Chapter 17
Bluebell
Petra smiles up at me as we descend the stairs toward the side of the building. “So, you need help with decorating or something today? Can I help? I helped Dad and his wife with their research for a while. I’m an excellent listener; Dad said so.”
Something breaks inside me at her words. She’s never been in a haven, never had pancakes, never met her brother until yesterday. I mean, they basically dumped Hadrian with us when he was about the same age, leaving him for the summer and conveniently only showing up every few haven years.
We just loved him so much that we kept him.
“I’d love to have your help with the decorating.
Normally we glamour most of downtown because it’s an easy way to decorate but there’s a couple hours’ worth of work we prefer to do manually.
I’m meeting my friends Lemon and Oz to knock that out.
Pine Gulch hosts a lot of festivals, and monsters from all over the haven world come to visit us. ”
She hops up and down, wings flapping at her back. “What kind of festivals? What are you celebrating?”
I tuck both hands into my back pockets. “Let’s see. There’s the Fall Ball in autumn. Mead Cute is coming up and that’s kinda fall themed too. Yule Love It happens in the winter and then of course there’s a new year bash and a Sweetheart Ball right after. And that’s just the next couple of months!”
She looks up at me. “Do you do human Halloween? I always loved watching humans on that holiday even though I obviously didn’t participate.”
“We do,” I say with a laugh. “Even though it confuses most monsters because, well, we’re already monsters.”
Her smile goes soft as I hold the door open so we can exit into the alleyway between our building and the next one. “So which festival is this one?”
“Mead Cute,” I say with a smile, waving her toward Main. “It’s a good time for the younger monsters too. Maybe you can meet some kiddos your age.”
“I’d like that,” she says, wrapping her tail around her waist.
Jasper and Hadrian trail behind us until we get to Main. At the corner of the building, Lemon and Oz stand with matching coffees in hand.
“Morning, bestie,” Lemon chirps, handing me one of the coffees. She glances at Petra. “Who’s this cutie?”
Petra smiles between Oz and Lemon. “Hi! I’m Petra. I’m Hadrian’s sister. I just got here.”
Lemon’s mouth drops open as she looks between all of us over to Hadrian and back. “Sister? I…was not aware.”
“Nobody was,” Petra says. “I surprised everyone, so, surprise!”
Lemon and Oz go silent, but Oz speaks first. Reaching out, he claps Petra on the shoulder with his tail.
“Girl, you are gonna love the Gulch! There are tons of gargoyles here. Not to mention your brother is, like, our star skyball player. And we’re gonna be decorating town all morning, plus Bluebell plied us with lunch, so it’s honestly gonna be the very best day.
” The pit hell lurks around his feet, sticking her face between his thighs as she looks up at Petra. “This is Ginger,” Oz explains.
Petra smiles at him and lifts her tail spade up level with his chest.
I chuckle when he slaps it with his. It’s such a childlike thing to do. Next thing I know, she’s going to slip that spade under someone’s shirt to feel their heartbeat…another thing gargoyle children seem to adore.
That heartbeat obsession makes me think of Hadrian and…last night. I desperately need to catch up with my besties.
“Well,” Lemon says, “y’all ready to do this? We all know Bluebell’s got an entire to-do list in her back pocket.”
I smirk as I glance down at Lemon’s feet. Today she’s wearing her iridescent turquoise boots…hardly the most practical of things. But then again, Lemon never did care about practicality.
“Let’s do it.” Hadrian pushes me gently forward with a hand in the center of my back.
Next to us, the building clatters all of her siding expectantly. A piece flips outward and whacks Oz in the side, poking him several times as it nudges him into Main Street.
I bark out a laugh, smiling at Petra. “Also, the town herself has some mighty strong opinions. You won’t believe some of the things you’ll see around here. She might toss drunkards into the street or slap Oz on the butt or any number of spicy behaviors.”
Petra eyes the building nervously, but follows us.
Lemon points to her truck, its bed open and full of decorations from the storage shed out at Furyon’s place. “This is gonna be fun!” she shouts.
Three hours later, at least one of us is having fun as Petra sits on Hadrian’s shoulders, tacking the last of our twinkle lights into a hook on the side of the Welcome Inn.
As I look around, a smile pulls to my face.
Main Street looks absolutely gorgeous, and when dusk falls, it’ll look even better.
Sparkly glitter lights crisscross over the street, highlighting the train tracks that run up the middle.
