Chapter 116

“All this sexual tension,” Faiza says with a grin, lifting another shot of liquor to her lips as she grins around at all of us. “I’m loving it.”

“How much of that have you had?” I say, laughing even as I peel my eyes away from Orion to glare at Faiza.

“Not enough, gorgeous,” Faiza says, giving me a wink and tossing the shot back, her golden cuffs glinting in the bar’s cheerful light. “I never get a night off. I’m indulging.”

“How is this a night off?” Anton asks, laughing a little.

“You’re preventing me from working both my spy job and my two side gigs as both Professor and Priestess,” Faiza says, signaling to the bartender for another. He gives her a big smile from across the bar and begins to pour. “So, I’m taking the rare opportunity to relax. Maybe with him beneath me –“

Faiza’s smile grows as she turns fully towards the bar, her eyes shining as she grins at the handsome Selkie man who comes over with her drink.

“All right, enough of that,” Laila says, laughing and snagging Faiza’s arm. “I’ll not have you corrupting the virtue of our fine men.”

“Noo!” Faiza groans, snatching the drink even as Laila hauls her away towards a big table. “Let me corrupt his virtue! I was born to corrupt!”

I laugh, waving my thanks to the Selkie man, who has the adorable decency to blush as he goes back to his work.

I grin, leaning against Anton, walking towards the table. But I pause a bit when a beige shade falls into step at my side. “Oh, hello,” I say, looking up at Blythe with a bit of surprise.

He looks down at me with a sigh. “Did you forget I existed?”

I grimace a little. Because, momentarily, I kind of did.

We reach the table, Anton and Orion taking seats with Laila and Faiza while I hang back a step with Blythe.

“I’m sorry,” I say, awkwardly rubbing my arm as I look up into his face. “I’m…distracted.”

“It’s cool,” he says on a sigh. “I get it. You’re all…magnificent now.”

Something about this makes me smile. “I wasn’t magnificent before?”

He laughs a little, lifting his pretty eyes to mine. “You’ve…grown into yourself since you’ve been here, Juniper.”

I smirk a bit, taking that as a compliment. But then I sigh, stepping towards him, hating to see him so miserable. “How are you? What can I do to help?”

“Nothing, I’m all dead,” he says, gesturing down at himself.

“Do you want to be corporeal?” I ask, the inspiration suddenly striking me. “I made Anton all corporeal and he says it’s a lot like being alive again – not quite the same but –“

“Honestly, June,” Anton says with a sigh. “I…it’s not the lack of body that’s bothering me. It’s my mind. I’m just…having a hard time going through all of my memories, and remembering all the shit things I’ve done…and my…snail adventures…”

He sighs and ducks his head into his hand, breaking my heart.

“A suggestion?”

I turn, surprised at the sound of Faiza’s voice. I raise my eyebrows at her in invitation as everyone else at the table goes quiet too, turning towards her.

“Your impulse to change his form wasn’t a bad one,” Faiza says with a shrug, keeping her eyes on me. “You could make him an animal again –“

“God, no, please –“ Blythe begs, his head snapping up, his voice shaking.

“Except,” Faiza continues, raising her voice and flicking her eyes to him. “We keep him here with us, all cozy. And I can give him sort of…an animal brain…” she narrows her eyes at him, contemplating the details of it. “Instead of letting him keep all his memories like he did as a slug. So, he’ll be more comfortable and present, but not tortured. What do you think, sluggy?”

Blythe hesitates, glancing at me, unsure. “What…what kind of animal?”

“What kind of animal do you want to be?” Anton asks, grinning, I think a bit wicked as he contemplates the possibilities. I laugh a little but shake my head at him, urging him to be kind. He just shrugs, leaning back against his chair but not wiping away his wicked grin.

“Um,” Blythe says, running an anxious hand through his hair and looking around at all of us. “I…don’t know? A wolf?”

“Such a cliché,” Faiza says with a groan, rolling her eyes. “No imagination.”

