Chapter 13 Gracie
Suggested Listening: Wannabe by Spice Girls
E mergency roommate meetings are never good. Especially when my body is still sparking little explosions of pleasure and I have paint in crevices. I only got a max of ten minutes warning and that wasn’t enough time to get totally clean.
Since Vyslan and Ezra are cleaning up still and Poppy swears she can smell demons, the three of us have gathered in Briella’s room. If someone were to ask me what encompasses the trend of dark academia decorating, I would show them a picture of this room.
The walls are a matte black, and if there isn’t a window on that wall, there are bookshelves. Which means that her queen sized bed is flanked by two stained glass windows that I’m pretty sure are a spell to add ambiance.
Since parting ways with her family meant no longer having access to their large library of grimoires, she’s taken to creating her own. All of her extra cash has gone to either scooping up orphaned grimoires or buying blank ones. Back when she realized she couldn’t trust her family any longer the three of us spent many long evenings transcribing what spells we knew to paper. It won’t make up for what she’s lost, but I think the grimoires we filled for her will hold special meaning.
We believe in the future she wants, not the one that was dictated for her.
What little color there is apart from the myriad of books is a dusky, rose pink. I like the combination for her. Strong, yet soft. Feminine and masculine. It’s a good balance for someone who was always forced into a single role.
“So…” I glance at Briella then Poppy.
We’re seated around the fireplace in her room, though it’s filled with candles instead of an actual fire. Like my room, the sofas and arm chairs are from the French Provisional period and redone to fit the room’s style. Unlike my room, there isn’t a fuzzy blanket or throw pillow anywhere to be seen. Briella has always been style over function that way.
I hope I’m not getting paint on anything.
I’ve got a large towel wrapped over my dirty pajamas. I’ll put on clean clothes after another shower and probably a bath.
Briella and Poppy look at each other, shifting uncomfortably on the sofa while I perch on a chair.
Poppy’s hair is done up in a braided bun. It’s clear she’s washed her face, but dirt smudges her hairline and there are stains from digging in the earth along the lower parts of her overalls. Today’s outfit is rather plain. Black denim with a gray crop top. She’s unclipped the front bib of the overalls, allowing them to hang from her generous hips.
Briella, on the other hand, looks a bit like a Victorian era school teacher with a high-necked black gown with lacey frills. It’s awfully formal.
Shit.
“What happened?” I ask as my brain begins to make connections.
Briella sighs and pries a ring off her pinky finger.
The gown vanishes as she sets the ring aside, leaving her in stretchy black leggings and a distressed, billowing tank top in brick red. Her hair is still up in a bun, but there are artfully coiled ringlets framing her face. Her lips are a ruby color that compliments her hair, but her complexion is much paler than usual.
“Russ,” Briella mutters.
I recoil. “Russ? What about that loser?”
“He said we performed an unsanctioned summoning. The coven waylaid me during my deliveries. I had to go play the wide eyed, I-don’t-know-what-he’s-talking-about card. The only reason it worked is because I’ve never lied to my mother before.”
“Shit,” I mutter.
“We aren’t going to be able to get money doing unsanctioned summons after this,” Poppy says, but her posture and words have an aggressive edge to them. Like she’s looking for a fight. “What are we going to do, Gracie? What else is there for us to do?”
“Hold on.” I lift my hands and muster my thoughts, but my brain is jelly. Between the edible, the lust breath, and sex I’m not working with a full deck upstairs right now. “What exactly did Russ say? How would he have known if we did a summons?”
Briella looks at me with sympathetic eyes. Like she wants to hug me. “Russ claims that Ezra’s blood dealer, Farid, sold us demon blood for a summoning.”
“No.” I shake my head. “No. That doesn’t make any sense. Have we all bought blood from Farid? Does it make sense that we’d buy demon blood right now when we’re broke? Fuck no. That’s a reach, Briella. Please, tell me you see that.”
She shrugs. “Everyone was really convinced.”
“Because it’s convenient. They want a reason to point fingers at us,” I snap back.
“Gracie,” Briella says slowly, “Wouldn’t it be a good idea to send Vyslan home?”
I take a deep breath as the knee jerk desire to snap back at my best friend eats me up from the inside. That’s angry, emotional Gracie, and she can be a wrecking ball.
“You make a good point,” I say in a tone that’s far more even than I thought I could manage.
Poppy gasps and collapses back into the sofa.
“I don’t want to send Vyslan home yet.”
My two best friends gape at me.
I shrug.
“There are the obvious reasons. I like him. Ezra likes him. He’s fun to be around. He’s completely taken over cooking and cleaning. But here’s the other part of it. The coven isn’t going to stop coming after us. Listening to Russ? That’s a desperate move on their part. Why didn’t they arrest him? Hm?”
Both Briella and Poppy jerk back.
“What?” Poppy mutters.
“Yeah.” I wave my arms, losing my grip on the towel. “After all that, I decided to see if Russ was in good standing with the coven. Want to know what I found out? He’s got a warrant. He skipped bail for something else he did. So why is the coven conveniently listening to him when, according to their own procedures, they should have arrested him?”
Briella and Poppy stare at me in shocked silence. I hadn’t told them any of this because it seemed like stress neither of them needed. But maybe it’s time I stop gatekeeping stressful information. Have I hindered them by taking care of things for them? Am I the problem?
“So, the more logical reasons as to why I don’t want Vyslan to leave? He is walking, talking evidence. He can also protect us. The summoning contract ensures that the three of us—alive—is in his best interest.”
“Did he tell you the particulars of the contract?” Briella asks.
“He gave me a copy, but it’s boilerplate stuff. If Russ had any idea, the caliber of demon he was summoning, he should have used a more iron clad contract. Which I think works in our favor.”
