Page 7 of Ira

Friends.

“You and I could be friends,” I replied instantly, meaning it. Meera was beautiful. I’d be lying to myself if I tried to convince myself that I wasn’t attracted to her. But I would putthat attraction aside because it seemed like she reallyneededa friend. I could be that for her. I could help her adjust to life here. Hadn’t I been considering the idea earlier today while I was on duty? I’d wanted to make more of an effort to get to know the ex-Hunters, to help them feel comfortable here. Tonotbe another male pestering them for their attention, but to help them acclimate to a new realm and a new life.

Meera was entrusting me with that, and I was grateful for it.

“And I could introduce you to more Shades when you’re ready for that,” I added, suspecting that she, in fact, wasn’t quite ready for that just yet.

“That would be amazing, thank you. In the human realm… Well, let’s just say it was difficult to make friends. To trust people. And it’s not like I’m totally over that, but being here and staying with the others… I guess I realized how much Iwantto be happy here.”

I wasn’t sure who she was trying to convince with those words, but I was determined to help her, regardless, because I wanted her to be happy too.

“Perhaps I could come by here tomorrow at midday?” I suggested tentatively. “I prefer to have lunch outside. We could sit and talk for a while if you like?”

Meera perked up instantly, the faintest hint of something bright and happy in her scent. “Would you? I’m not sure I’m ready to venture out on my own yet.”

“Of course. I’ll be here. And if you change your mind and don’t come out, that’s okay too—I’ll take the hint, and I won’t feel any kind of bitterness about it. I can’t imagine the challenges you’ve faced since moving here.”

Meera’s expression gave nothing away, but the hint of sadness in her scent couldn’t lie. “They’re nothing compared to the challenges I facedbeforemoving here. Until tomorrow, Verner.”

Chapter 2

“Knock, knock!” Verity called, breezing into my room before I had a chance to reply. If it were anyone else, I’d have probably been annoyed, but Verity—although she was older than me—reminded me so much of my little sister that it was impossible to be mad at her. If anything, I felt a little sad whenever I saw her, thinking of the young adult Latika must be now. Though I doubted she’d held onto the carefree tendencies she’d had as a kid, the way Verity seemed to have managed to do well into adulthood.

My mother would have quickly seen to that once I was gone.

“I’m having a crisis. I’ve run out of lotion, and I’m not leaving this house with ashy knees.” Verity gestured at her bare legs in the short pink tutu she was wearing like the severity of the issuewas self-evident. “I guess I could change, but I’m emotionally attached to this outfit already.”

“I’ve got lotion.”

I climbed off the bed, shaking my head slightly in bemusement as I grabbed a bottle of lotion and handed it to her. I’d briefly contemplated putting more effort into choosing my outfits since Tallulah and Verity were both so interested in fashion, but I’d quickly realized I wouldn’t know the first place to start anyway.

Jeans never let me down. Jeans required no thought. Jeans didn’t care that my knees were ashy.

Besides, I’d never had any money for clothes back in the human realm—I’d just grabbed whatever was cheap and didn’t draw any attention to myself. The clothing budget here seemed to be unlimited—we were encouraged to tell Astrid what we wanted and she just magically made it appear. Even with no cost constraints, I wouldn’t know what to ask for other than jeans, shorts, t-shirts, and sweaters.

Some faint hints of glitter in Verity’s tutu caught the light as she moved, and I eyed it warily. No. I wouldn’t have the first clue what to do with something like that.

“Thank all the stars for you,” Verity sighed dramatically, immediately setting to work on her legs. “Astrid said she’d pick up some more for me on her next supply run, but she doesn’t seem to think it’s an emergency. Like… how? Why? I’m obviously going to befriend her still, but we don’t understand each other at all.”

“We’re all very different personalities,” I said diplomatically, sitting on the edge of the bed. I’d been up and dressed for hours, waiting for the others so we could head over to the dining hall together for breakfast. Verity usually overslept, so it was a surprise to have her joining us at all.

I was pretty confident Astridwouldn’tjoin us, and I’d end up bringing her back her favorite selection of sodium-heavy snacks—mostly cured meat—so that she’d at least eatsomething.

I didn’t know anything about making friends, but I was trying. Astrid required the most cautious approach. Thus far, food offerings seemed to be the safest choice.

“What kind of level is our friendship at?” Verity asked, finishing up one modelesque leg and switching to the other. No wonder half the shadow realm was in love with her already. “Because I had sex with a Shade last night, and I really want to talk about it.”

I choked on my saliva, coughing awkwardly.

“Too much?” she asked, wincing. “Sorry. I’m not good at reading the room on these things, you know? Like, why aren’t we besties already? What are the steps that need to be taken here? Would it help if we swapped childhood trauma stories?”

Sometimes, I wondered if Verity’s social skills were just as stunted as mine, and it just manifested in a different way.

“It’s fine,” I said hurriedly. “We don’t need to, er, do that. I just didn’t expect you bringthattopic up. We can talk about it.”

“Oh, good. Okay. So does that mean wearebesties? You can answer that later. Did you know Shade dicks have this, like…balloonthing at the base?”

Maybe I wasn’t ready to talk about this.

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