Page 19 of Catching Fire

It logically made sense for her to not answer it, but it was emotionally tumultuous. She couldn't see who had shown up. What if it washim? What if Kalan didn't recognize him?

She heard Kalan’s voice and the whispered crinkle of plastic bags. “Thank you, man!”

The tension inside her popped like a water balloon. It was just the food delivery. Her breath rushed out and she almost folded over. She should not be that tense about every knock or ring of the doorbell, or she’d die of a heart attack before William Treat Sanders even took a shot at her.

Wouldn’t that just serve him right?

On shaky legs, she trailed the others into her own dining room. Her small square table looked exactly like what it was: the kind of table that came in a box. She’d assembled it herself. It wasn’t a beautiful antique like Maggie's. At least she'd managed to get a tablecloth on it. Homekeeping was not her forte.

For a moment, the thought flashed through Seline’s mind that she might die and this stupid, cheap dining room furniture would be what she left behind. The table was a stupid thing to worry about, but her mortality was a thing she had to consider when a killer was leaving her notes.

The others were already laying out the food and corralling her into a chair. Maggie handed her a fork and a drink and insisted that she eat.

Normally, Seline loved Chinese food, but tonight she hardly tasted it. The fork was halfway to her mouth when the doorbell rang again and her tension went back through the roof.

This time it was Sebastian who jumped up. Kalan's thought that they should invite the others over and have safety in numbers had been a good one. She was grateful that she wasn’t in charge of anything right now, but how long would this drag on?

They couldn't live with her.

Her thoughts were tumbling in a melancholy cycle that was broken by Sebastian's exclamation of “Holy shit!”

He came into her view, backstepping into the living room as though someone was pushing him. Before she realized she’d done it, she was on her feet, ready to defend her friend, though he didn’t even look like he needed it.

It was a relief to see that Kalan and Maggie had popped to his defense as well, but by that point Sebastian was almost laughing.

A blonde woman walked into the room as though she owned it. Seline felt her spine stiffen at the intrusion. The new woman was just a little too tall to be petite, but her icy blue eyes looked familiar. Though she tried, Seline couldn't place them.

Her confusion only compounded itself, but she watched as Sebastian closed the door behind the stranger, an impressed look upon his face. At least he seemed to know her.

The woman opened her mouth and grinned as though they should recognize her. “Hello.”

It was the voice that pinged Seline’s memory. Next to her, she saw the small movements that told her Kalan and Maggie had caught on, too.

“Oh my god!” Kalan laughed. “You look great.”

“She does,” Sebastian replied, almost admirably.

Beside her, Maggie's eyebrows climbed to her hairline, as if to ask,Does she now?

Seline was so confused until Kalan turned and whispered, “Marina and Maggie’s boy here went out a few years ago.”

As Seline felt her shock at that, both Sebastian and Marina turned to glare at Kalan. But he did not take the hint. “Y’all were hot and heavy for a while. I’m just saying.”

“I’m standing right here.” Maggie glared at him now, arms crossed and Seline wondered how he was going to get out of this. Maybe his crap wasn’t about her. Maybe he just didn’t really get what he should and shouldn’t say. It made her reconsider the last weekend in a new light at least.

Even as she thought that, Kalan looked Maggie in the eyes and said. “Your boy has a past. It is what it is, but he loves you more than anything.”

“That’s true.”

The words came at the same time from both the newly blonde Marina and Sebastian, which made them laugh in tandem which made Maggie throw her hands up in the air.

Marina, at least, knew when to change the subject. “Do I pass?”

“Did you dye it?” Seline asked. The normally dark-haired officer was now an ashy blonde.

“Yes,” she replied as she flipped it over her shoulder.

“Your eyes?” Seline asked, thinking that Marina hadn’t copied her per se, but it felt odd to see someone she knew who suddenly had her same coloring. Even her clothing could have come from Seline’s own closet.

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