Chapter 64

Unsurprisingly, Laila loves the TV.

She spends the first half of the movie staring at the screen in rapt awe while Anton and I kind of just…watch her. Then, when she breaks through her shock, Laila spends the second half of the film going through every feeling in her emotional rolodex, laughing hysterically and then sobbing real tears when the little fish is finally reunited with his father and they return home.

“That was amazing,” she whispers, using the heels of her palms to wipe her cheeks as she turns to me with true joy shining in her face. “That was incredible. I’ll never forget it. Thank you so much for showing that to me.”

“I mean, you can watch it again anytime you want,” I say with a hesitant smile, a little freaked out. Have Anton and I created a monster here? Or ruined her for all forms of entertainment in her world?

“What?” she breathes, her eyes going as wide as the moons just visible over the line of the terrace.

I laugh and explain the workings of the DVD player to my friend as best I can, showing her the assortment of films that we called up.

“Are…are they all about the sea?” she whispers, flipping fast through the disc options.

“Um, not all of them,” I say. She turns to me, devastated. “But some!”

Laila perks up, and Anton and I laugh, and I put on another movie for her. Another children’s one, as it seems the better way to ease our friend into the world of screen media. This time the movie is an adaptation of the mermaid story, with lots of songs and a good bit of romance.

About a quarter of the way through the movie someone clears their throat behind us. As one, Anton, Laila, and I all turn to see the Prince of the Underworld standing behind us, his arms crossed, frowning at the screen.

“What in hell is this?” He murmurs.

“Oh, use your paws,” Laila begs, putting a hand out on my arm. “Please, I don’t want to miss it –“

I frown at her for a second before I understand her meaning and then I grin, pressing pause on the remote and stopping the film.

“Hey, ‘Ri Guy!” Anton says, quite cheerful, holding a palm out flat to Orion. “Welcome back!”

“Thanks, ‘Ton…gon…” Orion finishes, a little lame, grimacing a bit before shifting his eyes back to the TV. “Seriously, what is that?”

“So, high-fives you get,” I say, raising an eyebrow at him and crossing my arms, sitting quite prim in my nest of blankets. “But television technology is beyond you?”

He turns to me with a little smirk. “Guess so, Princess.”

I roll my eyes. “What are you doing here, Orion?”

“We had plans,” he says with a shrug. “And I wanted to apologize, which you wouldn’t let me do this morning. And Anton,” he points to my ghost now, “said we should all hang out.”

“Plans?” I ask, my nose crinkling in confusion.

“For the divination,” Laila says, quite quiet. My mouth forms a surprised little “o” as I remember – that yes, of course, we planned to do the divination tonight. To find Blythe’s location in the underworld. God, in all of the drama of the Trial, I had…completely forgotten about that.

“So, can I take a seat?” Orion asks, a little hesitant.

“Of course you can!” Anton says, cheerfully ignoring my dirty glare. Orion comes around to the L of the couch – the worst place from which to see the television, to my pleasure – and sighs as he sits down, looking askance at our rather lush assortment of treats and comfort supplies.

“To begin,” Orion says, folding his hands and looking seriously at me. “I am sorry, Juniper. I didn’t realize how much your performance meant to you last night. And as Anton pointed out to me this morning, I probably should have. But I was foolish, and I hurt your feelings, and I beg your forgiveness for that. There was nothing that Daana was saying that couldn’t have waited. I will change my behavior in the future.”

I look seriously at Orion for a moment before a scowl comes to my lips. Because, damn it, my mother raised me too well to turn my nose up at an apology as sincere and nice as that one. “Fine, you’re forgiven,” I grumble, sinking down into my blankets. Anton laughs at me a little, but I expect no less at this point. “I’m…sorry I set your piano on fire.”

“That’s fine,” Orion says with a shrug. “We can just call up another. And honestly, the music and the magic were both very impressive.”

