Page 2 of Bloodween

“Not really,” she said, immediately grabbing my cup from me with her free hand. The other had her wolf mask dangling from it. She took a sip and balled up her face. “That taste like weak Sprite.”

“Because it’s club soda.”

“Oh my God,” she sighed, placing it down and grabbing a cup next to the bottles of hard liquor. She reached for a brown and poured herself a hefty shot. “I need to talk, but somewhere quieter. Okay?”

I nodded and let her lead the way, watching as she downed the shot and tossed the cup in the trash before we left the kitchen. We headed towards the stairs only for our pathway to be blocked by her man. Dorian, or Dro as everyone called him, was dressed in a similar wolf costume.

“We need to talk,” he said to her. His voice raspy and deep.

She looked at him, then back at me and said, “Come on Armi. It smells like trash over here.”

“Ren. Quit it. I told you it was nothing.” He wrapped his hand around her elbow. Her nostrils flared and I swear I saw her growl before her eyes flickered to me and she frowned.

She definitely growled. But as the good witch I am… I saw nothing.

Heard nothing either. Just two humans having a totally normal human argument.

He leaned down, whispered something in her ear and she didn’t hesitate to push him away before grabbing my hand and dragging us both away.

“He makes me so damn mad,” she seethed as we climbed the stairs. “But… is he watching me?” she inquired.

I glanced back to see that he most definitely was.

“Yup.”

“Good.”

We entered into an empty bathroom and the door wasn’t even closed before I asked, “What’s going on?”

She bit her lip, then blurted out, “I need a huge favor and it’s gonna sound completely insane.”

“Okay...”

“Can you switch costumes with me and pretend to be me for like thirty minutes?”

I blinked. That wasn’t what I’d expected. “What?”

“I know, I know.” She was talking fast now, the way she did when she was nervous. “Don’t judge me. But Dro’s apartment is down the street, and this is the only chance I’m going to get to go through his stuff. I—I need to know what the fuck he’s on. I’m almost sure he’s cheating on me, Armi. And I know whatever I need to know is on his iPad.”

“Ren,” I sighed.

“I know what you’re going to say. It’s childish and I’m too old to be doing shit like this but, I need proof. That way when I beat his ass, it’s justified, you know?”

Actually I didn’t know because I wasn’t dickmatized like my friend. Or in love. Or whatever the heck she was feeling to want to go snooping through his stuff.

“As you saw, I’m giving him the silent treatment. He’s not gonna try to talk to me for at least another thirty minutes after what just happened. Trust me.”

This was the type of foolery that made it hard to be someone’s best friend. I didn’t have time for this. We didn’t have time for this.

“Please.” She fake pouted. “Ever since he um—graduated from dental school—things have been off. And I swear I smelled—” she cut her self off and sighed loudly, pushing her braids out of her face. “I sound crazy, don’t I?”

No, you sound like a werewolf picking up another woman’s scent on your boyfriend. But what do I know? Not that you’re a werewolf that’s for sure.

“A little but⁠—”

She placed a hand on my arm and the elixir seemed to jump at her touch. “I really need to do this Armi.”

I sucked in air, giving in. “Fine.” Thirty minutes wouldn’t ruin my plans. “But you promised me we’d do the midnight haunted house crawl tonight,” I said, making sure she remembered she was supposed to be leaving the party with me tonight.