Page 113 of Fall into Place

“Even so.” Tess took Joni’s hands. “I was just trying to get through each day, each hour. I was doing the best I could. But I still hurt you, and I hate that I did that. And I’m really, really sorry.”

“Ugh, you stupid bitch, now I’m gonna cry.” Joni pulled Tess into a tight hug, and they both laughed, and they both cried, and it felt so unbelievably good to be back with the person who knew her best in the world, who loved her best in the world.

“What the fuck is going on here?”

They looked up to see Flora, who looked appalled and slightly freaked out by the emotional display unfolding before her.

“Sorry.” Tess laughed. “We just had some stuff to talk about.”

“I hate to break up what looks like a very fun party, but I have bad news.” Flora slid back into her side of the booth. “Fern told me it was super obvious to her and Konstantin exactly who helped Callum and Octavia escape, and now he wants to capture both of you and torture you until Callum and Octavia come back to save you. Ugh, she was so smug.”

“What about you?” Joni asked Flora. “Will Konstantin come after you too?”

“Oh, he definitely wants me dead, but if he kills me, it’s a whole thing with the witches’ council.” Flora waved her hand dismissively.

Joni turned to Tess. “Okay, I take back all the shit I’ve said about you running away from your problems. Sounds like a pretty good plan right now?”

“Where would we go?” Tess looked at Joni.

“Octavia said she’d wire us that money.” Joni was grasping at straws. “And, um, Flora could make us portals? If we were in danger?”

“So we spend the rest of our lives living off vampire money and running through witch portals until our luck runs out and Konstantin tortures us to death?”

“It doesn’t sound that great when you put it like that.”

Tess shook her head. “I’ve spent the last three years organizing my life around not seeing a man who terrifies me. I’m not doing it anymore.”

“Babe.” Joni put her hand on Tess’s. “With all due respect, what other choice do we have? We can’t fight an ancient, powerful vampire. We’re just regular people, not characters in Blood Feud.”

“Blood Feud,” Tess repeated, laughing a little. “Can you imagine what the fandom would think if they knew about this?”

“Stop, they’d lose their shit.” Joni laughed. “Hey, maybe that’s an option? We can just stay with all different Feudies until the end of time.”

“Hide out in basements decked out with vampire posters.” Tess snickered.

“Excuse you, I physically live in a basement already.” Joni was cracking up now, and Tess was too—god, it felt good to laugh.

“Maybe there is something…” Tess bit her lip, the seeds of an idea taking root. “There might be a way we could have a chance. But we’d need Feudies—a lot of them. Preferably in costume.”

“Uh…where?” Joni looked around. “Here?”

“No, we need a lot more space than that.” A light bulb went off in Tess’s mind. “The Georgia might work?”

“We could put out asks to the fandom?” Joni suggested. “Post on social?”

“Yeah, but how many people would that really get?” Tess sighed.

Flora sucked down some of her milkshake. “I can help with the Feudies.”

“How?” Tess asked. “With magic?”

“No.” Flora smiled. “Because I’m August Lirio.”

Chapter 29

Tess and Joni looked at each other for a long moment, and then looked back at Flora.

“I’m sorry.” Joni spoke slowly. “What the fuck did you just say?”