Page 120 of Scars Like Wings

“I’m definitely down. I know you mentioned watching movies earlier. What’s on the watchlist tonight? Any monster or slasher movies?”

I scrunched up my nose. “Absolutely not! My life is a monster flick—where the monsters at least live in the end, but it’s not super fun to watch those for me. And if I wanted to be stalked by a guy with mommy issues and bloodlust, I would visit the Business District in the middle of the night.”

Quinn chuckled. “Fair.”

“Every Halloween, after hanging with the girls, I come home, put on my favorite jammies, and watch the list of true crime documentaries I’ve been dying to watch all year. Oof, that was a bad pun.”

I made Quinn chuckle again. “It’s okay! I love a dark unintentional pun. You do this every year?”

I nodded. “What’s scarier than crime, murder, and cults?”

“Well, it sounds like my kind of night then. Do you mind if I join you?”

“Are you kidding me? I would freaking love that!” I leaped onto the couch and loaded up my favorite streaming service. I launched into what the options were. In between, I asked Quinn about everything from her favorite popcorn flavors to what she would bring to survive onNaked and Afraid.

After what felt like too much rambling, I said. “I’m so sorry, pumpkin.”

Quinn smiled, her eyes twinkling. “Don’t apologize, baby girl. I like wine-drunk Byrd. Although tequila-drunk Byrdie was pretty fun.”

“Well, my Aunt used to say that whiskey gets you frisky, tequila gets you pregnant, but wine, no matter red or yellow, will surely make you smart and mellow.”

Quinn threw her head back and laughed so hard that Clarkson righted herself to look at her. She tilted her head in that cute doggy way when they’re confused. Hearing Quinn’s laugh made my heart swell. I wanted to hear that sound again and again.

Smiling, I picked out a movie. I think it was about a woman whose parents were held hostage and murdered under strange circumstances. I say I “think” because as soon as Quinn and I pressed play at the same time on our TVs, we started talking again and we hardly stopped. The movie soon became background noise for our conversation and laughter, but I didn’t mind it at all.

I would talk to Quinn every minute of every day that I could if given the chance.

I was so engrossed in talking that when the doorbell rang twenty or so minutes into the movie, I nearly jumped out of my skin.

“Who could that be this late?” I asked, getting up from the couch.

“Trick o’ treater, maybe?” Quinn said, sitting up on her own couch.

I raised my eyebrows at her. “I live in a penthouse suite, starlight. The gargoyle guardians hand out candy to the kids on the street, so they don’t make it up the elevator.”

I opened the door. There, a large black box floated on a cloud of sparkling blue and white at my eye level. It motioned forward, and I widened the door’s opening to allow it inside.

Like humans, we had a postal service, but ours had levels of magic. On the lowest level, there was the bespelled sorting system at every supernatural postal office that knew where to send your package. However, for those willing to pay, you could get a spell on your package that would deliver it to the location of the recipient, no matter how absurd or remote. I have never used it, but Everett has had to use it for work before and, of course, Simone’s parents have used it on her.

The box flew in as if in the arms of an invisible postal carrier. Then it landed on the kitchen island with its magic swirling and dispersing like glitter in the air.

“It’s a package!” Closing the door behind me and turning toward the kitchen, I flipped the video call’s camera for Quinn to see. “Whoever sent this is rich! Sending a package this late through Spellbound is crazy expensive. Who could this be from?”

“Maybe it’s one of your girlfriends?” Quinn waggled her eyebrows.

“Har har!” I rolled my eyes. “Who would want to be a girlfriend with my nerdy ass?”

“Well, it is a fantastic ass.” Quinn winked.

I laughed at her as I examined the box more closely. What I had first thought was black, I could now see, was actually a darknight blue instead. Tiny, dazzling sparkles shimmered across the box. They looked just like stars in the night sky. At the bottom of the box, I could even make out the dark outline of trees, swaying on a delicate breeze. It was mesmerizing to look at, but I pulled my eyes away to take in the entire box. Sitting on top of the counter, the box stood a little higher than the top of my ponytail. I couldn’t see any tape on its lid at the top. I could hardly make out if therewasa lid. I kneeled on one of the barstools to see above the package, but I still didn’t see a way to open it from above.

“It’s weird. There isn’t a way to open it that I can see. Like no seams or openings or anything. Hang on, let me try something.” I leaned down to position my phone where Quinn could see me and the package within frame.

“Definitely liking this view. Those pajamas should be illegal.” Quinn’s eyes darkened as she watched me. I was hyper-aware of my shirt and shorts riding up over my curves to expose more skin. I felt my cheeks heat under her hungry gaze.

I caressed one of the corners at the top. Suddenly, at my touch, the stars on the box started to glow, making me lean back in my chair. Lines shot from them to connect to each other until the entire box was ablaze with light. When the light was getting so bright my eyes were starting to hurt, a light beam shot up toward the condo’s vaulted ceilings. Then it burst. The white exploded into a show of orange, white, black, and gold. They popped like fireworks in my own home before raining down on me.

As it came close to the end, the sparkles from one of the explosions came together to form a Monarch Butterfly made of pure light, carrying a maroon something with a trail of diamonds in its wake. It fluttered around before dropping whatever it was carrying onto the counter and poofed into a cloud of glitter at the same time the other fireworks stopped.

---