Page 11 of Road to Redemption

I stepped back inside, holding back a laugh as Spencer let the screen door slam in Dom’s face and guided me up the stairs. As unassuming as this place seemed from the outside, it was clear that a lot of care went into the interior.

The polished oak banister was smooth beneath my fingertips, not a smudge in sight. Upstairs was far less curated. Designed for guests that she never expected to have, two bedrooms next to each other with neutral decor. Even so, the furniture was well built, sturdy and beautiful in its simplicity.

Clearly she had a design budget, something a dead person could only arrange with the Oracle’s assistance. How important did she have to be to those birds in order to secure that arrangement?

But as well designed as the space was, it was still small. The first bedroom was to the right, immediately off the landing, with its twin squeezed in snugly beside it. On the left, two more little rooms managed to fit: a bathroom and a wash closet, if I had to guess.

“Which do you want?” Spencer asked. It was a simple question, but the stakes felt heightened by Dom’s footsteps pounding up the steps behind us like a countdown.

Peeking briefly between the two, I pointed to the one on the right, closer to the stairs. It was bright with an A-line roof and skylight, and if I had to guess, it was just a little bit bigger than the other.

“Shotgun!” Spence called down the stairs, throwing her bag down beside mine in the rightmost room.

To my relief, Dom didn’t contest the choice, barely even shoving past Spencer on her way to the opposite bedroom.

At least I won’t have to worry about her slitting my throat while I sleep. But poor Leo…

Leo trudged up the stairs just behind Dom, bringing up the rear. I didn’t envy having to bunk up with Dom — didn’t take her for much of a snuggler. But as Leo reached the top of the stairs, I was surprised when she dropped her bag beside mine.

“No way you guys are having a sleepover without me,” she scoffed.

“It’s a full.” I tilted my head, “There won’t be enough room.”

Spencer laughed, wrapping her toned arms around me from behind. “Then we’ll just have to get real close, Bunny.”

I rolled my eyes at the ridiculous proposition, trying to ignore the thrum of excitement Spencer’s rumbling chuckle sent through my chest. It would be a lie to say a cozy night with my two lovers wasn’t an enticing prospect. I could use some comfort in this strange new place.

But before I could respond, Leo lurched forward a step, shouldered from behind by Dom as she turned toward the stairs. “If you three insist on sleeping inside each other’s skin, that’s fine with me, but could you keep it to your room? Some of us are trying to use the hallway.”

“What the fuck?” Leo glowered, rolling her shoulder.

Spencer just laughed though. “Aw, what’s the matter Dom? Cranky we’d rather share a bed with Kiera than tuck you in tonight?”

Her lip curled as she paused on the steps. “Couldn’t be further from the truth. Keep your little plaything away from my room.”

Heat flushed my cheeks. “I don’t need to be ‘kept’ anywhere! You couldn’t pay me to step into that lair of yours!”

The words tumbled down the stairs behind her unacknowledged, leaving me seething on the landing. “Ugh, she’s such a dick! What is wrong with her?”

But as I wheeled around to seek comfort from my angels, I caught a glance of shared concern between them. It didn’t take a genius to guess what was written all over their faces: were Dom and I seriously still fighting like this?

It was a fair question, one I’d had myself. After uncovering our pasts and being… intimate, I’d have thought that the ice queen would have thawed just a little bit. But she was all sharp edges and cutting words, and beyond the icy walls she’d built around her heart, I wasn’t sure that there was anything soft still left.

I shifted on my heels, trying to come up with some excuse for our bickering. But before I could proffer some flimsy defense, I was saved by Viv’s voice drifting up the staircase. “Lunch is ready when you are!”

9

KIERA

Isolation had done wonders for Vivienne’s cooking skills. In a matter of an hour or so, she’d managed to throw together a beet and goat cheese salad with honey-orange vinaigrette, five bone-in ribeyes, and a side of rosemary potatoes.

It was strange to see Viv in this homemaker role. Though I was young when she’d “died,” I’d only ever known her as an energetic mother and a kickass lawyer. The country life suited her though. Despite the decade that had passed, she had never looked more lively or free.

Stranger though was watching her catch up with Dom. Dom’s prickliness had subsided since we’d first arrived, if only by a hair. But it was clear from her attentiveness to Viv and her willingness to share that she had desperately missed her mother’s company.

When asked how we all knew each other, Dom was surprisingly honest about Spencer coming to her from Atwood’s killer sorority and about finding Leo again in the depths of the Hollow’s fighting pits. But when it came to me?

“Spencer and Leo found Kiera out at a bar. Brought her home to protect her from her asshole boyfriend. Been struggling to keep her out of trouble ever since.”