Page 39 of Midsummer Phoenixes
She didn’t say anything else. So I handed her a plastic shopping basket and let her go wild in the bodega. Stupid children.
“Want some?” Ella asked, holding out a candy bar to me in the back of the 47 cab.
“I’m not in a hurry to die tonight, thank you.”
She chewed on whatever vile thing she was eating. “You’re weird.”
“Just eat your fucking junk food and leave me out of it.”
“Weird love language,” the kid mumbled, just barely quietly enough for me to ignore.
The rustling of candy wrappers made the drive long, very long. Once we finally got there, Ella walked up the stairs slowly, probably because of the heels, and she dug around in her purse for ages before she finally found her key.
When she had the door open, I turned toward the stairs, relieved this ordeal was over.
“Wait, are you just gonna go?”
Fucking hell. “Yeah.”
Ella pointed. “But… I should offer you something to drink, right? For taking me here. I can make you coffee.”
“I’m not having coffee with you when you should be in bed.”
“It’s not even ten, and I’m not a baby.”
“Now you tell me.” I turned back to the stairs.
“Wait. Can you just please… Can you please just check the apartment?”
I knew who owned the building—the Star-Garbed Wolves. In addition, everyone knew Ella was the sister of my vassal. The only thing that might have been hiding in their closets were spiders.
Still, I could hear the fear in the kid’s voice, even if she tried hard to hide it. And I imagined that Amory had once been like Ella, about the same age, all alone in the world, and equally scared. Had he also been working the night shift then?
“Fine. This one time only.”
Ella had made me a cappuccino before I managed to extract myself from the situation. The damn kid was evil. The cappuccino had been decent. I’d stayed and used the time to criticize Ella’s schoolwork and her dearly lacking cursive, something I sure as shit was going to bring up with St. Auguste on my little errand there tomorrow. I’d only learned reading and writing years and years after meeting the witch, and I took pride in it. I’d be damned before my vassal’s little sister left school with cursive skills that were that underdeveloped.
When I was finally back in a cab, it was a little after ten. Still early, but I’d earned an early treat for myself after tonight.
“Moonlight Diner,” I told the driver.
She nodded and took me there.
The silver bells above the Moonlight’s door twinkled, and my heart felt like a flower thrust into bloom by the arrival of summer when Amory’s eyes locked onto mine.
He was by the coffee machines, making a new pot.
“Welcome to the Moonlight Diner,” he said.
“Hi.”
I cast a look around the place. All tables save the one next to Mr. Laptop were taken, and that was not happening. Humans sat at my table, chatting and laughing and taking photos of their food. Rae was busy, laden tray in hand. Ben had eyes on Amory.
Amory looked from me to my table, clearly uncomfortable and afraid I was going to chase his customers off, and so I grabbed a chair at the counter instead, one with room to either side.
“You’re early today,” he said, but he was happy to see me. The cherry blossoms blooming in his cheeks told me as much.
“Should I leave and come back later?” I said, reaching out my hand because I longed to feel his touch. He gave it, and I closed my fingers around his.
