Feargus

  Days Until Rhian Returns: 6

  Crew and Company Placement:

  With me ? Adeline

  The base ? Michael, Strauss, Evelyn, Alex, Peter, Teeth

  The lair ? Rhian, Rhydian, Riz, Bells, Sebastian(?)

  Old theatre ? Jakob

  Lawing ? Zack

  Everywhere ? Everleigh

  After leaving the flower shop, I assigned myself a new mission: see how long, and how well, Adeline could keep our secrets. With Rhian having her own responsibilities, her physical condition rapidly changing, and the fact I reckoned she’d want to stay close with Strauss whenever possible, I needed a new partner in crime. Not that I was trying to replace my sister; nobody could do that. But let’s face it: everything’s more fun with a friend.

  Not to mention, I knew for a fact this particular friend wouldn’t mind being tested and observed by me, which meant only one thing: good times ahead for the both of us.

  We skittered through the alleys, hoping to leave the city without being seen. But just as we were making our way around the Jaskar, we wandered straight into Derek taking the trash out to the dumpster at the back.

  “Hey, You,” he said with a smile. The old nickname was still the safest thing to call me in public, so I appreciated that, but it made me miss us a bit every time.

  Adeline waved cheerfully.

  So, what were the odds he’d not notice the blood all over our clothes? Another big, fat zero, mates. But Derek was a classy fellow, wasn’t he?

  “You two need somewhere to get cleaned up?”

  “Well, that would be lovely,” Adeline answered. “We were just finishing our shift at the Gander and stumbled upon a brawl in the alley. We probably look a mess.”

  Well, now she was just showing off. I didn’t hate it.

  “A brawl?” Derek asked.

  We nodded.

  “Is everyone okay?”

  “Aye,” I said. “Terrible nose bleed, though. But we got him home safely.”

  “Yeah,” Derek commiserated. “Been there.”

  We nodded again.

  Fun little retrospective: I’d later find out the reason Adeline knew it’d be safe to mention the Gander to Derek, was because she’d met him once while she was working there. She hadn’t learned his name at the time, but he’d come in looking for me.

  “Well, look—the kids are staying over with their cousin this weekend, so why don’t you two come over? Get cleaned up, have a bite to eat, introduce Della to—”

  When Derek hesitated, looking in her direction, Adeline extended a hand—the clean one. “Abby Blaze,” she said, and they shook.

  “Derek Trager.”

  Adeline squeaked. “Lovely name.”

  I knew she’d recognize the name from my confessional ramblings, but I reckoned her tell was masked by her quirkiness and enthusiasm. So far, so good. We helped Derek bring a few more loads of trash to the dumpster, and then we were off to the townhouse.

  The Tragers’ place looked the same as it always did—fancy and monochrome. But there were a few toys strewn about the atrium, and that lingering smell of alcohol and debauchery was replaced by whatever Della had going on in the kitchen. As if reading my mind, Derek flashed a smile. “Della’s all-night pot. The kids love it, but it takes a good twenty-four hours to stew. Maybe she’ll let you have a taste.”

  On cue, Della turned the corner, beaming when she saw me.

  Normally, I’d have given her a hug, but—

  “Jack!” She went with a safe name, too. “Is everyone okay?”

  “Aye, no crisis this time.”

  Della breathed a sigh of relief and turned her attention to Adeline. “And who’s this vision?”

  Adeline extended her clean hand, which Della did take, but then she immediately landed a kiss on Adeline’s cheek instead of shaking it. It reminded me of the time Derek had come to see me at the Gander to invite me to their party. Considering how cold it had been outside, I wasn’t sure Addie’s cheeks could get any more red, but I was wrong.

  “Abby Blaze,” Adeline said.

  Della pulled back with a smile. “Della Trager.”

  When the introductions were over, Derek gave his wife a hug and a kiss, and I caught a quick side-eye from Adeline. I smiled winningly.

  More than our coats, our pants were also bloody, and not to mention we were a little dirty overall from our shift at the Gander. Derek explained the fake version of what happened in the alley, and with nothing more to be said, Della had us take off our boots, and then she took each our hands. She led us toward the back of the townhouse where all the spare bedrooms were.

  “Choose your rooms, and take it all off,” she said. “Jack, you know where the robes are—Abby, should be something pretty for you in one of the wardrobes. Take your pick. Just leave your laundry on the floor and I’ll get everything looking fresh and smelling great for you. In the meantime, I’ll have Derek get the bath ready.”

  It wasn’t far-fetched for her to assume I’d been shagging my new partner, but we all know I hadn’t been, and I certainly hadn’t seen her naked. I hadn’t even peeked at her knickers when I had the chance. The ones in her trunk, I mean.

  After we were finished getting changed, we came out of our respective rooms in silky bathrobes, mine was white and hers was purple. We were alone in the hallway.

  “What a weird and wondrous day,” Adeline said. “Is this what it’s like for you all the time?”

  “Aye, mate,” I answered. “All. The. Time.”