“Oh, can he be a squirrel!?” Laila gasps, suddenly sitting up and clutching her hands beneath her chin. “We don’t have them in our world – but I saw them in that movie about the big hairy elephant in the ice world – and it was so cute! Oh, please let him be a little itty squirrel!” Her voice squeaks with excitement on the last words.

“What do you think?” I ask Blythe, still laughing a little and looking up at my poor tortured ex. “Do you want to be a squirrel?”

“I’ll be so fragile,” he murmurs, hesitant.

“No!” Laila says, her pretty dark eyes huge and eager. “I’ll take care of you! I promise! You’ll be totally fine, I’ll carry you! I’ll feed you peanuts!”

“Still dead,” Faiza murmurs, grinning, enjoying herself and tossing back her next drink. “Won’t be able to eat peanuts.”

“Oh, just do it,” I say, laughing and attempting to give Blythe a nudge with my elbow, stumbling a little when I forget that he’s not corporeal and there’s nothing for me to hit. “Make the poor Selkie Princess happy.”

“Yeah, fine,” Blythe says, a tiny smile coming to his lips, his eyes on Laila. “Um, squirrel me up, I guess.”

“Done and done,” Faiza says with a happy sigh, closing one eye and pointing a finger at Blythe. As we all watch, he shrinks down into a little brown squirrel with shiny black eyes and a very fine fluffy tail. He squeaks with fear, dashing for Laila, who coos with delight and scoops him up in her hands, cradling him close to her chest.

I grin, moving to sit down next to Anton, watching as Laila strokes a finger over Blythe’s little squirrel head and murmurs nice things to him. As I watch, the little squirrel starts to shut his eyes, visibly relaxing, starting to curl up in her palm.

“He’s so cuuuute,” Laila murmurs, continuing to pet my ex fiancé.

“God, she’s like Markie’s dream,” I murmur, leaning against Anton.

He laughs, looking down at me. “Wait, what?”

“Mark loves squirrels,” I say on a sigh as the bartender brings over a fresh batch of drinks and I reach for my second glass of wine. “He like, feeds them in the park and has names for them and everything.”

“That’s sweet,” Laila says, grinning and looking over to me.

“Yeah well, if he met a lady squirrel fanatic like you,” I say, raising my glass towards her. “He’d be a gonner.”

“Is he good looking?” she asks, tilting her head to the side, considering it.

“Ew, barf, that’s my brother,” I say, pretending to gag as I turn away.

“He’s a Sinclair,” Anton says, laughing and nodding to Laila. “So yes, famously gorgeous in our world.”

I snuggle against my ghost boyfriend, quite pleased at this description, even though…well, the thought of Mark being hot just…goes against everything I hold dear. I can admit that he has handsome features like my dad and my other brother Rafe but…

Mark? Hot?

No, he’s way too much of a dork.

But, maybe with a girl like Laila…he could be cool. I turn my head to the side, considering that maybe they should meet.

“Ohhhh Orion’s getting jealous,” Faiza says with a wicked little cackle, pointing a finger at Orion’s face. I snap my head up, already grinning when I see him turn his eyes away from Laila to scowl at Faiza.

“I am not,” Orion growls, smacking Faiza’s hand away.

“Are too! You want to be the squirrel!”

I start laughing along with Laila and Anton, looking between the Prince and the Priestess, wondering who will win this contest of wills.

“Keep that witchy little finger away from me,” Orion says, joining in on the laughter a little. “I’m not going to have you turning me into the next pet in your weird drunken menagerie, Faiza –“

“Oh, come on, mama will take very good care of you,” Faiza murmurs, all sultry, leaning towards him. Orion laughs, game, leaning towards her and starting to play along.

I just sigh and lean against my ghost boy, enjoying the company and the teasing, wondering if Faiza’s actually trying to weasel her way into our tangled romantic web, trying to turn this awkward love square into a pentagon.

Blythe-the-Squirrel just sighs and falls asleep, warm and cozy, pressed close to Laila’s chest.