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“More like me watching over your careless asses.”
“Well, you just ruined my good mood.”
“Don’t worry. I will get you back in the mood, and we will drink all our worries away.”
True to her word, Pearl ordered more drinks, and the hours passed with them eventually giving up on magically removing the alcohol from their system. They gave in to getting buzzed, danced as if their feet were on fire, and walked home together with arms intertwined and Pearl singing off-tune and loudly.
“Pearl, you are going to break my ears.”
“I have a great voice,” Pearl protested, hiccupping. “Why don’t you show off yours?”
Ruby drew a deep breath. Instead of complaining, she sang, too, until their voices melded and created the messiest-sounding rhythm. They broke down into brayed laughter after, pushed each other, and linked arms again.
Halfway through their walk, a fuzzy figure grew clearer, fast approaching them. They stopped as the figure did also, and she recognized the scowl. Pearl did, too, but was more willing to get past it.
“Lovely evening, Mr. Newton. I swear I saw you at the bar earlier. Are you out for a stroll, too?”
“You are a disgrace to society.”
The words were spat out, menace clear. Pearl was unfazed, shrugging.
“Which one of us is? Quick, tell us who has the worst singing voice. I promise I won’t get offended.”
“Your sister is a careless flake who values nothing but herself and that monster she brought here. She is nothing but selfish.”
Anger sparked in Ruby’s body, but again, Pearl answered before she could.
“Now, now, Mr. Newton, you are lucky I am drunk and in the best of moods. Otherwise, this won’t fly with me.”
“Your eldest is a coward who hides in her house and leaves you guys to continue being irresponsible. Your other sister is a righteous bitch, andyou…you are a slut who pollutes society with your open legs and your dirty—”
A cry broke out, but the snap of her anger was all she heard before Pearl’s cry came into focus. Ruby was jarred back to reality, where her vision was filled with a dark cloud—and Ollie Newton was lying spread-eagled on the ground. Astonishment hit her hard.
“Is he alive?”
Pearl knelt over the man, fingers moving while not touching. The brunette exhaled in relief. “Yeah.”
“I'm sorry. I lost my temper.”
“You shouldn't have done that. You know we are supposed to conserve our magic, and you just released a big chunk of yours.”
“Ollie has been harassing Maddox endlessly, and no one's doing anything about it. He is the bad guy.”
“I know. But this doesn’t make it any better—”
“I already said I was sorry. What else do you want from me?”
The snap in her tone had Pearl closing her mouth. Horror bloomed across Ruby’s chest and she turned around, trying to get a grip on herself.
“We can fix this,” Pearl said quietly.
“Do you mean report it?”
“That we can’t do. But we can fix his injuries—if he has any—and…make him forget about this night.”
Ruby counted in her head until the temper had dissipated and she could face the two again. She watched Pearl already getting to work and wordlessly stepped in to help. The energy snapped and sizzled inside her, recognizing the man’s maliciousness and wanting to take its revenge. She actively fought it until the last burn on Ollie’s body was gone and Pearl was pouring some potion over his lips.
“What’s that?” she asked.
