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I frown in confusion as Serafina Frost comes waltzing in through the front doors. If it were possible to throw open the double doors with a gust of wind to make a grand entrance, I’m sure she would have. Our front door is heavy as hell, though, and it takes some muscle to get just one of them open.
“What are you doing here, Serafina?” Octavia doesn’t bother keeping the unhappy look off her face. I’m so glad she asked, because seriously, what is she doing here?
“Oh, I know you’re always looking for volunteers, and I wanted to donate my time to this committee and island. I want to give back, contribute, to participate because it’s my civil duty.”
“This is a party committee, not jury duty,” Octavia grumbles under her breath.
Serafina throws back her head of flowing platinum blonde hair and laughs too loudly. She’s slightly older than me, somewhere in her early thirties, I think. It’s hard to tell. She’s beautiful, but there’s a coldness to her that is off-putting. Her eyes are a clear blue, but when she looks at you, there’s a blankness that stares back. As if she doesn’t understand human emotions enough to be able to fake it.
She’s also very likely a sociopath. Not surprising since she’s Anthony’s... friend, girlfriend? No one really knows. She lives with him, but I’ve never actually seen the two of them out together. Miri mentioned that Serafina had dinner with them the night she went over to Anthony’s house, but who knows?
“Oh, you’re such a gem.” Serafina winks at Octavia. We all watch without offering to help as she grabs a chair from the other side of the table and tugs it around next to Archer. She practically sits it on top of him. Irritation flares at the ridiculous move. I tamp it down when Archer scoots his chair away the little he can without crashing into me. He slowly turns his head toward me and mouths what the fuck?
“Well, let’s get started.” Serafina claps her hands together, and I suck in a deep breath. I wouldn’t consider myself overly territorial, but these meetings, this committee, well, they’re mine, and I don’t like her trotting in here and thinking she can run the show.
“Yes, let's. First order of business—”
“Actually, I have a suggestion for what we should talk about first.”
I grit my teeth together as she cuts me off.
“You don’t mind, right?” Serafina leans around Archer to look at me, her hand landing on Archer’s thigh as if she needs to balance herself.
My vision flickers to red for a few blinks as I try to get control over the rage that’s working its way through me. I will not body slam her. Nor will I throw the bowl of M&Ms in her face. That would be a total waste.
Archer plucks her hand off his thigh and tosses it away. Much to Serafina’s displeasure, if her pout is anything to go by. Archer’s face is devoid of all emotion, and the coldness makes me want to shiver. It’s so antithetical to his normal sunny demeanor.
“Anyway, I doubt anything can top last weekend’s murder.” She laughs, actually laughs, as if that was so much fun. “But I think we should hold a massive Beltane ritual. Summon a god for a blessing, call on the Fae.” She titters as if the idea is preposterous, but she knows better. She lives with Anthony, for Christ’s sake. There’s no way she doesn’t know the lore of this island, even if by some miracle, she doesn’t know what Anthony is.
“I think for today, let’s just confirm the list of vendors that will be participating. We can divvy it up and each confirm if they still want to be involved.”
“That’s boring. I have a book that describes a ritual where everyone gets naked and dances around a bonfire while burning effigies of the Queen of Fairies.”
Ben clears his throat while the rest of the table stares at Serafina with various levels of surprise.
Octavia leans back in her seat. “As much as I can get on board with the occasional nudie dip in the ocean, I highly doubt the whole town wants to flash all their bits and pieces to their neighbors.”
Archer snorts, and Serafina leans in against his side. “You wouldn’t mind that, would you, Archie?”
Archer’s jaw ticks. Oh God. I won’t have to kill her. Archer will do it for me.
“Lena, let’s get that list, shall we? I have another appointment I need to get to,” he barks out, but I know his irritation isn’t directed at me.
“I’ll email everyone. Let’s work on confirming before we meet next.” I stand up, signaling our meeting is over. I know Archer doesn’t have an appointment after this because our meetings usually last a few hours. After twenty minutes of business, the group always falls into gossip and swapping stories that have everyone laughing.
Serafina has totally fucked up our vibe.
