7. The Girls
The Girls
Rez
Awave of dizziness hits me so hard I practically see stars floating in front of me. What the fuck happened?
Knox’s earthy scent engulfs me as strong arms wrap around my waist, and he pulls me against his hard body. Shock and frustration radiate down our link as his chest vibrates with a deep growl.
A static type of energy rolls off the guy—Jules—in front of me as his eyes shift to look Knox up and down, sneering.
“Calm down, Lassie. It’s just a side effect of my charm. She’ll get used to it the more she’s around me.” He says it with a cocky smile, but it doesn’t hide what it truly is—a challenge, or more importantly, a threat.
I don’t even get a chance to consider how I feel about it before Moni dives to my defense.
“Nope!” Moni shouts out, popping up to her bigger size, actively defusing the tension.
“She doesn’t need any more boytoys, nor do we have the time for it.
” She grabs my arm and stares at the newcomer.
“If you’re looking for a new toy to chew on, Angel is always available.
You don’t even need magic or your so-called charm to have her open her legs.
If you like clams, Serafin is as wet and slimy as they come.
And if reptiles are your thing, Emer’s a snake, but without the scales,” Moni blurts out, before pulling me toward the doors.
I stumble behind her with my jaw dropped, and the cafeteria goes as silent as a black hole, or what I would assume a hole of death would sound like.
The world freezes as Moni—the once known “bug”, the “pimp”, the “disowned”, a “nobody”—just verbally smacked down the three most popular Harpies in the school and called them sluts.
Not that there is anything against sleeping around, it’s not like I can’t throw any stones, but Dayum.
“What the Hell did that bug just say?” Angel shrieks as she tries to follow us, but Zeke blocks her.
“Try it,” he growls, “and I swear I’ll scramble that pea-size brain of yours so the only thing you’ll be able to do on your own is shit your diaper.” His eyes flash yellow, and Serafin and the other Harpies, except Angel, physically step back.
The Blonde Barbie grinds her teeth for a brief second, swallows, and reluctantly backs away also.
Something about how she didn’t immediately back down doesn’t sit right with me.
Why does she all of a sudden have the confidence as if she knows something that we don’t? I’ll pocket this for now and ask later.
As Moni pulls me out of the cafeteria and the guys follow like ducklings, I catch Emer’s haughty sing-song voice.
“Remember what I told you, Levi. Being truly mine and away from her will be the only way to make the pain stop. Soon enough, you’ll come looking for me.
I’ll be the only way.” A mixture of fury and dread hit me at once, making me stumble slightly at her warning.
What the hell did they do to Levi, and who do I need to kill to fix it?
Needing to see him, I find him over my shoulder, and once his hazel eyes find mine, he gives me a wink and a small smile that doesn’t reach his eyes.
He’s alright, but there’s something that’s obviously bugging him, and I have a feeling it’s the same thing that’s eating away at me also.
We need to find out what he really took, what the repercussions are, and how we fix it.
“You were a complete badass back there.” Chester kisses Moni’s cheek as we pile into the elevator.
“Verbal smackdown for the win,” Lynx encourages, raising his hand for a high five, which Moni doesn’t disappoint.
“Watch out, if you’re not careful, she’s gonna start attracting her own harem,” I tease, stifling a laugh as Chester’s eyes go wide.
“They couldn’t handle me anyway,” Moni says as the elevator dings. She grabs my hand and raises her tail straight into the air as Lynx has done a thousand times in his animal forms when he’s flipping me off, leading me onto our floor.
Knots quickly steps in front of us and runs his hand over the seam of the door frame as a white light trails behind his fingertips.
“What are you doing?” I ask, curious to see a Door Knight working in the physical form for once. I might as well take advantage of it.
“I’m checking to see if anything has been tampered with since I was here last,” he states before opening the door and ushering us inside.
JP immediately breaks away to the kitchen and starts mumbling about needing fresh groceries as the refrigerator door hangs open.
He pulls out his phone and starts ordering his supplies since he mentioned cooking later.
As everyone gathers in the living room, Chester tries to pull Moni to him, but he has no luck as she has an octopus attached to her other arm.