Briella nods slowly. “Because his good behavior in light of a very light restrictions proves he isn’t a danger.”
“Exactly.”
Poppy jumps up from the sofa and begins to pace. “I don’t like this.”
“I know,” I say as softly as I can manage.
“Vyslan aside,” Briella mutters. “What are we going to do about the mortgage payment? I have nineteen dollars in my bank account.”
“I might have twenty-five,” I say.
Poppy doesn’t answer. We all know it’s probably overdrawn because she had to rescue some wilting plant she saw somewhere. She’s got a big heart, but she still hasn’t adjusted to managing things herself. And I can’t be a helicopter mom.
“Throwing this out there,” Poppy says slowly. “What if we made some gourmet treats? A cake? Something a bit classier than we sell in the shop. Something bespoke, made to order.”
“Like… Infused peanut butter chocolate truffles?” I ask.
She blinks at me a few times then frowns. “Bitch, are you holding out on us?”
I throw up my hands. “Not to poke at a sore spot, but Vyslan made them tonight. Can confirm. They’re very good.”
Poppy stares at me. I know she’s torn between her fear of demons and her curiosity.
“I love the idea,” Briella says. “But… I’m sorry. I’m going to side with whatever Poppy wants to do, Gracie.”
I nod. It’s not unexpected.
Briella has been stressed and anxious about things since her birthday. And because I’m not the most touchy-feely person, Poppy has stepped up and been her main shoulder to lean on. I understand that makes Briella feel a certain way about things.
“Can I think about this, please?” Poppy asks.
“Of course. Pops, you know I love you. And… I’m sorry this whole situation is what it is.”
“I’m not ready to talk about it,” she blurts out.
I nod and sink into the chair.
Am I being an asshole? Am I the problem?
Poppy has never shared her reasons for disliking demons with me. It’s just been a part of her history we don’t discuss. It pre-dated my entry to the coven. I know Briella knows at least some of it, maybe all.
My logical brain can’t accept blaming Vyslan for something he didn’t do. From my standpoint, it’s basically racism. But I also can’t rule out that I don’t know the facts. I don’t know what she’s been through or how Vyslan’s presence might be harming her.
For now, I have to trust that Poppy will tell me when she’s reached her limit. And I’ll have to figure out what comes next.
Briella clears her throat. “In theory, let’s talk about potential products. Truffles. Brownies. What else?”
“Cheesecake,” I point out.
“Whipped cream and budder,” Poppy says.
Briella pinches her lips between her teeth for a moment and stares up at the ceiling. “It’s too bad we don’t have more time. If we wanted to, we could throw together an event. Do you know how the women I deliver to would jump at the chance to drink wine, eat infused sweats, and be away from their kids?”
“It’s not a bad line of business,” I agree. But as with everything else it comes down to manpower.
We just don’t have the people and resources to support everything we want to do. Yet.
“How much budder do we have made right now?” Poppy asks.
I frown at the candles in the fire place. “Oh, easily eight, twelve sticks, I think?”
“Then lets keep it simple,” she says. “Sell them at a loss. Twenty-five a stick. Goal is to sell ten sticks. That’s a steal . We could move that much just by reaching out to people we know without involving the store at all. Besides, once this month is behind us, the budget will be more manageable without the loan repayment.”
I can’t help but grin at her and feel a little proud. “That’s a great idea, Poppy.”
She smiles back and picks something off her pants. “Thanks. Just taking a page from your book and figuring out a solution.”
“I’m proud of you.”
Her smile widens and her posture relaxes.
Poppy is like a flower herself, only she’s been starved and left to wilt. I forget how far a little praise can go with her.
“So, what’s with the paint?” Briella asks.
“Um.” I glance down at me and check the chair to make sure I haven’t gotten anything on the fabric or wood. “Well… It turns out that Ezra doesn’t have a lot of hobbies. So we decided to try out painting tonight.”
She snorts. “And you were the canvas?”
I shrug. “Only at the end after we’d been painting in our own bubble a while.”
Poppy snickers. “And how’d that go?”
“Shut it, you,” I snap and wag my finger at her. That just makes Poppy laugh. We all know I’m not the artistic witch in this little family. I collapse back into the chair with a chuckle. “Vys might have asked if I was painting a cat’s asshole.”
“What?” Briella shrieks.
Poppy throws herself backward laughing.
I cover my face. “It was so bad, guys. So, so bad. But I was so high I… I was totally into it.”
“Was? Sure you aren’t still?” Poppy deadpans.
“Those truffles were good .”
“Damn, now I’m jealous.” Briella huffs, crosses her arms under her generous chest, and pouts. “How is it you find all the men that can cook ?”
“I’d be willing to bet there are more. I don’t know for sure, but…” I shrug. Vyslan is something of a perfectionist. It stands to reason he’d make more than needed then serve only the perfect ones.
Briella and Poppy look at each other and my heart sinks.
“Maybe another time,” Briella says. “Are we worried about Russ or the blood dealer?”
I roll those two separate problems around. “No. Farid isn’t beholden to the coven for anything. And I doubt he’d willingly offer up information. It’s more likely that Russ fabricated the whole thing and threw Farid’s name in to make it sound authentic.”
“You sure?” Poppy asks.
“I’ll pass the word on to Ezra. For now, I’m going to go shower. Again.” I gesture to myself. “And maybe a third time for good measure.”
“You do that,” Briella snickers.
I blow them each a kiss in lieu of a hug. “We’re going to get through this. Love you both.”
“Love you, too,” Briella says without hesitation. “Get those boys to scrub your back!”
I don’t miss the way Poppy merely grumbles.
How do I make this work? I’m falling in love with a demon my best friend hates. I don’t want to give either of them up, but I feel like I’m being backed into a corner.