  “Ugh—I’m so glad I found the nerve to come speak to you then.”

  “It took nerve?”

  “Well, of course, you’re F—Jack Finnegan.”

  “What does that mean?”

  Adeline thought about her answer for a moment, but it was a moment too long because Della turned the corner, gleeful when she saw us in our fancy robes.

  “You two are going to love this,” she proclaimed, waving us further down the hall to where I knew the big bathroom was located.

  When she swung the door open, the steam poured out of the room and the warmth hit me like a bag of bricks to the face. So did the smell, like vanilla, and herbs, and—well, it smelled a bit like Sebastian, actually, now that I’d been forced to think about Sebastian’s smell so much. Derek had filled the claw-foot tub with water and warmed it, most likely with his mind, and the bath was filled past the brim with foamy suds.

  “Better hurry before you lose the temperature,” Della insisted, practically pushing us across the threshold. When we were both on the other side, she closed the door quickly, followed by the sound of her heels walking away.

  Right, so—normally I’d be down to my riding suit by then, but the circumstances were a bit different here. For one, I wasn’t with Rhian. For two, I wasn’t with a lover. For three, I wasn’t with just any random Partisan looking to get cleaned up after a bit of murder. Well, actually—I was, wasn’t I? Still, that typically didn’t happen in a fancy bath full of delicious smelling soap. What’s important is: I was leaving this one up to her, mates.

  “Sorry, Addie,” I said. “The Tragers aren’t known as The Lovers for no reason, but to be fair, I didn’t actually expect this.”

  “So you and… both of them?”

  “Mostly Derek, but aye, both. And once with all three of us and V, too. It was a whole thing.”

  The lass leaned in conspiratorially the way she does when she's curious. "All of you? And how did that look, exactly?"

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  "Would you like me to draw you a diagram? I'm happy to."

  Adeline laughed and shook her head like she couldn’t believe any of it, but also definitely believed all of it. She then moved over to the bath and skimmed her hand across the top of the suds, collecting a bit. She blew them away. “My mother used to prepare baths like this for herself all the time.”

  “Not for you?”

  “No, never—but she’d make me sit there and read to her.”

  “Well, now’s your chance to set that right, isn’t it?” I suggested, turning around and covering my eyes. “Go ahead, I won’t look.”

  Adeline squeaked, and then the near silent sound of her robe hitting the floor. It wasn’t long after that I heard the water swoosh around, like she was testing it with her hand first. And then, one leg at a time because that's really the only safe way, she slipped inside.

  After a moment, she said she was ready. “You can turn around now.”

  Could I? Sure.

  Should I?

  …Sure.

  I turned around without uncovering my eyes at first, peeking through my fingers as a means to ease myself into what I’d see. The lass was covered in bubbles, so, not much. I breathed a sigh of relief which I masked with a smile.

  “How is it?”

  “Absolutely perfect,” she said, leaning her head back against the tub. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt this good in my entire life. Are you going to join me?”

  Could I? Sure.

  Should I?

  …I really didn’t know.

  I spared a casual glance around the bathroom, taking in the finer details I hadn’t picked up on while I was trying to keep it cool. Towels, the sink, Della’s cosmetics—nothing out of the ordinary, except I spotted a book on the corner of the counter. I recognized it as one of the smutty books I’d picked up for Della while I was in Delphia.

  Well, three hundred and twenty pages couldn’t be all smut, right?

  I wandered over to the novel and picked it up, looking back over to Adeline. She was covering her eyes with her hands by then.

  “I won’t peek,” she said.

  The lass might have been an excellent liar, but much like we had done with our good friend Andrei Strauss, we now get to debate whether or not she was a bit of a peeker, too. I let the robe fall to the floor, and I hurried into the bath without testing the temperature. It was a bit of a shock at first, but I settled in quickly, strategically placing my own bubbles.

  Adeline stopped (pretending) not to peek, and I turned to the first page in the book.

  “By her thirty-seventh birthday, Marlena was sure she would die alone,” I read. “One of the many ways she knew she’d disappointed her family…”

  Adeline laughed and closed her eyes, leaning further back and letting the bottom half of her hair float in the water.

  “…but he was just the gardener, and not even their gardener…”

  “…rippled, washboard abdomen while he worked under the sweltering, island sun…”

  “…skin, smooth and rich like hot chocolate…”

  Adeline giggled, her eyes still closed. “These metaphors are certainly a choice, but—ugh, a sexy gardener. There are few things more attractive than a man who can work delicately with his hands.”

  “Aye, mate, you’re not wrong,” I confessed, trying not to think about my own handy hands before moving on to the next line.

  We stayed like that for the next twenty-two minutes, making it all the way to page seventeen. Our love interests hadn't even met face-to-face yet. By then, the bubbles were dissipating, and the water was starting to get quite cold, and we both agreed we should start thinking about getting back to the base.

  I covered my eyes so she could get out of the tub, giving her enough time to dry off and get back into her robe.

  And then Adeline (pretended) to do the same so I could, too.

  Did Adeline peek?