“Sorry, Chestie,” I mock. “I’m stealing your mate while I shower. I would suggest you guys clean up while we’re at it. Toodaloo.” I wave over my shoulder and drag Moni down the hall toward my bedroom.
‘Lynx. Can you make sure the guys know it might be a while? Not only are we going to talk about the cafeteria, but I want to make sure Moni is okay about everything that’s been happening lately. You know, not feeling too overwhelmed?’
‘You can count on me, Rezzi-bear. Take all the time you need. We’ll freshen up and figure out how we’ll do the sleep arrangements tonight.” I feel him close the link, and it’s a small jolt that I didn’t even think about the sleeping arrangements now that we’re back.
Fuck! I’m glad the guys are handling that, because my brain can’t process any more shit without a reboot.
“Ohhh, do I get the acre big bathtub?” Moni cries out as she shrinks, zipping around the room, opening cabinet doors, and turning on the faucet with her speed.
“If that’s what you want,” I chuckle as I step into the shower to turn it on, allowing the water to heat.
I step back out and find Moni already covered in the lavender bubble bath, and I doubt there’s an inch of water in the tub yet.
“Comfortable?” I ask, laughing at my bestie as she starts dancing under the faucet to a tune that’s in her head.
“Uh-huh, just presoaking, or is it called pre-rinsing? What’s the cycle on the dishwashing machine called again?” she asks as her ass twerks under the fall of water.
“Um, presoak, Mo, but you normally don’t rinse the soap off until afterward,” I tell her as I begin stripping out of my own clothes.
“Oh, I know, the heavy-duty suds are underneath my bark. You know I have to get extra clean in those places,” she giggles and then quickly sobers.
“I don’t want to get a bark infection and pass it on to Chestie.
I don’t even know if that’s possible. Oh my!
I don’t know if I can pass on anything to my mate!
I haven’t had that type of talk.” She shrieks and spins around to look at me, her bark turning a dark gray as she grows to her larger size, her eyes rolling back.
I trip over my pants, but I still make a dive for her anyway, saving her head from dipping into the water and possibly drowning, but I land on the edge of the tub, hitting my ribs where Angel stabbed me.
FUCK a colossal Typhlotic Chicken! I curse under my breath.
“Ugh, that’s gonna leave a mark. Okay, Moni, wake up so I can die in my shower now in peace,” I cry, shifting my weight and sitting up so I can tap her with my other hand.
“Ah!” Wide eyes bounce around until they land on me. “Rez, whatcha doing down there?”
“Oh, I thought I would just see if the tile still felt cool to the touch.” I give her a deadpan look.
“Why else would I be down here?” I roll my eyes and stand so I can finish kicking off my pants and get in the shower.
“Relax, Moni, nothing has happened yet, and you’ll have plenty of time to talk to Dr. Steinbeck about it, right?
” I push, getting us back on subject and trying to make her see the logic to everything so far.
At least I hope I’m spitting logic, but this is why I wanted some girl time with her.
This is some of the stuff she might not have been thinking about.
“You’re right, Rez. I just haven’t thought about any of this,” she confesses. “It seems like life has been jumping from one thing to the next, and I haven’t had a moment to process it all.” She sighs, then takes a breath and dives under the water.
I take off my underwear and bra before sliding underneath the blistering hot magma straight from Hell and immediately melt from the heat.
The water stings my skin and penetrates deep into my muscles, down to my bones, stripping them clean.
It’s as if I’m reborn and washed clean, something I haven’t felt in I don’t even know how long.
Even though I want to stay in this shower forever, I know I need to focus on Moni and make sure she’s okay, so I quickly wash my hair and condition it at least twice, then scrub my body clean.
I take care not to scrub too much on my newly acquired injuries, but I take note of all the places I’ve been beaten up on during our trip through hell.
As we wash, Moni and I talk about training with L.A.M.B.
, the good times we had, and some of the bad ones, especially when we find some bruises that we would rather not mention.
Like my ass bone, when I sit down to scrub my feet.
Astaroth is a damn monster, but I miss our weapons trainer.
I wonder how everything’s going down in Hell.
Levi’s magic can’t beat a good old-fashioned shower.
So, even though he had magicked away the blood and grime, the hot, pulsating jets of the shower and the liquid heat of magma helped soothe my achy bones.
