Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 67614 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 338(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67614 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 338(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
“Fine. I’ll be…sort of nice.”
“That’s all we can ask.” Breena links her arm through Lorelei’s as I lead the ladies into the building.
“Wait.” Lorelei holds up her hand. “You brought me to an axe-throwing place, where Xander also is, and you expect me not to throw said axe at him?”
“I said be nice,” I reply. “And I suspect that Xander can handle himself.”
Lorelei just snorts as Lucy waves us over to where she stands with the others.
“This is so fun,” Lucy says. “Which one of you thought of this?”
“Not I,” Jonas says with a laugh. “This is new to me.”
“Giles thought of it,” Xander adds. “And I agree. It should be fun.”
“No killing each other,” Lucy says, looking right at Lorelei, who just shrugs a shoulder.
“I make no promises.”
“I hit the bullseye three times,” Breena reminds us and takes a sip of her beer as we all sit in a pizza parlor, the kind with sawdust on the floor and paper plates.
“Cheers to that,” Xander says, tapping his beer glass to hers. “You kicked ass, little one.”
“I really did.” Breena preens and reaches for a slice of the pie. “This was a really good idea. Throwing axes and picturing all the garbage we’re dealing with as the target was really cathartic.”
“We won’t talk about how I almost killed Jonas,” Lucy says, cringing as she looks at her husband. “I didn’t know you were walking out there.”
“You can’t get rid of me that easily,” he says and kisses her forehead.
“The aunts invited all of us over for dinner tomorrow,” Lucy informs us as Lorelei fakes gagging at the public display of affection. “She invited Giles’s parents, too. It should be fun.”
“What do we need to bring?” Lorelei wants to know. “I forgot to ask my mom when she called.”
“Nothing that I know of,” Lucy replies. “I think they’re having it catered.”
“Hot. Holy Hades, this is hot.” Breena fans her mouth with her hand. “Fresh from the oven.”
“And so good,” Lucy agrees.
“I could make a carrot cake,” Breena says, thinking it over. “Wait. No, I can’t. I’m planning to drink just a little too much tonight, and I don’t have time to get it done before we go to their house tomorrow.”
“I’m sure they have it covered,” Lucy assures her.
“I won’t be able to make it,” Xander says as he stares down at his uneaten pizza.
“Why not?” Breena asks.
“I have some things to see to,” he replies. “I’ll call Astrid and Hilda in the morning and let them know.”
“If you change your mind—” Breena begins, but Xander shakes his head.
“I won’t.”
I watch my friend as he goes through the motions of eating his dinner and smiling as the others make jokes, but I can see that something is off with him tonight.
I’ve known Xander for as long as I can remember. He’s an intense man with a lot of responsibilities on his shoulders. But I’ve never seen him like this.
He turns his gaze to me and offers an almost imperceptible shake of the head as if to say: “Don’t worry. I’m fine.”
I tip back my glass and drink the one beer I’m allowing myself tonight since I’m driving the girls home. However, I plan to have a long conversation with my friend before the day ends.
“I need to go over to Xander’s.” Breena and I just got home after dropping off Lorelei, and she looks up with concern.
“Is everything okay?”
“I don’t know. That’s why I need to go over there. I feel like something’s off, and I want to ask him about it. It didn’t seem right to interrogate him in front of everyone when we were supposed to be having fun.”
“That makes sense.” She bites her lip and looks worried. “I wonder if it has been taunting him, too.”
“I’ll find out.” I wrap my arms around her and kiss her softly. “Are you okay here by yourself?”
“Of course. I have Merlin.” The lights flicker. “And Molly. I’m not alone.”
“Okay. I shouldn’t be long.”
I kiss her once more and then set off for Xander’s. He doesn’t live far from me, but I decide to drive the short distance to his house anyway. It’s just not worth taking any chances right now.
The porch light is on when I climb the steps, and the door swings open before I can even ring the bell.
“Did Breena call you?” I step inside and close the door behind me.
“No, I’m psychic,” Xander replies with a rueful smile. “And you’re my friend. You’re worried about me.”
“Yeah, as a matter of fact, I am. You’ve seemed off since we were at Breena’s the other day. What happened over there, X?”
He blows out a breath, and when he drops onto the sofa and pushes his hands through his long, black hair, he just looks exhausted.
“We’ve seen some shit.” He looks over at me. “We both know there’s a lot out in the universe we can’t explain, and we just accept it. We roll with it and chalk it up to the paranormal.”