Isis’s mouth dropped as the letters continued to fade in and out with each sentence.
Namir is going to name Maggie as his mate when he becomes Alpha this week.
Of course he is. I knew it was going to happen. It only made sense.
I think something bad is going to happen at the games this weekend.
When she looked at us with that worried stare, she leaned back down to write her last sentence.
I will keep an eye out on y'all from a distance, but my priority is the sirens until Solo gets back. Love you all but Clemothy.
I grinned as the final word disappeared into the paper. I immediately wrapped my arms around Asha for a tight hug. She was hesitant at first but eventually wrapped her arms around me and just held it. Neither of us said anything and Isis didn’t interfere. This is my problematic baby sister and the personality I have the hardest time identifying the most with, but truth be told, Asha was more like the woman I suppressed within me. We were more alike than I wanted to admit but this hug somewhat eased something in myself. When I pulled back, we simply stared at each other, and she nodded.
All is forgiven.
Clementine suddenly waved the paper in front of us before leaning down to write something down. The glitter trick didn’t work on her and I suspect it's because there were no ties to water in her blood because we could see every word she wrote before she smeared it with the glitter. Now none of us could read it and it didn’t transfer over to the other half of the note. So she simply mouthed,
Be ready and be careful this weekend.
The way we dispersed should have been studied. It was as if none of us suddenly knew one another. Isis had to go to a lab meeting later this evening. Asha was leading a crowd of sirens back to their hub which was simply the salon on the Grounds so they could gossip and get ready for tomorrow. Clementine was on the hunt to gather information and I…I decided to sit by the tree where the little girls used to run around. Where Hillary in the painting would sit and wait, and just imagined she was here beside me. Everything always came back to this oak tree.
“Where is ol boy at?”
I smiled at the familiar voice before watching Quan’s shifty furry body plopped down beside my thigh. I could see the paint stains and food stuck in his fur along with a knitted collar around his neck that I knew he found annoying. He’s certainly been occupied.
“Harvey is minding his business. What about you?”
“You like him? How can you even trust him?”
My phone buzzed as I reached into my bag to glance at the screen. Speaking of Harvey… I opened the message to see anemoji of a witch’s hat and the word meeting next to it. Then the attachment of a picture was sent out. Southern Five Council meeting in the Underground that started about an hour ago. A private invite only meeting. His brother must have been able to get them a seat. Harvey liked information. He liked knowing things and figuring stuff out. I should have known he was already five steps ahead of whatever we thought we had going on.
“Harvey is cool,” I concluded. Sending a pair of eyes in response to his message, I sent a clock emoji to signify I was waiting for his return.
“Did Asha tell you?”
I looked back at Quan for a moment.
“She did.”
“The irony in you being the closest to Maggie yet Asha being the key to everything and the only one to make contact with her,” he huffed. “Imagine that shit.”
“Exactly the way it should have happened,” I smiled proudly. Asha relies on Maggie a lot more than the rest of us in the group. That type of connection can’t be beat, and I recognize that now.
“You think Isis…” Quan started but stopped himself as he began licking at his paw. “Those stupid broads stuffed me in the trashcan earlier.”
“Were you terrorizing the womenfolk on the Grounds again?” I teased while picking at his fur.
“I wasn’t terrorizing shit,” he spat.
“Do I think Isis, what?”
“Never mind.”
“Her and Solo?” I asked. When he didn’t say anything, I decided to tread lightly. Quan didn’t like Isis, but he liked to have claim over her. He was the type that didn’t want to see her with anyone else but once she was alone, he wanted nothingto do with her. Classic two balls behavior. I wanted to protect whatever she and Solo have due to the nature of them being together. It’s already considered dangerous, but I also wanted to respect Isis and her ability to move freely. “I think Isis is just being Isis…”
“A pass around…”
“And you got passed,” I said. His whiskers twitched but he said nothing in response. What could you say? Watching him go back to licking his paw, I could see the irritation resting on his furry face. A group of female nymphs walked by in their uniforms laughing and talking as his face became a seething scowl at the sight of them.