Stepping out of the shower, I slip into a strawberry silk robe and meet Moni at the sink as she grabs some jars from the cabinet.
“What’s that?” I ask, wrinkling my nose at the strong mossy scent as Moni dunks her hand in the brownish goop.
“It’s for my bark so I don’t dry out too much,” she tells me as she sits down on the counter and slaps the offending gunk on her lower leg before rubbing it into her bark.
“You mean it’s like lotion?” I stare at her in shock, and I blindly reach for my own hair goop in the cabinet next to me.
“I guess that’s one way to look at it. I got dried out in Hell. I don’t come this mossy on my own, missy. It takes work. What’s that saying, trust the mess?” Moni says as she pulls out a Sparks cup from her S.I.N. box while applying more lotion with her spare hand.
“It’s trust the process, Moni.” I snort at her antics and shake my head as I dump a fair amount of green goop into my brunette curls.
“I still can’t believe you put the Harpies in their place,” I chuckle, still in awe from earlier.
“You’ve come a long way, bestie.” I give her a large smile, and she glows a bright pastel yellow.
“Thanks. I feel like a new me, like I’m still me, but a new and improved me,” she admits before looking up at me. “Like a Pimp 2.0 version.”
“Do you think it has anything to do with learning who your father is?” I hedge, not wanting to dismiss her accomplishments or her feelings, but I want to know what she’s thinking.
She pauses in the application of her lotion and crosses her legs on the counter to face me.
“Honestly, I think it’s a combination of everything, like learning to control my magic, learning that it’s not completely destructive, and yeah, my father is Lucifer,” she says before grabbing some more goop and applying it to her arms. “It was scary, but when I found Chester, I also think that helped change something inside of me.”
I start finger-combing the green goop through my hair as Moni begins applying a different type of lotion to the vines in her hair.
“Yeah, popping that V-card will do that to ya,” I chuckle.
“Holy Butter Bees and Dingle Whoppers.” Moni chokes on her drink while turning a bright pink from head to toe. “Don’t make me waste my Nectar of Life,” she shrieks.
“Remember when I had to come and rescue you because Chester couldn’t wake you after your Big-O?” I laugh, watching as she wipes her mouth and tries to control her shifting colors.
“Shut up!” she laughs, finally gaining control of her emotions and shifting to her usual green.
“Good times,” I sigh, walking out of the bathroom as Moni shrinks down and catches a ride on my shoulder. “Instead, now you’re the badass wielding mouth with teeth that the Harpies will have to watch out for.”
“It was the first time I felt strong and witty with them. I was like Super Human, having no fear whatsoever. If Zeke didn’t step in, I would have boom-boomed that mini Harpy myself.” Moni zips back and forth in front of the closet before I reach it, leaving green sparkles drifting to the floor.
“I think you mean Wonder Woman, and I bet the Harpies are wondering what has come over you, huh?” I tease, giving her a wink, before opening my walk-in closet after picturing yoga pants and a baggy top to sleep in.
“Those bloated flying hags have no clue what I can unleash now,” Moni taunts, laughing like a hysterical hyena before falling out of the air and crashing to the floor. I panic for a brief second until she gets up laughing and crashes into my dresser, still laughing.
“I swear, Moni, that bark has to be stronger than diamonds. Have you ever had a concussion?” I wonder as I slip on my underwear.
“What’s that?” she asks, her laughter dying out as she grows bigger and grabs her tail, twirling it in her hand.
“It’s a traumatic brain injury from hitting your head, you know, like from when you keep fainting,” I point out, grabbing the yoga pants next.
“Ugh, no. The only thing that gets annoying are the tree huggies,” she admits as her bark turns pink once again.
“Tree huggies? What…umm…” I trail off once my head pops out of my top.
“Yep, sometimes when I pass out, my bark slips up my backside and hugs my crack. Sometimes it gets stuck up there, and I have to shimmy until it loosens up. So if you ever see me doing the boogie woogie underpants dance, you know why.” Moni shrinks and flies to my eye level before she does a shimmy to demonstrate.
“Note taken.” I hold back a smile, biting the shit out of my lip until I taste blood. “Let’s go see what the boys have been up to while we’ve been catching up.”