Page 15 of Sequel to the Easter Bunny

She slides a drink my way.

It’s pink and glittery and it glows as if the liquid is radioactive.

“Thank you, but no.” I slide it back and remind her. “Pregnant.”

“It’s non-alcoholic.”

“No offence, but I’m not going to eat or drink anything in this place unless Jack has told me I can.” I offer her a smile. “It’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s just that I don’t trust you.”

“That’s fair.”

But Calico doesn’t take my drink back, she pulls Minx’s from in front of her and takes a sip.

The other woman catches her face and draws her into a kiss…. Until Calico spits the stolen drink into her mouth.

When they draw back, they both laugh, as if it’s a game they play.

“Is it rude to ask about your tails?” I ask, looking to where they are coiled together behind them, as if they’re holding hands….

“When you’re here long enough, things start to change.” Minx shrugs the question off, but something in the tightness of Calico’s jaw makes me think they aren’t as blase about it as they’d like me to think.

It doesn’t surprise me when Calico changes the subject a moment later.

“So you’re back after what? A month? That bunny must be something in the sack if you’ve returned this quickly.”

“Don’t you mean ‘in the basket’?” Minx asks with a sly smile.

“It kind of is a basket.” I say, sitting on the stool that seems to have grown out of the bar at the exact moment I wanted a seat. “And how did you know it’s only been a month?”

“Let me guess? Eebie thought it had been years?” Calico chuckles. “That’s the thing about time here. It is what you make it. Most of the time, that means that if you want something to last forever, it will… if you want it to pass like that,” she snaps. “You got it. But some things don’t work like that. It’s a constant struggle for control here. Time moves the way the one on top wants it to.”

Minx smiles into her glass, a teal glow lighting her face. “And when you’ve been here long enough, you learn how to tell time on the outside, even when it doesn’t make any sense at all.”

“How long have you been here?”

“Our contracts are for one year.”

It’s not an answer… but I have a feeling that was the point.

“And who’s the one on top?”

“Right now? It’s Juun. The god of summer in all their glory.” Calico’s tail flicks behind her and I can’t stop myself from wondering why they have them. “And when Juun is in control, they will try to keep Gren from slipping in to take away the reins as long as possible.”

Juun seems like the type to push anyone around, not just mortals.

“I met her.” I say, pinching the bridge of my nose. “She does not like me.”

“She?” Calico draws back, snatching her hand away. “Oh, Juun must be mad if she’s presenting entirely as female.”

“No wrath like that of a mother scorned.” Minx says into her glass, but neither of them are laughing now.

“Okay, so… the Juun I met may not be the one you’re familiar with, but that doesn’t change the fact that she wants me dead.”

“Of course she does, you stole her only child with Ester right from under her nose and you didn’t even ask.” Minx’s tone is just shy of mocking.

“I didn’t know I needed to!”

“Of course not. How could you?” Calico nudges the drink to me again and again, I ignore it.

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