Chapter 7 Adaela #2
I finished my text and immediately tossed my phone at the couch across the room.
Pacing through the kitchen, I started to feel anxious suddenly.
I tried to tell myself that she texted me last night.
She made the first move. This could just be a formality to make sure I made it home okay, but maybe she wanted to talk about her potential role with the Pax?
What if she was just trying to navigate a new world for her and was trying to make friends?
I was spiraling, and I lasered in on my shadows pooling at my feet.
“Adaela, stop!” I heard Poe as she came back into focus. “You have to stop worrying about this. Worrying is not going to do you any good. Let things happen naturally. If it happens, it happens,” she said.
As always, Poe was right. It was doing me no good to fret over being romantically interested in someone for the first time in decades. Everything was fine. Right.
“Okay, well, let me go get dressed. Let’s go out and do something.
I think it’s time I get my mind off things.
I’m going to call in today and take that day off you’re insisting on,” I said, just as my phone buzzed in the other room.
I took off in that direction slowly. I would never run to my phone to see who messaged me…
If I kept telling myself that, maybe it would come true someday. I sent another scowl in Poe’s direction as she tried stifling her laughter.
Vada:
I’m glad to hear you got some much needed rest. How’re you feeling?
Me:
Much better. Ready to take on the world.
How are you settling in?
Vada:
I’ve finally got my apartment set up how I wanted it. I’m hoping to get into the Pax today to chat with the Demon Faction, then I’m hoping to go do some exploring.
Me:
That’s great news. My friend Poe and I are planning on taking the day off to go out and do things around town. Would you like to join us? We can always drop you off at the Pax later.
I started pacing again, my heart battling with my sternum to break out of my chest. While my message wasn’t super forward or anything, it was still a huge step for me.
I hoped she didn’t see it that way. After all, I tended to offer the same to most beings when they first made their way to St. Louis.
Deciding to dress up a little bit, I headed to my bedroom.
It absolutely wasn’t because Vada had texted me back to meet up.
It was late March, so there was still a chill in the air, but the temperature was starting to warm up a bit from a brutal winter.
Rummaging through my closet, I found a cute, lacy black bodysuit with a bra that showed a little underboob.
It was a bit risqué for me since I wore mostly gym clothes nowadays, but if I was going to go all out, I may as well do it right.
I paired that with skintight black leather pants, black Doc Martens, and a short gold necklace I’d had since the ‘80s.
I moved to the mirror in my closet, huffing at my unruly red locks, but ultimately decided to leave my hair down.
It was probably about time I got it cut.
It was hitting just about at my hips at this point, but I loved it and the freedom it represented about radically being myself.
I’d worked fucking hard in therapy to get to this point, and it was about damn time I started practicing the skills I’d learned.
I put on some black eyeliner to complete the look, then grabbed my black leather motorcycle jacket. I was dressed in all black, but it was about the only thing in my closet anymore aside from that silly St. Paddy’s Day T-shirt I wore the other night.
Poe was in the living room in dark acid-washed jeans and a gray V-neck T-shirt with a plum blazer over it. She always dressed very business casual, but that was just her. Poe’s attention turned over to me as I entered the living room, eyes wide as she scanned my body.
“Yo, that looks great. Are we going out again? I can’t remember the last time I saw you dressed up,” she said.
I went a little red in the face and averted my gaze. “Ah, no. It was time to try bringing back the old Adaela again. It’s been a while since she’s made an appearance.”
Poe smiled as she walked toward the front door. “I’m digging this newfound confidence, girl. Where are we going?”
“I thought maybe we could hit up the Maplewood area. I’d like to stop by Hecate’s shop, then maybe we can get some lunch after?” I grabbed my bag off the hook next to the door as I opened it, and we walked out.
“Sounds like a plan. Is Vada coming?” Poe asked.
“Yes, she’s going to meet us there. Are you riding with me, or taking your own car? Where do you think we should go for lunch?” I responded, searching for my keys as we left.
“I’ll drive separately. You want to hit that brewery up over by Hecate’s shop?”
