by Cat Adams
It made me laugh. There were tears in my eyes, but the laughter was real, too. Turning up the volume, I sang along, belting out the words I’d learned from listening to the punk version. After that I felt better, enough better that I had a brainstorm. I hit the button to make a couple of hands-free calls, first to Dawna and then Emma.
“Celia, I just left the restaurant,” Emma said. “I’m on my way to visit Matty in the hospital. What’s up?”
“You’re moving to Seattle, right? With your husband.”
If it was possible to hear someone blush, I did. There was a short, embarrassed pause. “You caught that, huh.”
“Yup. What happened to all that pre-Cana stuff the Catholics do?”
“Since Matty was going to be risking death to work the magic, the bishop gave us a dispensation. He married us himself yesterday morning.”
“Congratulations! That’s awesome.” It was. I was so happy for the two of them. They were perfect together.
“Yeah, well, we haven’t told his mom yet.”
My happiness stuttered a little. Isabella has very strong opinions about big church weddings; I knew that from my previous engagement to Bruno.
“Fingers crossed it will be all right.”
“You betcha.”
“Is that why you called?”
“Yes and no. I had an idea.” I was smiling so big I was pretty sure she could hear it in my voice.
“Oh?”
“We’d have to clear the zoning, but what do you think about Dawna and me putting our offices in your place?”
“I think that would be wonderful! And I’m going to be the one who springs for our time at the spa with Dawna. No arguments.”
“And here I thought that trip would be a good engagement present.”
“Nope. You’ll have to find something else. This one’s on me.”
EPILOGUE
I slept all the rest of that day and met with Gwen on Wednesday. We talked about a lot of things. I felt better after. Isaac would be fine soon. Fred and Dottie were both fine. The bad guys were thwarted. John and I were on speaking terms again. I was getting used to the idea of living without Ivy. The only dark spot was my mother. But I was starting to get a handle on that. Just in time, too. I caught a flight to Serenity on Thursday morning.
Gran had seen the news and the press releases about what had gone down at the Needle. Everything had been edited severely so as not to cause panic. They couldn’t totally hush it up; after all, the light show once the veils had fallen had been visible for miles, and the quakes and aftershocks had affected millions of people.
When she saw me, Gran hugged me hard, holding me close and telling me she loved me and was proud of me. She said she liked my hair and that I looked great with blue eyes. I was glad I’d come. I’d needed this, needed her faith in me to help cleanse me of my guilt and self-doubt.
We had a lovely dinner together at her place. Queen Lopaka and Gunnar Thorsen stopped by. She was hugely pregnant. He was just huge. It made me smile to see how protective he was of her. In all, it was a great day, very healing. By the end of the night I was almost my old self again.
Friday—not so much.
My mother refused to see me.
I wasn’t surprised that she turned me away, but I was surprised that it didn’t hurt all that much. I was more resigned than angry about it. She’ll do what she does. I can’t control it, but I don’t have to play along.
So while Gran was at the prison, Baker and I did a little exploring in the city. I found a great tattoo artist who thought he could fix the damage to my ivy tattoo.
Friday night I flew back to the mainland. I had the big spa weekend to attend.
* * *
I took a sip of my margarita and glanced down at my leg, stretched out on a chaise longue in the shade. The new tat looked great. I felt good about that. In fact, I felt pretty good in general.
There were more of us here than I had originally planned, but it was a good group. Dawna and Emma were splashing around in the pool. Dottie was with Gilda in the hot tub. Baker … well, Baker was sticking pretty close to me. I had a strong suspicion that there was a gun hidden in the towel next to her lounge chair. I was okay with that. I had one in my towel, too.
I know the bad guys are going to come after me. But I’ll be ready when they do. And I won’t be facing them alone. I have friends.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
CAT ADAMS is the author of the Blood Singer urban fantasy novels: Blood Song, Siren Song, Demon Song, The Isis Collar, The Eldritch Conspiracy, and To Dance with the Devil.
Adams is the joint pen name of C. T. Adams and Cathy Clamp, who live in a small town deep in the heart of Texas. They are USA Today bestselling authors with their Thrall series, which begins with Touch of Evil, and with their critically acclaimed Sazi series, which begins with Hunter’s Moon.
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