“You know what, Hadrian?” I turn to him with a bright smile. “We should take Petra on Mabel. What a great way to see all of Pine Gulch.”
He grins up at the young gargoyle, who’s staring back at him like she’s already in love.
Shit, girl, I think that makes two of us.
Realization courses through me. Is it possible to fall in love with someone in such a short amount of time?
Except it’s not short, because I’ve been falling in love with Hadrian Alkazar for the better part of two decades, which is like a quarter of a human life.
“Today’s not good for that, but I’m off tomorrow.” He pats her on the knee. “You want to ride a train tomorrow? You can see all four corners of the haven plus the mountains and maybe the mustang herd if we’re lucky.”
Petra smiles down at me, wrapping her hands around Hadrian’s long horns and yanking on them like they’re joysticks. “Only if Auntie Bluebell and Uncle Jasper can come! Can you? Can you come?!”
Hadrian stares at me, then lets out a laugh. “I am not fully equipped to be a brother slash father, so please do come with us.” He elbows Jasper in the side. “You too. You’re on uncle duty.”
Jasper shoves his hand in a bag of chips, retrieving a huge handful, which he promptly shoves in his mouth. “Only if you feed me. Long as there’s food, I’m good.”
I share a quick smile with Hadrian, but one thing is clear to me after spending this morning together—I’m in love with my best friend.
It’s not easy, and it’s not gonna get any easier because hiding him sucks.
The doubts in my mind aren’t about him; they’re just about the things that keep popping up between us.
But I’m not sure that even matters anymore.
I don’t think I could deny Hadrian Alkazar if my life depended on it.
* * *
“How’s Hadrian holding up with this whole sister thing?
” Mom whispers to me as she hands me a bag of shredded cheese to top the giant tray of macaroni with.
She glances out the window where my brothers are playing skyball with Petra in the back yard.
Unfortunately for them, she’s picked it up quickly and appears to be kicking their asses on account of her having wings and them being entirely human.
Until Jace touches the ground, and a vine snakes up fast, wrapping around Petra’s ankle. She squeals and laughs, dropping the ball. Jack snatches it up and sprints out of view.
I sigh. “We haven’t had much chance to talk about it where she couldn’t hear, but I think he’s still pretty shell-shocked. I mean…you know his folks well. Did you have any idea?”
Mom’s eyes go wide as she purses her lips and shakes her head. “Honestly? We were all close before we had kids but once we had the twins, our priorities shifted. Theirs never really did, I don’t think. It’s not that surprising they didn’t take the time to bring her here.”
I suck at my teeth as I watch Petra barrel past the window, shrieking with Jack running after her, pumping his arms.
“They’re kind of adorable, aren’t they?” I muse as Petra spins and knocks Jack to the ground.
“Damn, that athletic gene runs in the family,” Mama says, parting the blinds to get a better look. “She bounced right off his head like Hay used to do when he was a little nugget. You remember that?”
Oh boy do I. Because even at eight years old, I loved watching Hadrian play. Maybe it’s the athleticism of a gargoyle in comparison to a human. I don’t know. I just knew he was important to me then just like he is now.
“Is Hadrian coming tonight?” Mom grabs the bag of cheese from me and starts doing it herself.
I shrug. “Not sure what time practice ends. I just told him if he was late, I’d take Petra back to my place until he’s done.”
“Well,” Mama says, “I know you’ll be real helpful to him, not that you’ve got much free time.”
“I sure don’t,” I mutter, snatching the cheese bag back to finish it myself.
She wraps an arm around my waist and presses her head to mine.
Forty-five minutes later, the boys are still outside with Petra, but the giant tray of mac and cheese bubbles happily in the oven.
I put the finishing touches on a huge salad and head into our tall dining room to put it on the table.
When I turn around, Petra’s there with a smile and salad tongs in one hand.
She hands them to me. “Your mom said I should bring these in. Can I do anything else to help? I didn’t realize you had already cooked, and I’m sorry I didn’t come help you do it.”
I shake my head. “Not a big deal, honey. I’m just glad you were having fun with the guys. They’re awesome, right?”
Her dark lashes flutter against high purple cheekbones. “Do you think my brother will be here soon?”
I fiddle with one of the napkins. “You missing him?”
She nips at the edge of her finger and nods. “Yeah, I mean…I’ve been hearing stories about Hadrian for a while, you know? I feel like I know him even though he doesn’t know anything about me.”