Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
JUPITER
I lay stretched out on a blanket near the bonfire, belly full of food, skin still warm from the whisky we’d started passing around as soon as the sun went down.
Above us, the forest canopy swayed in the wind, black branches against the velvet blue of the night.
The air was sweet and smoky with burning cedar.
Someone was playing a playlist on a portable speaker.
Phoenix and Aiden had built the fire, and Aiden was maintaining it for a few hours now with little to no effort.
It was enormous, flames licking six feet high, logs stacked in a pyramid.
Phoenix was in his element, obviously. He’d brought not just logs but a whole armory of roasting sticks, packets of marshmallows, weird Aelari fruit, and something he’d called “fire apples” that he’d spiked with cinnamon and rum.
Lydia was propped up against a fallen log across from us, legs flung over Valeria’s lap, her head tipped back as she howled with laughter.
Tye sprawled beside them, not even pretending to be sober.
His human girlfriend, Kassie, had streaks of blue in her hair and warm chestnut brown eyes.
She was gorgeous, and I could see why Tye was so smitten.
The rest of Lydia’s shield were draped around them in various stages of tipsy adoration.
It must have been nice, I thought, to have five people that into you.
Then I looked around at my own shield, all sprawled in a semi-circle around the fire, and realized I was the goddamn luckiest bitch on this planet.
The gala was in a few days, and my best friends had flown in over the weekend in preparation.
Having them at Imperium even for such a short time made me wish they could just stay here with me.
In a perfect world I could convince all of them to transfer.
The Assembly would probably have a collective freaking aneurysm.
Lucas sat at my left, his hand braced behind me, glasses glinting orange in the firelight, turquoise eyes constantly connecting with mine. Percy was next to him, arms folded, tattoos gleaming dark above the rolled sleeves of his shirt, a rare genuine smile tugging at the edges of his mouth.
Aiden’s golden hair was pulled back in one of those lazy surfer guy style man bun things. He leaned back with his elbows in the grass, watching me constantly. He did that now. Since that day in the pond. He watched me unapologetically.
Eris, legs stretched out and massive shoulders blocking the flames, nursed a flask of some terrifying Scottish liquor, talking with Rowan. Draco perched on the log next to Tye, deep in conversation.
Rowan and Theo were already arguing over whether s’mores counted as a “proper” dessert. Rowan said yes, Theo said only if they were made with white chocolate, which sounded disgusting to me.
Phoenix was grabbing a stick out of the fire, marshmallow ablaze, waving it like a torch and cackling. Too bad, he was wasting perfectly good marshmallows.
Jamie and Gretchen were perched at the edge of the circle. Gretchen was watching Noodle, who’d decided tonight he was a marshmallow warden and was currently curled around the bag, flicking his tongue at anyone who reached for it.
This was honest to god the first time since the day I manifested that I’d felt like I belonged, completely. My little family, however hodgepodge and strange they were. Overhead, a warm wind picked up, scattering sparks into the trees. The pop and crackle of the fire was hypnotic.
“So what you’re telling me,” Rowan said, pointing a stick at me, “is that you actually managed to catch a pixie in a plastic storage container. And then it bit you.”
“And then,” Lucas added dryly, “you let it go. But not before it ate, what, three whole sleeves of cookies?”
I shrugged. “Pixies are a lot smarter than you think. If you want to catch one, you have to use real bait.”
Lucas shook his head. “The night you convinced that pixie to take marshmallows out of your hand was actually the first time I even caught a glimpse of the little bastards, and I’ve lived here far longer than you.”
I shook my head. “I tried to take a picture of the little bugger, but I think they’re too fast.”
Tye snorted. “I tried to take a selfie with a raccoon once and it nearly clawed my face off.
Okay, clearly Tye was drunk.
Percy arched a brow at him. “Why would you want a selfie with a raccoon? Aren’t there like a billion of those in New York dumpsters?”
“I thought it might want to be my familiar,” Tye insisted.
“But clearly it was like a mutant or something. It’s so unfair that Jupiter and Jamie get familiars while I get my eyes almost scratched out.
” He paused, and it was like a lightbulb went off in his head as he leaned forward.
“I wonder what kinds of creepy creatures live on the home worlds. Probably some weird alien monsters that make mutant raccoons look like kittens.”
That got everyone talking at once, speculating about what kind of monsters and magical creatures might be waiting for us back home. I’d wondered about it myself, late at night, when the idea of actually leaving Earth started to feel real.
I sat up, grinning at the group. “Okay, but let’s be honest, there’s no way the home worlds aren’t crawling with weird shit. Like, imagine something that looks like a platypus but shoots venom out of its nose.”
