Dark Promise by Annika West
58
Somehow, someway, we all managed to cram into the King home without spilling blood.
Decorations hung from every corner, and lights twinkled everywhere. A huge pine tree sat in the center of the living room, swaying as if caught in a soft breeze. Mistletoe floated through the house in ribbon-tied bows, spelled to hang precariously over mismatched couples.
Yes, I’ve already tried to kiss Willow.
No, I did not succeed.
Oz already tried to kiss me, but Hux punched him.
As the guests chatted and we prepared to sit down for the holiday dinner, Dad’s cooking filling the air, my mouth watered as the reanimated corpse before me swayed in place.
Gladys had been instructed to skip, dance, and generally frolic while singing Christmas carols. Mom has been trying to teach her acrobatics, but so far, she’d only succeeded in dislocating her dried-out joints.
Mom promised Gladys would be ready for cartwheels by next Halloween. Something to really scare the kids with, in my opinion.
I re-fixed the corpse’s wreath hat while she hummed Jingle Bells, totally off-tune.
“Gladys, you can’t headbang to holiday music. It’s not very festive, and your hat will keep flying off.”
“Ssssaysss… the bitch in plaid,” she dismissed.
I gasped in complete outrage. “Plaid is classic, you tasteless whore!”
“Hey.”
My hackles rose. “Don’t make me bomb your face. I’ll do it.”
“Yeah. I’m sure.”
What did one do when Marni Humphries approached oneself? Homicide was out of the question. It was the holidays, after all, and I didn’t want to ruin Mom’s night.
August had begged me to let Marni and Bee come to Christmas with them. Me being the soft bitch in plaid, I agreed.
But I still wasn’t happy about it.
“Spit it the fuck out, Marni.” I yanked the wreath hard, wedging it tightly over Gladys’s skull.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Marni straighten.
“I’m… sorry.”
I don’t look for apologies, asshole, were the words that almost came out of my mouth.
Instead, I took a deep breath. The last clip went into Gladys’s straw-like hair, and I sent her off to continue dancing.
Rounding on my enemy with crossed arms, I said, “You’re pretending to be sorry because I’m immortal.”
She gave me a bland stare. The one that freezes the best of any ice queen. “That doesn’t matter.”
“Really? It seemed to matter all throughout school. You didn’t even mind when the Cuts died on campus, did you? Immortality is all you care about. Everyone else is below you.”
You’re showing your weakness, Aster, I warned myself. But I had to practice outwardly caring about shit.
That’s what immortal fae Cuts did, after all. Had to keep up our reputation.
Marni winced but faced me with determination.
“I was wrong. I was wrong about a lot of things. About hurting you and the other Cuts. Thinking I was above them. I was a shit person and a small-town terrorist. I don’t need you to forgive me. I don’t want to be friends since you’re clearly still a salty bitch. But I want you to know that I understand I was wrong. I know what I did wrong, and I’m never going to act like that for as long as I live. Or, you’re welcome to bomb up my face.”
I considered, nodding thoughtfully. “You know what, Marni Humphries?”
Despite her hard expression, a glint of fear trembled in her eyes.
Gladys’s off-tune song rang through the house as the smell of home and delicious food mixed with the warmth.
But not in our little bubble of grudges.
I let the tension hang in the air as we faced off, two lifelong enemies. Finally, when it seemed like Marni was squirming in place, I leaned forward, finger extended like a threat.
“That is an apology I can accept.”
Relief flooded her, and she let out a heavy breath.
I hadn’t realized it, but since rescuing Marni from Gavin Hawk, I hadn’t really thought about her much. Not as much as I had before.
Before, she’d been a sort of ever-present specter in my head, haunting me with her shitty attitude and pseudo-genocidal comments.
Had her being kidnapped and abused for a year sated my need for revenge?
I wasn’t sure that was precisely it.
It’s something much more cringey. Unfortunately, I think it’s because I’ve grown.
Cue the collective shudder.
Turned out, Aster King II had the capacity to heal and learn. That meant I also appreciated when other people healed and learned.
Funny how that worked.
It wouldn’t have mattered to me if Marni tossed out a ‘sorry’ and went on her merry way. But she knew exactly what she was atoning for.
A true apology came with changed behavior.
Sure, a psycho immortal scientist had sort of made it impossible for her not to change, but she still got credit.
Unease pulled her frown further. “Why are you… why are you smiling like that?”
From somewhere behind us, Willow sighed in disappointment.
I launched myself.
