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I have to get back to Hayley. She’s waiting.
Misery coated her spine, refusing to let go. She drank and drank, following Riva’s lead as the woman basked in her emotions before slamming a glass down. When Riva stood up, she was no longer steady on her feet.
“We had sex on the plane,” Riva confessed. “In the restroom. While the plane was in the sky. And now he’s looking for another woman to fuck.”
“To get blood from,” Sona corrected. “There’s a difference. Besides, maybe it’s a man. Or an animal.”
“He refuses to take my blood. Even if I’m half-human. Even if he keeps saying I smell so good. Maybe because he doesn’t think I’m worth it.”
“Or maybe because he doesn’t want to hurt you,” Sona muttered, but they could see it was too late.
Emboldened, body buzzing, Daria slammed her glass down, too. “Charlie jerked off in the shower and let me watch. Now he’s with his sort of ex, probably getting back together and reenacting all the things he missed when he woke up hard every morning in the tent or when he described what he imagined in the shower.”
There was stunned silence. When no one commented, she turned to Sona.
“Sorry. That was information overload.”
“Definitely information overload,” Riva agreed.
“And I was just imagining what he was imagining in the shower.”
Daria glowered at the scaled woman, who shrugged. The adrenaline didn’t last long, leaving Daria’s body in a wake of the same misery.
“I’m stupid,” she mumbled. “For thinking there could be more. For letting myself get swept at the moment. Anyone would have gotten intimate in close quarters like that.”
“I’m also stupid,” Riva said. “For caring where he gets his blood source. I don’t know him. I don’t care about him. I don’t care.”
But it was clear that she did, and the fresh wave of gloom had an impatient sound slipping off Sona’s throat.
“I love Alexa,” Malifeskos repeated, openly listening.
“Oh, for the love of—stop it, all of you,” Sona snapped, done with it. She snatched all the glasses, refilled them, and offered them around. Then she took a bottle and drank straight from it. “Mal, you are not in love with Alexa. You barely know her, and she is mated—meaning she is not available, and you are just putting yourself in the line of heartbreak. So, stop that shit. And you, Riva, for the love of heavens, make up your mind.”
“Make up my what?”
“You are more confusing than the hardest riddles: hating Diego one day, longing for him the next, convincing everyone it’s just a casual fuck, then getting so riled up when he thinks the same. You pushed him away. Don’t be surprised when it works.”
Riva’s mouth dropped open, then closed. But Sona wasn’t done, spinning to face Daria last.
“Andyou.”
“Me.”
Dark eyes narrowed. Then Sona sighed. “I have nothing to say except heisan idiot. But you shouldn’t let your feelings dictate you. Either go out and have some fun with someone else or let him know how it is. If you are best friends, don’t let something like this ruin that. I don’t have a best friend. I don’t have anyone. You are the lucky one, so don’t piss it off just like that.”
“We are your friends,” Daria declared.
“Not best friends, but still friends,” Riva piped in, taking Sona’s hand and firmly squeezing it. “It’s insulting that you think you are alone. You aren’t anymore.”
Something flickered in Sona’s gaze, and the woman’s hand trembled. A small smile played, swelling in Daria’s heart, but it was soon gone as Sona nodded resolutely.
“All right, ladies…and Mal. Enough bullshit. How about we finish this second bottle and trash-talk all the evil corporations and supernatural creatures in the world?”
They finished the second bottle and went for a third, talking about everything and nothing before conversations drifted off into cheers, some singing, and Malifeskos speaking more than one word.
“You are lovely.”
“So are you, Mal sweetie,” Riva said, squeezing his arm—then, holding on to him when she stumbled. “Jesus. Why are we drunk? Alcohol doesn’t get us.”