“Or,” Rowan said, “giant carnivorous moths with tusks.”
Draco raised a hand. “I read once about something called a lunar mantis, which could decapitate you with one swipe of its claws. They were apex predators on at least two planets.”
“‘Lunar mantis’ is a metal band, Draco, not an animal,” Jamie deadpanned.
Theo grinned. “I’m holding out for asteroid-sized jellyfish that float through the upper atmosphere. Like weather balloons, but full of acid.”
Lydia perked up. “Ooh, yes! And, like, rainbow tigers. But they’re psychic, and they can make you hallucinate if you look them in the eyes.”
Valeria just looked at her with a fond, soft expression. “You’re adorable.”
Lydia didn’t even blush. “I am adorable. Next.”
“Sentient fungus,” Tye announced. “Like, you step on a mushroom and it asks you a riddle. Fail, and it eats your legs.”
Theo considered this. “Would the mushroom have a face? Or is it, like, a vibe?”
Tye thought about it. “Face. Definitely. With really creepy human-like teeth.”
There was a long moment as everyone processed that. Then Lucas said, “The only thing worse than a predatory mushroom with human teeth is, possibly, a carnivorous root system that snatches you through the soil. Bonus points if it screams while it eats you.”
The conversation dissolved into even more unhinged ideas.
Eris grinned at me, eyes bright. “What’s your vote for most menacing magical beastie?”
I tapped my chin, pretending to ponder. “Honestly, I think it’s gonna be the bugs. Some kind of bug that gets under your skin and turns you into a zombie.”
The group groaned in unison.
“That’s horrific,” Jamie said, shuddering.
Lucas raised his palms. “As long as there aren’t any giant spiders, I’ll take my chances.”
Aiden gave him a look. “You’re afraid of spiders?”
Lucas didn’t even bother to look ashamed. “Absolutely. Spiders can get all the way fucked.”
Noodle flicked his tongue. ‘Spiders delicious.’
I snorted. “We’ll send you on the first scouting mission, Nood.”
‘Try and stop me.’
After a while, when everyone was tipsy and the fire was burning low, Theo announced, “Alright, children. Truth or dare. We’re doing this.”
A chorus of groans followed, but not a single protest. Everyone knew where this was headed.
Theo took charge, naturally. “Rules are simple. No chickening out. We go around the circle, clockwise, starting with…” He set down an empty bottle of beer on a stump and gave it a spin.
“Ah, yes, Jamie Fraser, you get to go first, you sexy Scot.”
Lord kill me now.
Eris didn’t even blink, he just locked his fingers behind his head, smirking as he said, “Truth.”
Theo grinned. “Who was your first crush at Dominion?”
Eris snorted. “Easy. Professor Navari, hands down. The way she threatened to set me on fire first semester? Hot.”
Lucas snorted. “Well, you definitely have a type.”
I shot Lucas a glare as he winked at me.
Draco shook his head. “I’m genuinely horrified and yet not at all surprised.”
“Next,” Theo said.
Eris spun the bottle, and it was Draco’s turn. “Truth.”
Draco didn’t even look nervous. He just sat there with that glacial, unbothered expression, hands folded in his lap.
So of course Theo, the chaos gremlin, whispered into Eris’s ear, feeding him the question.
“Draco, did you or did you not break into the Director’s office and steal a fragment of a Sagittarius moon from the display case?”
The whole group erupted. Phoenix actually choked on his marshmallow.
To his credit, Draco just tilted his head, considering. “Define ‘steal.’ I intended to return it. Eventually…”
Aiden called his bluff. “He’s had that damn thing on his bookshelf since the day I met him. There was absolutely zero intent to return it.”
Theo pointed at me, grinning. “Our Scorpio is a criminal mastermind. Any comment, Jupiter?”
I shrugged, grinning into my drink. “I’ve never been more proud.”
Draco straightened slightly. “In my defense, it was being kept under fluorescent lighting. Fluorescent lighting, Jupiter. The thing is older than most governments.”
Lucas deadpanned, “You could have just written them a strongly worded letter, mate.”
Draco scoffed, and picked up the bottle and spun it, sending it whirling across the circle. It landed on Jamie.
There was a pause, like everyone was taking a quick mental bet on what Jamie would choose. He just shrugged. “Dare.”
Lydia perked up immediately, eyes sparkling with mischief. “Perfect. Jamie, I dare you to… uh… eat a marshmallow out of Gretchen’s mouth. Like, Lady and the Tramp style.”
The group howled, even Theo, who looked like he might die from oxygen deprivation.