Page 61 of Worse Than Wicked
The bite of bagel I was chewing lodges in my throat, and I start coughing so hard everyone makes a fuss. By the time I get myself under control, Olive is back.
“Look what I have,” she says, holding up a fuzzy grey onesie with feet and a hood. “It’s a koala!”
I shrug and take a drink of orange juice. “A sloth would be cuter.”
“No, it’s not!” she howls in protest, picking up the other two huge piles of grey fluff she dropped beside her. “Here’s Harper’s, and we got one for Royal, but he refuses to wear it—” She pauses to stick her tongue out at my brother before finishing, “So Harper said we could bring it for you.”
“Really?” I ask, turning to Harper. “You brought it for me?”
She shrugs. “I mean, we already bought it. Might as well get some use out of it, and I figured you don’t mind looking like a dumbass.”
I know I’m supposed to shoot back an insult, but my throat’s all clogged again even though I haven’t taken anotherbite, and I can’t think of anything to say. I thought she hated me for bashing Olive’s head in, but she doesn’t care either. Maybe it’s just because we share something now, the murder of my father, or maybe she just forgives me. It seems like she does. She even brought me a matching suit to include me in their movie night.
And all I can think about is that Baron’s pretending to look for Blue, and I know what happened to her, and if I told them, they’d never speak to me again.
So don’t tell them, whispers my demon.
We spend the day doing everything Olive wants while the party planner takes care of the setup at the house. Later that evening, everyone comes for the birthday party. When Baron walks in, all the ugly, churning, mixed-up feelings come rearing up—resentment, anger, hurt, frustration, helplessness. I hate that I can’t hate him. After spending the day with Olive, I want to, but I can’t. He’s still my twin, still half of me, and I can’t stop loving him any more than I can stop breathing.
When Olive blows out the candles on her cake, she grins around at all of us.
“I wished my sister would come home,” she announces.
“You’re not supposed to tell anyone your wish,” I say, glancing at Baron.
He shows absolutely no sign that he knows her sister is Blue. But he does. He knows, and he knows that he killed her, and that she’s never coming back.
“I always wish for that,” Olive says.
“I bet this year, you’ll get it,” Harper says, smiling at Baron. “I have a good feeling about it this time.”
“Me too,” Olive says, plopping down in the chair and waving her sparkly wand. “Now, what does everyone else wish for?”
“It’s your birthday,” Crystal explains. “Only you make a wish.”
“I know that,” Olive says, rolling her eyes. “But I want everyone to get their wish. So you each get to say what you wish for. It’s my birthday, so you have to do it.”
She holds up her wand expectantly.
“Okay,” Crystal says. “I wish for a healthy baby.”
Devlin wraps his arms around her from behind. “Me too. And a healthy delivery.”
“Now you,” Olive says, pointing her wand at Harper.
“Well, since it’s your birthday, I’m going to wish your sister comes home too.”
“I’ll also wish for that,” I say when Olive points at me. “Three’s the magic number, right?”
I feel a pit in my stomach, but my demon is pleased. Or maybe it’s just me, being shitty and smug that I got away with it, that she still loves me even though I let her sister die.
“You,” Olive says, pointing at Mabel.
For a second, our eyes meet, and I’m sure she’s going to say something. But then I remember that Mabel doesn’t even know who Jane was.
At least, I don’t think she does. She did go down in the basement and talk to her that day.
What did Blue say to her?
