Page 128 of All the Devils are Here

“Behave,” I whispered.

“Never.”

The smile I couldn’t seem to shake broke out on my face.

A shrill scream came from my best friend as our boat glided in next to the pier, and neither of us waited until the boat was tied off. There wasn’t a way to know if I tackled her or if she tackled me, but we ended up in a heap on the pier, laughing, and then sobbing.

Because neither of us had known if we would see the other ever again.

Christine’s mates introduced themselves to mine—the ones they didn’t know—while all of them watched us with concern.

Ban crouched next to me, and I smiled at him. I was going to have to get used to seeing him in pants. “Are you all right, kitten?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

He bumped my forehead before kissing me, and the men retreated, leaving us at the end of the pier. We moved to the end, swinging our feet out over the water.

“Okay, what the hell was that?” Christine asked. “And your hair? I mean, I love the color, but I didn’t think they had hair dye on magical islands. What the hell is the company going to say when you show up with lavender hair? And the kiss? I thought Laurent was going to sweep you off your feet. These are only the first of the million and a half questions I have, so you better be ready.”

I laughed, pulling her into another hug. “Fuck, I missed you. There were so many times I wished I could call you.”

“Avoiding the questions much?”

Gently smacking her knee, I turned to her and crossed my legs. “Some of the story I can’t tell without them. But I’ll catch you up. The ballet fired me. Those four are all my mates, and we’re all bonded. The hair color isn’t dye, it grows that way now. Oh, and I’m immortal like you.”

Christine’s jaw dropped open so wide she looked like a fish. “What did you just say?”

“I can do this too.” I conjured a miniature firework over my palm.

Ariel was already teaching me to control the magic and use it. We didn’t know how big it was, but learning about it was incredible.

“What. The actual. Fuck.”

I giggled. “I know, right?”

“There’s a lot more for you to tell me than I thought.”

“Christine, you have no idea.”

She looked down. “I’m just really glad you’re alive.”

“Me too. It was close a couple of times.”

Glancing over her shoulder, she took my hand. “We have food and everything up at the house. Rented the whole place, not knowing what shape you’d be in and what you needed. Let’s go. Because I’m impatient and if you’re not going to tell this story without them, then I want to hear itnow.”

She pulled me behind her so fast I almost tripped, but we were laughing the whole way.

The story took a long time to tell. Food and wine were had. Then coffee and dessert. And by the time we were to the end of it, I was curled up around a cup of tea, and Ban’s tail was curled around me.

Christine sat across her mate Erik’s lap, leaning her head on his shoulder.

Every bit of jealousy I’d ever had toward her was gone. I knew exactly how she felt, andfuck. We were the luckiest bitches in the whole damn world.

“He’s really gone then?” Alexandre, another of Christine’s mates, asked.

“No,” Ariel said. “He lives. But no one will ever see, hear, or speak to him again.”

“Good riddance,” Trin said. Ariel and I had remade part of the living room into a pool for him, and he lounged along the edge of it.

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