Page 33 of Till Death Do Us Part

“I won’t.”

But after she’d left me to the quiet of the dark library, I looked down at my ring, and I slid it higher up my finger.

Elaine’s smile. Her laugh as she told me you never deserved any of that. You were just a kid.

She was a damn fool. Thinking that just because I looked like a human, that meant I had emotions like one. And that stupidity was going to get her killed. I couldn’t be blamed. It was her own fault for trusting me.

I pushed off from the ledge with a sigh, heading downstairs.

The four of us gathered around the dining room table with three massive boxes of pizza between us, and Caitlyn squealed in excitement as she dug in. Special celebratory meals like a pizza night were apparently rare in the Whitner household—most of the food budget went to the mother’s alcohol—and she looked like a kid in a candy shop as she stuffed her face with pizza. Petra, as she usually did, tore through almost an entire pizza like it was nothing, and Elaine, sitting next to me, laughed and had a little more light in her eyes as we ate.

And of course, the cat was here too. She stuck to my leg, constantly mewing for attention, until I sighed and held her in my lap, stroking her absentmindedly while I ate. We talked carefully around matters of business, not revealing too much while Caitlyn was here, but once Caitlyn had eaten her fill, she turned on me.

“Now you can explain, because Petra wouldn’t. What is happening?”

Petra leaned forward. “Forget that,” she said. “Did you know that deep rainforest trees can communicate with each other via fungal networks—”

“Petra, I’ve had it with you!” Caitlyn said, and Elaine laughed, a hand over her mouth. I sighed, a glance at Elaine, before I turned back to Caitlyn.

“I can’t say too much right now,” I said, “but your sister’s in danger.”

Caitlyn frowned. “I know. I heard shouting from the house after I left, and Petra drove me here so fast and wouldn’t tell me anything that was going on.”

“We’re not married yet,” I said. “Elaine and I. But us getting married will keep her safe.”

Caitlyn blinked hard. “When did you two even meet?”

I smirked at Elaine, who blushed, looking down and wringing her hands together.

“Er… last night.”

“Whoa,” Caitlyn laughed incredulously. “That’s a new level of U-Haul. Are you… I mean, if it’s just to keep her safe, it’s… are you staying married?”

“I’ll be able to set her free once the threat has passed,” I said. “I don’t know how long it will take. Probably a few months. Not more than a year.”

“A year married to a stranger…” Caitlyn looked wide-eyed between me and Elaine before she smiled. “I mean, not bad as far as strangers go.”

“Cait,” Elaine said, a hand over her face.

It was hard to do worse than one who was going to kill you in your sleep. Caitlyn was an unfortunate loose end… she might start to suspect it was us who murdered Elaine for the inheritance.

“In the meantime,” Petra said, “we’ll make sure you’re taken care of. From what I’ve heard, your mother is a real piece of work.”

Caitlyn’s expression hardened, but Elaine just crumpled, tears shimmering in the corners of her eyes. I put a hand down on top of hers without even thinking about it, and she looked at me with wonder in her eyes, but I looked away.

Caitlyn already knew what the situation was with her mother. She went through the worst of it, and in a way, was better for it. Jaded already. Elaine had lived so long in delusion, telling herself her mother deserved forgiveness she’d never give herself.

I knew you couldn’t betray your family, but… maybe her mother was never family at all.

“I left all my things back at the house, though,” Caitlyn said. “My computer, my tablet…”

Petra leaned back in her seat. “We’ll go shopping tomorrow! Pick you up some new ones. Don’t worry, we’ve got cash to cover it.”

“Tomorrow? It’s my sister’s wedding!”

Elaine cleared her throat hard. “Caitlyn, it’s not… I hope you’re not expecting a ceremony. It’s just paperwork.”

Caitlyn folded her arms, pouting. “It had better be a ceremony! It’s your wedding! Even if it’s just for now, you can’t get married without a little ceremony!”