Chapter 5
Electra
My head.
Holy mother of the mine, my poor, poor head.
I roll over, my brain playing bumper cars in my skull. I am never drinking again. Never fucking ever.
A groan slips free as I crack my lids open and blink around me.
The raspberry-colored curtains help situate me immediately: Calanthe’s bedroom at Lisa’s house.
Though I have zero recollection of how I got here, a small wave of relief washes over me—one that unfortunately does nothing to clear my grogginess.
After massaging my temples a great many times, I root around the mussed sheets for my phone only to find it charging on the wireless base. I imagine I didn’t put it there, but maybe I did. Can’t really remember much after meeting Ines’s super-tanned ex.
I swipe my finger, expecting the lock screen to clear. Except it doesn’t. I rub my eyes, smooth my hair. Still no luck with Face ID. Ugh. Stupid technology. I punch in my six-digit code. The first thing I notice is the clock: 11:49 am.
The second thing I notice is a notification from a contact named…
I didn’t…
But apparently, not only did I, Electra Serran, exchange phone numbers with Cillian Lowry, but I also gave him a ridiculous nickname.
BOOGIE BOO: How are you feeling?
BOOGIE BOO: I’m outside, by the way. In case you want to talk about last night…
Blood prickles the column of my throat. Shit.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
“I’ll go wake her,” I hear Fiona holler a second before the bedroom door swings wide. “Rise and shine. Your beau’s here.”
Fiona’s shrill timbre stabs my eardrums, angering my throbbing temples. I’m a supernatural being, immune to most forms of death, but clearly, I’m not immune to alcohol. Or stupid decisions made under the influence of alcohol.
I dig my fingertips into the sides of my head and knead.
“Though I’m sure Cillian will find you lovely with crusty spit and hair poofier than mine when I was a wee teen in the seventies”—she throws open the curtains, allowing blinding light to impale my corneas—“might I suggest you go freshen up?”
I squeeze my lids shut. When I crack them back open, I’m assaulted by another violent sight.
This has to be a dream. First, because the real Fiona doesn’t wear leggings, much less hot-pink ones, and second, there’s no version of reality where I would’ve given Cillian Lowry the pet name of Boogie Boo.
“Callie!” I shrill, my pitch startling Fiona, sending her large diamond pendant clinking against the rest of her necklace charms.
A moment later, the scent of freshly brewed coffee wafts into the bedroom. “You beckoned, Elle?”
“Release me from la-la-land right this second,” I command her.
Calanthe leans against the doorframe, one of her brows hitching in time with a corner of her mouth. “The only person I can drag into my dreamscape is my own”—the other corner of her lips flips up—“boo.”
Apprehension blisters my skin. “Why would you use that word?”
“Fi, can you give Elle and me a minute?”
“Sure, but don’t let her escape.” She sashays across the room, hips swaying under the tight pink spandex. “’Cause we are all dancin’.”
“Over my dead body…” I mutter.
She stops in the doorjamb and narrows her eyes at me. “What was that?”
Calanthe pats Fiona’s shoulder. “I’ll get Elle ready and out there in a jiffy. Keep her beau entertained, will you? He looked a tad nervous.”
As she adds the last part, she sends me a look that brims with an illegal amount of pleasure.
The instant Fiona shuts the door, I hiss, “Cillian Lowry’s not my beau.”
“Sorry, I meant boo.”
“He’s not my boo either.” I can’t help the wrinkle that seizes my nose. Until a realization hits. “You’re the one who picked his moniker and put his phone number in my cell.”
“You entered the phone number, but yes, I’m the mastermind behind the name. Catchy, no? Boogie Boo?”
“It hurts my eyes and brain. It’s horrid.”
Calanthe laughs.
“Remind me why our goddess decided to give you runes and immortality?”
“Because, Electra dearest, had I not been bestowed immortality, our overlord would’ve gone feral and unleashed Armageddon on the world.” She takes a seat on the edge of the queen-sized mattress and hands me the mug of coffee.
“Our overlord?” I snort. “Have you called Tarian that to his face yet?”
“No, but I totally intend to tonight. I bet he’ll love it.”
That man loves anything and everything about Calanthe. He lives and breathes for her. Perhaps there’s hope for me yet. After all, if someone as gruff and tetchy as Tarian Hadez can find love, then don’t I, too, have a chance at relationship bliss?
“It’s cute that you gave him your number, even though a part of me thinks you didn’t exactly do it for the right reasons.”
My swallow of coffee goes down the wrong hole, and I cough.
“I know seeing Mal and Ines together hurt, and I’m all about revenge dating, but how about you put yourself out there and find someone you actually click with?”
“Hey, you were all for Fi’s matchmaking.”
“I know, but after last night, after seeing how Cillian looks at you, I guess I’m a little worried.” She grips her lower lip with her teeth. “He’s really sweet, and you’re…”
“A bitch?” I supply.
“I was going to say, you’re in love with someone else.
” The corners of her mouth twitch with a smile that wanes fast. “Look, I trust you know what you’re doing, but Cillian’s really into you.
Like, burn-the-world-down into you. Like Tarian-intensity into you.
If you’re not attracted to him even a little bit, then maybe don’t start anything. ”
I don’t have the slightest clue what I started, mainly because I can’t remember how the night ended.
“But whatever you decide, Elle, I’ve got your back.”
I swallow. Who needs a man in their life when they’ve got someone like Calanthe?
“Are you about to weep?” Her smile is back with a vengeance.
I lift my duvet-cloaked feet and shove her off the bed. “Bad bitches don’t weep. Now, go tear up the dancefloor with Boogeyman.”
“Boogie Boo.” She stands. “And I’m not leaving without you.”
“Then get comfortable, because there’s no way I’m going out there to dance.”
“Fine.” I think she’s about to flop down beside me and sit out the Zumba lesson, until she says, “Don’t dance, but at least come watch me make a fool of myself.”
“Now, that I can do.” Not to mention that I need a word with Cillian to learn what I might’ve said to him last night.
I pray to Gaea I didn’t take him up on his deal.