Page 173 of Home to the Hollow

Haggerty laughed, tossing back his drink. “Our girl is teaching him, Boone. You’ll have to watch it.”

The sound of the music changing brings me back into the present.

We’re standing in the receiving line to get into the Whistler’s Hollow Junior League Halloween Masquerade. Tilly is a nervous wreck—the last time she was in this place, she was humiliated. Hamilton, Pup, Haggerty and I are crowded around her, ignoring the odd looks people are giving our costumes. The alumni line is long, but all the glammed up Southern Princesses and their escorts ahead of us seem so bland and beige in comparison to our motley crew.

I’m not sure how I never saw that before.

When we finally reach the edge of the stairs, I grin as I wait for the announcer to call our names. It’s going to damned near start a riot and I can feel Doyle’s excitement as he rubs his palms together. That asshole enjoys mischieffarmore than anyone I’ve ever met before, and he doesn’t give a fuck about what the consequences are.

“Miss Jolene Athena Whitley, class of 2007. She is escorted by…” The announcer’s pause is heavy before he continues. “… she is escorted by Mr. Edgar Olivier Boone III, Mr. Wolfgang Lucien Fletcher, Mr. Presley Hemingway Hamilton, and Mr. Doyle Aloysius Haggerty.”

Tilly straightens, lifting her chin to a regal level as I take one arm and Pup takes the other. Doyle and Presley walk behind us as we descend the stairs with every eye in the room watching. I feel her hands shaking, but her expression doesn’t change as gasps and whispers echo through the atrium. When we reach the bottom, I think we’ve made it without incident, but unfortunately, I’m wrong.

“Edgar Oliver Boone III!What in the name of Zeus are you wearing?!!”

Enter my mother to ruin the evening as usual.

“I’m Dr Frankenfurter, Mother; don’t be ridiculous,” I reply, waving my gloved hand dismissively.

Mydrugarbristles at the reproach in my parents’ gaze, and I can feel the others move closer. Her Guardian and the rest of her harem appear out of the crowd, fanning out behind us. I don’t want anyone to lose control and fuck up Tilly’s world view, so I nod at the others to keep them in a holding pattern.

“You arehumiliatingus,” my mother hisses.

Before I can reply, Wolfie lets go of our girl’s arm, stepping up to the Senator and my mother. His gaze is icy as he crosses his arms over his naked chest, staring them down in a power play I never would have expected from him.

Is this the fabled mother’s side?

“Fletcher, this is none of your concern, but your mother would have fits if she saw this nonsense.” My father’s words don’t back the pup down—instead, he seems to get angrier.

“Aurelia has fits regardless of what I’m wearing—she’s in an asylum, Senator. Thank you for drawing attention to that,” he snaps. The temperature drops a few degrees in the room and I frown. “However, she’d never treat me the way you’re treating your son in public. The tone and words you just used would horrify her, and your intolerance should horrify everyone else.”

“Pup…” I start as the room continues to get colder as ice radiates from the vet.

“He’s right,” Tilly says as she steps forward. “Edgar is ten times the man today than he was when we were younger, and he’s infinitely more of a man than you, Senator.”

My pop is too flabbergasted at her gall to speak, so my mother cuts in. “You don’t want to make this choice, son.”

“Mother, the choice has already been made,” I say with a fangy smirk. My eyes drift to the marks on Jolene’s neck then to the fresh ones on the pup. “More than once.”

To his credit, the pup bats his lashes at her and the rest of our crew glare at her, daring her to breach her oath to say something in front of Tilly. Seer is kind enough to distract my mother, flexing the power of her heritage to shield our group from the strangled shrieks Margaret is emitting.

When it’s clear she’s not going to shut up, Tilly’s Guardian looks my parents in the eye as she says, “Perhaps ye might reconsider your position, Missus. Insulting my mates innit the best plan, ye see. I won’t hesitate to defend my girl and her men. I doubt the higher ups would forgive us if this devolves into something… less friendly.”

Her words finally get my father’s attention and though he stiffens, he gets my mom to shut up.

“Mother, this is my family. I have plenty of money and influence, even if you threaten to cut me off. You don’t have a card to play. Back off and let the debutantes have their stage back. We’re supposed to be the adults in the room.”

Hamilton and Haggerty join us on the front line, the latter grinning like a goddamned sociopath. I have a feeling my parents are going to meet with some very random, very irritating problems in the near future. Seer looks at our girl and jerks her head at the bar, making mydrugarlaugh. Tilly lets go of my arm, taking her friend’s instead and after a scathing remark about taking out the trash, they walk off together.

My parents continue to give us nasty looks and as predicted, Doyle saunters up. “Éna ádeio skévos kánei ton pio dynató ícho, étsi ósoi échoun ti ligóteri effy?a eínai oi megalýteroi bampádes?1.”

I arch a brow. I wouldn’t have expected Plato, but that dude is like a fucking piñata—stuffed full of mystery prizes you don’t see until it breaks open.

An empty vessel makes the loudest sound, so they that have the least wit are the greatest babblers.

Week Seven

Since I split with Sherilynn, the people in town don’t know what to do with me.

---