I grimaced as I huffed a laughed, then faked a gag. “No more booze for me for a bit, I’m afraid. There’s that cool little coffee shop down the street, though. They’ve got great sandwiches and should still be open when we finish up at Hellhounds.”
Vada was leaning against the wall of the building as I parked, and my heart skipped a beat.
Her hair was down, and she was staring at her phone in her hand.
She was in ripped dark jeans with a band T-shirt on and had a loose, dark gray cardigan over the shirt.
For all intents and purposes, she appeared at ease, but something told me that she knew everything that was going on in her environment intimately.
She didn’t need shadows to let her know what was around her, and I liked that about her.
I wondered what had happened in her life to make her so aware.
I took a deep breath, then stepped out of my car.
Poe was pulling into the parking lot as I made my way toward Vada.
She placed her phone in her back pocket as I approached her, face passive, but I saw the heat in her eyes as she very obviously did a slow perusal of my body.
I stifled a shiver and plastered on a smile, pretending as if I didn’t just catch that.
I normally didn’t enjoy the sensation of someone blatantly checking me out since I preferred to not be the center of anyone’s attention.
However, there was something about her that I didn’t mind so much.
“Hi, Vada. It’s nice to officially meet you when I’m not completely out of my mind,” I said, face heating a little.
“Hey. Same to you,” Vada smiled. “Thank you for inviting me to come along today. I’m interested to see what this new world has to offer.”
“It’s definitely still a work in progress,” I replied as Poe joined us. “Hey, bitch. Nice of you to finally show up.”
Poe laughed. “I was literally right behind you until I got stuck at the light.” She reached her hand out to Vada. “Hey, Vada, I’ve heard a lot about you. I’m Atropos, but most folks call me Poe nowadays.”
Vada’s eyes went a little wide before she schooled her expression, then shook Poe’s hand. “Honored. It’s not often you meet one of the Fates.”
Poe cackled, “Oh, girl, please. I’m just another person here. That’s the beauty of this new world Adaela’s helped us create.”
I opened the door to Hellhounds, attempting to brush off the compliment my bestie so easily threw out. “I hope you like magic shops. There’s no better one in town than this one.”
Poe stopped in the doorway, her eyes going milky.
Vada stopped, reaching out as if she wanted to help, but wasn’t sure how.
I waved it off. “Oh, this is normal for Poe. She’s aware of her surroundings, but she’s having a vision.
You’ll get used to it,” I said to Vada as I headed toward the supplies I’d needed for this spell.
“Does she have visions often?” Vada asked, glancing back at Poe, but following me in anyway.
“Yes, but she hasn’t had them as frequently as she has over the last few days.
She’s usually pretty quiet about the visions unless it’s something she can speak about.
Sometimes they’re mundane, like seeing a person walking into a room before they even get there.
Other times, she sees her son getting into shenanigans.
She hasn’t had any visions since the Pax was established that had any cause for world-ending prophecies, so at least there’s that,” I picked up a bottle of mugwort oil and put it into the basket I was carrying.
“I can’t imagine. Does she still speak with Lachesis and Clotho? I’ve not heard their names in a little while,” Vada asked. She was casually perusing the aisles, likely not interested in anything here since this shop didn’t cater to her unique abilities. I was secretly glad she’d come along anyway.
“Their relationship is a bit tenuous. Lachesis believes the three of them should have remained at Olympus, and she still resides there with Clotho. Poe has a hard job since she is ultimately a death goddess, and the sisters haven’t really been able to understand the difficulty Poe has had to endure throughout the ages.
” I walked around another corner in the shop, working to make sure I didn’t break something with my clumsiness.
“She’s been here with me since the beginning—before that, really.
At first it was because of the war, but then she began establishing relationships and realized that she didn’t have to be so alone in the world.
The Pax has been great for her to learn more about herself outside of her powers. ”
I thought again about how lucky I was to have Poe in my life.
We both knew death intimately. Not only because of our powers, but also because of the history behind it.
We weren’t from the same pantheons, but we experienced things similarly.
I rubbed at my chest, the old ache of the past making itself known.
It was part of the beauty of what we built here.
We could all relate on some level, and those bonds didn’t come easily after the lives we led.