Page 81 of Wicked Dreams (Fallen Royals 1)

I’m ready for a nap.

“There you are,” Riley says over the music, coming in through a side door. “People are afraid to step in here.”

I lift my cup. “But here’s where the alcohol is.”

She shakes her head, sidestepping a few drops of blood on the linoleum. “I missed the action.”

“Ian’s face looked like raw meat.” I take another sip.

Riley giggles. “You don’t usually drink. Did the fight inspire this…?” She pulls my cup toward her face and sniffs. Her nose wrinkles. “Vodka soda?”

I mirror her laugh. “The fight, going in my childhood home, him breaking up with Amelie…”

Riley frowns. “Your childhood home? What?”

I shake my head.

“Okay, okay. We’ll come back to that. Caleb seems to like the attention.”

I shrug. “Don’t think he can avoid it.”

We move into the living room, close to the doors that lead out to the porch.

“I didn’t know you were going to the game,” I say.

Riley winces. “Yeah, I’m sorry. Eli asked me, he said you already had plans… I’m not sure why I believed him, frankly.”

I go to take another sip, but my cup is empty. When did that happen?

Outside, boys are circled around a bonfire. The leaves are starting to drop, even if half of the trees in the county haven’t changed colors yet. The damp leaves catch the fire, and it seems like the whole lawn is moving.

A girl catches my attention on the edge of the yard.

I step closer to the glass, so close that my breath fogs it up. By the time I swipe it away and look again, she’s gone.

“Margo?”

I jerk back toward Riley.

“What did you see?”

“Someone I thought I knew…” I shake my head and almost fall over. “Whoops.”

I catch myself on the glass.

“Oh, you’re a lightweight,” Riley says.

“Maybe? I don’t drink.”

“You don’t, do you? You sure drank this one fast.”

The room sways a bit, and suddenly Riley and I are on the floor. My legs simply folded underneath me, and I must’ve brought her down with me.

“You want some water?”

I roll my eyes, letting my head fall back on the glass. “No.”

“It’ll make you feel better.”

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