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“That’s beside the point, Juniper! Mine is for emergencies! Look at you! You almost got yourselfkilled! You almost gotWillowkilled!” I don’t know why hearing him say my name makes my heart beat harder. I mean, it’s already beating pretty hard, but his voice causes a different effect on me.
I glance back, and Juniper does look bad. Gashes are all over her face and her nose is bloody.
“Caz, you have to understand. It was never my intention to—”
“Oh, fuck off!” he barks. “Just sit back there and shut the hell up! For once in your life, just listen to me andshut up!”
The car becomes quiet, and I face forward again in the passenger seat. The tension has mounted, and it sticks like glue in the confines of his car. It’s a short ride back to Alora’s castle, but the silence is deafening.
When we pull up to the palace, Caz has them store their guns in a lockable compartment beneath his driver’s seat, where there are more guns hidden, and then he says, “I’ll do all the talking to Alora. You all go to your chambers and don’t come out until morning. Fucking hell. I swear.” He pushes out the car, slamming the door behind him and storming up the stairs.
“You never listen,” Killian grumbles, getting out the car. “I told you not to run. You’re lucky I don’t shoot you now, where you sit.”
When he’s gone, it’s just me and Juniper in the car. She sighs and tosses her head back, resting it on the seat. Silence ticks by, and then Juniper blows a breath.
“As terrifying as that was,” she says. “It was also pretty fantastic.”
I’m not even sure what to say or how to react. And I don’t know if it’s my shock from everything that’s happened—the glowing eyes of Hannie and Tomán, the floating, the guns and violence, people literally getting their heads blown off by guns—or if I’m losing it, but I laugh. I laugh so hard it hurts my stomach.
Here I am, facing death at every corner, in a world I never knew existed, and I’mlaughing. It’s all I can do.
“Hannie will be okay,” Juniper says after a while. “She always takes care of herself.”
“Yeah.” I wipe a tear from the corner of my eye. “I hope so. But is what just happened a normal thing around here? Won’t you all get in serious trouble for it? There were so many witnesses. So many men are dead, and you fled a crime scene. You killed like, ten people, Juniper, but Caz is treating it like a slap on the wrist.”
Juniper holds up a finger. “Actually, I only killed three of them. The rest were stunned beautifully. Besides, why wouldn’t I have killed that guy? He was a Rippie who threatened youandhit me—with very thick glass, might I add. I’m sure he’d have done much worse if he had a weapon on him, and in Blackwater, we leave no loose ends. It’s our motto. Do younotkill people who threaten you where you’re from?”
“Not exactly,” I murmur. “We just get the authorities to handle it.”
“Wow. People must get away with awful shit there then.” Juniper rubs my shoulder and I meet her eyes. “For what it’s worth, I wouldn’t have letanyonehurt you, Willow.”
I pat her hand with a smile. “I know.”
Twenty-Five
CAZ
I’ve spoken to Alora,and I’ve taken blame for our guns. It’s my fault for not checking my clan and securing the weapons beforehand, though I never would’ve let them go out without at least one. It’s my fault nine men are dead in Vanora, but to be fair, all but one of them are Rippies, so I’m not feeling too sympathetic about that.
Still, this has caused a bit of an uproar, and instead of resting, Alora has had to meet with her team to come up with a speech for the Vanorians about the violent acts from last night, which stemmed frommypeople. Everyone who attended the party was seen by a Vanorian Mythic and has had Juniper’s face erased from their memories, as well as mine, Killian, and even Willow’s. Many people saw us and if word gets out thatwekilled those Rippies, our feud will only get worse.
Alora will cover me, she always does, but I’ll owe her—especially now that she has her treaty with the Rippies—and she’ll make sure I don’t ever forget it. I know if it weren’t forme offering double the rubies in the next shipment, she’d have thrown me to the wolves.
When I leave Alora’s office, I walk down the staircase to one of the palace’s balconies, needing another smoke. I light my bloom as soon as I step foot outside, then walk along the marble balcony until I reach a dark corner. I pull from my bloom, my focus ahead, on the sea.
As I take another pull, I notice a shadow in my periphery and glance over my shoulder. Willow is seated on a bench behind the shadow of a pillar. She’s changed into a white night gown, much more suitable than what she was wearing to go out with Juniper.
Honestly, I’m not surprised therewastrouble tonight with how she and Juniper went out. They weren’t dressed the classy way. It was clear they were looking for a good time, which was an invitation to let anyone in. What she’s wearing now isn’t so subtle either, the gown sheer and her nipples slightly pebbled beneath, but at least she’s here, where I can keep an eye on her.
“I can hear you,” I mutter, facing forward again. I can’t look at her breasts again. I’m almost positive she saw me eyeing them earlier.
“I know you can.”
“No one’s being mean to Juniper.”
“You kind of are.” She stands and walks next to me. She’s showered. I smell the soap on her skin, oat and honey with a splash of vanilla. Without asking, she plucks my bloom from my fingers and brings it to her mouth, taking a pull from it. Then she says, “Hmm. My stuff is stronger. Yours tastes like reggie.” She keeps smoking it and I stare at her, confused by what she just said. “Never mind.” She waves it off.
I watch her a moment before pulling out another bloom for myself and sparking it.
