Page 13 of A Wild Darkness

They were closing early for an event, and I wasn’t aware of the change in hours. Irritation whips at my back. “The gate closed early.”

“You had to climb out.” Sebastian bends one leg over the other, getting more comfortable on the couch.

“I adapted,” I bite back.

“You were arrested.”

“It was a misunderstanding.”

“You were hanging from a fence.”

“The officer was very dramatic. And he ended up knowing my dad, so it all worked out.”

Sebastian laughs. The sound settles somewhere strange inside my chest, but it’s annoying. I don’t want to have this friendly moment with him. He avoided me like I had the plague when I stayed at Thompson Manor only a couple of weeks ago.

Suddenly Lux and River round the corner of the hallway and enter the living room. They’re both holding blankets and sharing a laugh.

“You’re both smiling,” Lux says immediately.

I choke on my spit. “We are not.”

“You are.”

I huff. “We were talking. And where were you two? My condo isn’t that big.”

“I was showing River some of our family photos in your office.” Lux sits beside River, who slides back onto the couch. “He’s seen the ones at my place, but I wanted to show him yours.”

That’s sweet. “Oh. That’s nice.”

“And what were you talking about?” she presses.

“Nothing.”

“Cemeteries,” Sebastian replies. Traitor.

Lux’s face lights up. “Did you tell him about⁠—”

“No.”

She nods her head with excitement. “When you got locked in the cemetery?”

“No, but apparently you did,” I say.

“Oh, did I?”

Sebastian nods. “Yeah, you did.”

“I like that story,” Lux defends herself. “It shows how resilient you are.”

“And adaptable,” Sebastian points out, using my own words.

Growing more irritated with the direction the night is going, I refocus on the television in front of me. “Can we just watch the movie? I have to be at the mortuary early in the morning, and I don’t want to go to bed too late.”

“Fair enough,” Lux responds. “We did choose a good one tonight.”

As I look around the condo at my sister curled against River, at the pizza boxes scattered across the coffee table, and at Sebastian, I try not to smile. Despite my aggravation with the turn of events, the evening feels warm. I like seeing my sister happy. I haven’t seen this light, playful side to her with the other people she’s dated.

But nothing about this should feel normal because under the playful, down-to-earth nature they show at the moment, Sebastian and River are dangerous billionaire serial killers.