Page 14 of Sequel to the Easter Bunny

Her eyes widen… just enough, and she draws back.

“Why do you find that hard to believe?”

“You came here for the Power.”

“I came to get out of the Valley. You offered me something I hadn’t dreamed was possible… are you mad that I accepted?”

She lets out a long sigh, kissing the moth before sending it on its way. “I never regret my decisions.”

Again, there’s a threat in those words. But this whole conversation has only made me mad.

“You said he’s your favourite son. Why do you doubt that I could have fallen in—“

“Enough.”

“Why aren’t you helping us?” I take a step closer to her throne. “One word from you, and Juun would leave me alone.” I know that with a certainty I don’t have any right to.

“If you cannot satisfy Juun’s requirements, you are not the woman to raise my grandchild.”

“You could have thought of that before.”

Ester laughs and I start to wonder….

“You said you weren’t one of the cruel gods.”

“I also told you, I can do whatever I want.”

With a flick of her hand, I’m thrown out again…. Like a rag doll, subject to a petulant child’s whims.

Kiss & Tell

Babel has started to feel like a waiting room. People mill about the space around me, neon tinting their bodies in violet and blue.

The gown Jack dressed me in is gossamer thin, but it covers more of me than most of the people milling around the sofas s where more than a few groups have decided to put on their shows.

My eyes linger if I don’t check them and more than once, I take a step in a direction I don’t need to go.

That burning need beneath my skin makes me long for touch I don’t truly want.

Not from them.

But as I let my gaze drift over the coiling masses of supplicants in one corner, I see a pair of familiar felines at a bar with no tender.

The crowds part in front of me, as though they’re afraid.

Who knows what true power Jack holds here. Or how that might extend to me.

“Look what the cat dragged in.” Minx says holding her hands out to me like we’re old friends.

I go to her, even if the sentiment is technically a lie. I have to take a deep breath and force myself back instead of going with her when she draws away. “Not this time. I drove myself.”

They titter as Calico leans close and lifts my hand to place a kiss on my knuckles. Her mask’s whiskers tickle. “I don’t suppose you’re here because you miss us.”

“It’s only been a month. She’s here for the Eebie and I’m surprised he let you out of his sight.” Minx’s gaze is bright as her eyes drag down me. “He does dress you so prettily.”

They’re both in strappy leather bodysuits. The strategically placed rings make me think they might be harnesses, but….

“They are.” Calico says without looking at me.

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