The vampire tried to dodge my attack. Maybe if I wasn’t immortal, she could have.
Her back hit the floor as I tackled her, squeezing her will all of my newly found strength.
“What the fuck!” she screamed.
This could take the cake of the most impressive hug I’ve ever accomplished.
Perfect execution.
No casualties.
Minimal injuries. For now, at least.
Not even a chair tipped over.
In the struggle, she seemed to realize I was giving her affection.
I screeched, “What? You don’t like apologies?”
Marni paused, her chest heaving beneath me.
Then, a slow, dark chuckle rose from her.
For the very first time, I was uneasy. I tried pushing up, but to my horror, Marni held me in place.
“You wanna play, Aster?” she goaded. “You want to be besties?”
Panic filled me as I tried to extricate myself.
Oh no. I got too carried away. I should have known not to push her this far.
My instincts were pulled uncomfortably tight at the tone of her words. I’d been trained to recognize when she was ready to act.
“Oh, Aster, Aster,” she teased. “Don’t go running away. And here I thought we were just getting to know each other.”
I shifted into the energetic realm and returned to physical form three feet away.
Marni was already on me, her eyes dancing with dark humor. “Don’t run away bestie. Should we get drunk and prank call our crushes? Or maybe we can watch horror movies and eat candy. Why do you look so scared bestie? After such an aggressive hug, I figured you’d be the one to hold my hair after clubbing…”
Marni stalked me through the house, making incredible threats of friendly intimacy, while I ran in a panic.
Oddly enough, no one came to my aid.
This, to my dismay, was funny for my family and friends.
After Marni soundly tortured me for nearly fifteen minutes, threatening to make friendship bracelets and share clothes, she settled down.
She’d changed in her time in captivity.
But she was still ruthless.
Just as we were about to settled down for dinner, the doorbell rang.
Mom’s eyes flare with fury. “If that’s Mr. Bougard, I will stick an entire turkey up his asshole.”
“Wrong holiday, Mom,” I sighed.
Marigold rose – because of course Marigold was here, too – her sleigh bell necklace jingling. “I’ll get it, dear. You sit down and enjoy.”
She came back a minute later with an official, first-class mailer package addressed to me.
Mom glared at me while I took my sweet time opening it.
Inside was a single, puny note.
Summons: Aster King II.
Sender: The Los Angeles Council
Dear Miss,
It’s come to our attention that you are once again a free citizen. You are hereby summoned by the Los Angeles Council to be interviewed, investigated, and registered within our files pertaining to important international matters…
Blah blah blah…
All of the Council members’ names were printed at the bottom, but Jericho had signed it.
Hux read the note, a growl in his chest.
I patted his silly dragon head. “Don’t worry. It’s nice they sent me something to wipe my ass with. Sometimes, toilet paper just doesn’t cut it.”
Marigold’s eyes twinkled. “I’m surprised they even tried summoning you with that baloney. They already know you’ve registered citizenship with the fae. I must say, it’s an ingenious move! The perfect tactic to confuse the boundaries of the Council’s hold over your rights. I’m sure they’ll try to litigate you into their clutches, but with Adair hanging over their heads, they’ll certainly back down. Don’t want to upset the newly-forming Faery/Earth relationship.”
“I am not sure why you feel I am a problem,” Adair chimed in, popping a slice of chicken into his mouth to Mom’s utter horror. “I find I am quite agreeable to speak with.”
Mom smacked his hand. The rest of the chicken strip flew across the room and landed in the Christmas tree. “You can’t just eat before everyone else, you moron.”
Hux squeezed my hand as the yelling began, a wistful, warm smile on his devil’s face. “This is nice.”
I snickered and scooted closer to him, enjoying his warmth.
As Willow and August muttered to one another and Oz took the opportunity to shovel food into his mouth while everyone was distracted, Bee and Marni clinked wine glasses and drank.
Gladys whirled around the table, emboldened by the fighting, and increased her pitch by several sharp degrees.
Hux was full-on shaking with laughter, now, and I was having trouble keeping it together.
Here we were, two pricklier-than average people, sitting with family, friends, and old enemies who somehow grew to like us.
I did the only thing that made sense in this crazy, messed-up, awesome crew. I picked up a bread roll and chucked it at Adair’s face.
Being alone is so overrated.
And honestly, I couldn’t wait to see what new adventure came at us, next.
* * *
Thank you for reading Dark Promise, part 3 of Aster’s story! If you loved it as much as Aster loves discount candles, would you consider leaving a review?
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