I look at Orion with interest then because…I mean, Anton joked about that before. But is there a chance that the magic being impressive gets me off the hook for something? I mean, if it is a talent…

But Orion moves on, shifting his eyes to Laila now. “And I also wanted to say, to both of you – to all of you – that I really want to spend more time with you. Not as a Prince, not as part of the Games. Just as…people. I’d like to be your friends, if you’ll let me.”

Laila just stares at Orion in surprise while I narrow my eyes. “Why? What trick is this?”

Orion just smirks, flicking his gaze at me. “No trick. Just…trying to be a person. I’m not sure I’m very good at that.”

“You already have a friend,” I say, pointing across Laila to where Anton is sitting, all blue and smug with how well this apology session is going. I get the distinct impression that a great deal of this was his doing. Stupid ghost.

“Anton is a good friend,” Orion says, smiling a little. “But rumor has it that you’re allowed to have more than one.”

“I want to be friends,” Laila says, sitting up, excited. “Does this mean I can be in the Underworld Bro’s Club? I want to be in the Bro’s Club!”

I laugh a little, shaking my head at my friend. “Laila, you have to be a bro for that.”

“Well, what’s a bro?” she asks, spinning her head to me. “I can be a bro! I’ll be good at it! I’m very adaptive.”

“You’re officially inducted,” Orion says, grinning at Laila with real pleasure. Then he turns his head to me, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh fine, I’ll be a bro too,” I say, pouting as I give in and snuggling even further down into the blankets, to the point where my neck is crooked uncomfortably against the couch. “No one lets me hold my nice grudges in peace. It’s terrible.”

“All right, cool,” Orion says, laughing a little with a big smile on his face. I watch him with interest, seeing that he…really is more of a person in this moment than he has been before, with his Prince façade starting to fall away. “So, do you guys want to go to the lake? Do this divination thing?”

“Yes!” Anton says, grinning and sitting up, looking over at me. “June, where did we put the mouse bones?”

“Under the pizza,” I mutter, pointing at the table.

“Oh,” Laila says, a little mournfully, looking at the TV. “But…the story…I liked the hesitant blue-and-yellow fish…”

I laugh and put a hand on her shoulder. “The movie will be here when we get back, Lai. We can start it just where we left.”

Her face breaks into a dazzling smile as she takes in the good news. “Okay! Well, then, what should we wear?”

It takes far longer to get out of the room than I thought it would, but Laila was incredibly worried first about what we should wear for a nighttime trip to a lake in order to divine the location of my dead fiancé. Then, despite Orion’s protests that he arranged to have a barbeque of sorts all set up, she insisted on conjuring up hampers and packing up at least half of the food that I conjured up to take with us, insisting it would go to waste.

“Will it really go to waste?” I murmur, leaning close to Orion and looking up at him.

“No,” he whispers back, grinning down at me. “It just…evaporates back into the chaos of magic from which it came. But,” he shrugs. “If she wants to bring the cake, let her bring the cake.”

Anton sighs and rests an elbow on my shoulder, either leaning against me or pretending to, watching Laila carefully leverage one of the two chocolate cakes into a picnic basket while keeping her hands clean of the icing. “She’s so cute when she’s all worked up.”

I spin my head to give him a little glare, but he’s already looking at me, grinning, waiting for it. I growl, letting my fangs extend a bit, and his grin just widens.

“Okay!” Laila says, clapping her hands together and snatching the divination tools off the table. “I’m ready! Let’s go!”

“All right, everyone hold your breath,” Orion says, taking my hand and reaching one out for Laila.

“What?” I gasp, whipping my head up to him, my eyes wide, suddenly freaked out. Are we – are we going to land in the lake!?

“Just kidding,” Orion says, grinning down at me. And then, just as Anton bursts into laugher, Orion vanishes us and all of our supplies away.

When my feet hit the ground again, my mouth falls open as I take in one of the most incredible sights I’ve ever seen.