucinda and her brother, Huxley. They have another brother too—Jean-Pierre? But he’s got social anxiety, so he only comes out on special occasions. Actually, you met them all at the wedding.”
I nod, recalling the swarm of ravens that chased off the guests last night.
“Hmm. Lucinda and Huxley,” I say. “You can tell them apart?”
“You can’t?”
“Ah, nope.”
“Well, you knew they were ravens and not crows, at least. The first time we met Jude, he called Luce a crow and I’m still not sure she’s forgiven him.”
“And I’m still not sure Draegan wants wildlife in the house. In case you haven’t noticed, he’s touchy about—”
“Good thing he’s not here.” Westlyn taps the countertop and the birds hop on up. She grabs one of my pancakes and tears it into small chunks, feeding her friends.
At least now I know why Jude calls her scarecrow—not that these birds are afraid of her. If anything, they seem thrilled to be in her presence.
I laugh, shaking my head. “No wonder Jude’s got such a hard-on for you. You’re exactly his type—hot and crazy.”
