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“Yeah.” I pinched my mouth. “I should’ve seen that coming.”
“Speaking of coming…” Sprig snickered, nodding at Katrina and me.
Kat’s foot kicked out, flinging him off the bed.
“Ahhh!” He flopped on the floor.
Laughing, my gaze met Kat’s with approved collaboration, and I went still. The intensity punched through my gut, leaving me breathless. The connection webbed thickly, wrapping me in a cocoon. She was everywhere, purring through me, rubbing herself over my soul.
“Hey,Bhean chait!Thought you were on my side.” Sprig’s yelp snapped me away from her. “Ohhh, speaking of sides. I’m so craving those potato poops.”
“Potato poops?” AB sat up in bed, brushing her hair out of her face. Her wound was healing, but the wear on her body fighting for its life was streaked across her face. “You mean potato puffs?”
“Puffs? Why are they called that when they are in the shape of deer poops? Not that I would know that. I mean, that was a very dark time for us sprites. We never, ever talk about those few hours we went through. It’s so painful to relive that day without honey. It was survival…” He sniffed, covering Pam’s ears. “See, now you’ve gotten her all upset. And when she’s upset, I want pancakes… ohhh drizzled in honey.” His eyes went big. “Ohhhhh, crepes and pancakes layered together in a sugar honey syrup.” A chirp of excitement came out of him. “With honey fried cakes dunked in sugar and honey.” He licked his lips, his legs bouncing with frantic energy. “And honey-baked fritters on top. Ooooooohhhhhh… caramel and molasses crème on a honey cheesecake.”
“Oh, boy.” Annabeth peered at me with a weak smile, both of us knowing what was coming.
“I demand all the honey in all the land!” He zoomed off her bed, leaving Pam behind. “For I am the Monkey God! Do my bidding, minions!” He zipped around the room. “Honeyhoney… sugar… honeyhoneyhoneyhoneyhoney!” He bounced off the table and rebounded on the bed, his cape fluttering behind him.
I grabbed a honey packet we got at the market from AB’s bag and opened it.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Hon-ey!” He ran in a circle as I tossed the package to AB, where she darted her hand fast enough to smear some honey over his mouth.
“SAINT HONEY TITS!” he bellowed, grabbing the packet and getting a few gulps down before he fell over, passing out. Silence ticked at the room, his legs still twitching with energy.
“Wow.” Kat shook her head. “You guys have that down.”
“Have to with him.” I scoffed. “Survival in the Daniels’ house, right?” I winked playfully at AB, her smile warming my heart.
How many times did that happen when I lived with them? Too many times to count. I remembered one time with Lexie, tossing the honey bear like a baby bottle back and forth to each other, getting him fed before he flipped out.
Thinking of Lexie still hurt, but this time I felt myself smiling at the recollection instead of the raw, guttural agony.
And I didn’t know how I felt about that. I didn’t want to feel so at ease with her memory. It felt like I was letting her go… forgetting her.
My gaze swung to the woman rising from the bed wearing only a tank and knickers. My chest clenched at the sight of her, filling with something I didn’t want to feel. As if I were going over a cliff kicking and screaming, but gravity was pulling me down whether I wanted to or not.
The demented part of me seemed eager for the fall. It made me want to resent Kat, to hate her, because remembering Lexie should ache every bone in my body. I needed to feel the punishment in every breath for letting her down.
For not loving her enough.
The palace reflected off the dark water; the glow of lights from the building glistened and blurred over the river like an impressionist painting. A breeze lapped off the Danube, skating over my face. I could feel the slight shift in the air, the drop of autumn on the horizon. These were the last months when living on the streets would be bearable.
The area where we were was silent and dark, the late hour keeping most tucked away somewhere safe. The construction of the wall down toward the old parliament building stopped only a few hours ago, workers waiting for morning light to finish the last parts. Guards milled around, making sure no one got in who shouldn’t be there.
They weren’t even trying to be subtle with this wall. Just like everywhere else in the Eastern Bloc, the middle class no longer existed. It was between the haves and have-nots.
Cooper paced behind me, his shoulders curled in defense. He wanted Annabeth to stay back in the room, safe, but he also didn’t want to leave her alone. Her determination to be part of this had won out, and Cooper now prowled the ground like a lion, circling her and sniffing out any danger that might show itself.
“Stop,” she whispered to him. “You’re making me crazy.”
“You always make me crazy,” he murmured in her ear, kissing her temple.
After watching her throw up twice today after eating, the pressure to get this nectar, to find a cure for her, was immeasurable. The weight I felt ramming down on my shoulders was bad enough. I couldn’t imagine what Cooper was experiencing.
Imagine it was Katrina dying right now? What would you do?A voice niggled at the back of my head. My reaction was instant. A growl hummed deep in my chest, and the need to drive my sword into the world and slice it into pieces until I found the answer swarmed violently through me.
Grunting, I moved farther toward the pier, my answer in every fiber of my being. There wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do.
