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Kallista couldn’t help but laugh. That would have stuck in their craw, to know how they’d been forgotten. “Oh, horrible things, really. Distant ancestors of yours, I’m sorry to tell you. Though, you have them to thank for this.” She waved a hand at the city around them. “Electricity. Internet. They loved to make new things, loved trying to bend the world and its rules to their own desires, even when it fought them every inch of the way.”
“What happened to them?”
“Gone. Dead, most of them. Others changed. Adapted. Some developed magic,” Kallista smiled at Fey. “Some learned to change their shapes. But most of them died and were replaced. And now they’re relics of a forgotten age.”
Shifting the parasol against her shoulder, Kallista turned to leave.
“Take care of yourself, Fey,” she called over her shoulder. “I hope, for your sake, that we never meet again.”
Chapter 67
The howling began before she was even halfway down the block.
It started with a single Wolf, but it was quickly picked up by another, and then another. Fey tried not to smile, as the evening around her erupted with Wolf song.
The bouncer hadn’t even spoken to her—just opened the door, wide-eyed—and gestured her inside. The Last Drop wasn’t open for the night, not yet. The sun had just disappeared over the horizon, and the red and yellow fingers of sunset still stretched across the skyline.
“Hello Jasper,” Fey said as she approached. Her voice was a strangled, dry thing even now. It would recover with time, Joy had assured her. And the marks on her neck, a perfect imprinted burn from Lilith’s hand, would fade.
Jasper’s face split into a wolfish grin at the sight of her.
“Welcome back,” he told her, green eyes sparkling as he looked her up and down. And then, as though remembering something, he snapped his fingers. “I have something for you.”
“Oh?” She laughed, and she realized she was genuinely happy to see him. Genuinely happy to share in his company. To be in this seedy, ridiculous club, surrounded by Wolves.
He mixed the drink with the speed that only comes from years of practice behind the bar and passed it over to her. The red, bubbly drink topped with a cherry instantly made her laugh.
“A Shirley Temple. What a surprise,” she said, taking a sip. The drink was blissfully cold and soothed her throat as she drank, but there was something new in this one. She moaned. Sweet, and delicious, and very alcoholic.
“Not quite,” Jasper told her, eyes sparkling. “It’s my twist on a Shirley Temple, in your honor. I call it a Witch’s Temple.”
“Oh, Jasper,” Fey gasped. “I could just kiss you; this is incredible.”
His smile widened. “I wouldn’t stop you,” he said, leaning forward over the bar. But his eyes shifted from her to something over her shoulder, and that flirtatious grin fell to a smirk.
“Hello, Witchling,” Alastair said from behind her, and Fey’s heart skipped a beat at the sound of his voice. His fingers teased the skin of her neck. “I’ve missed you.”
“Hello Alastair,” Fey said, smiling. She leaned back into him, savoring the rich smell of his skin. “I guess you managed to convince me after all.”
Epilogue
“Vee, are you even listening?”
Vee blinked slowly, pulling herself back to reality.
“Sorry,” she answered, absently toying with the ends of her hair. “I was a million miles away.”
Jayce rolled his eyes, but he smiled at her to take the sting out of it. “Yeah, Vee. We could all tell.”
She sighed, tilting her head back to stare up at the night sky. The stars sparkled like diamonds. Maybe that’s what they were. A whole universe, full of diamonds, too far away to touch. Too far away to steal. “Are you sure about this, Jayce? You’re sure this is a good idea?”
“Promise. Cross my heart and hope to die. This is the best time to go through with it. Everyone is caught up in what’s happening with the Queen or whatever—we’re never going to get another chance at a big score like this, and no one is paying attention to what’s being sold on the underground. It’s no risk.”
The other boys agreed, nodding eagerly along with Jayce. But boys were like that, weren’t they? They couldn’t tell a good idea from a bad one half the time, and sometimes it felt like they somehow got dumber when there were more of them in one place. Like the collective intelligence of the group dropped every time another boy was added.
“Fine,” she said, finally. The group practically cheered in response. “I’m in.”
“Great!” said Jayce. “He should be gone all night, so the place will be empty. You’ll love this score, Vee. This guy has been buying off Witches for years, his place is full of crap we can sell. Good crap.”
