“If you don’t want to come to the club, and you’re avoiding Fenris, and Megan is still out of town, what are you going to do for the rest of the day? I highly doubt Adira will make a day at the Academy enjoyable for you.”
“I called you to feel better.”
“You know there’s only one thing that will make you feel better, baby.”
“Why does everything have to be about feeding?” I asked, annoyed.
“I wasn’t talking about feeding. You called because you think you broke Fenris. The only thing that will make you feel better is to talk to him and reassure yourself he’s fine.”
I flopped back onto my bed. Leave it to my mom to forget one tiny, little problem in that plan.
“If I see him now, I’ll only make him worse. We both know it’ll take a few days for the effects to dissipate. It will dissipate, right?”
“Baby, he didn’t seem enthralled to me. He left your side, helped your father, alertly noticed his surroundings, and ate without needing to be prompted. I can’t imagine the level of obsession you’re talking about developing in twenty-four hours.”
I stared at my ceiling, thinking of the first time she’d played house with Dad. After almost a year with him, he’d had no chance to recover. He’d done all the things she said that Fenris hadn’t been doing. I didn’t know what to believe.
Even though I told myself that Fenris wasn’t human and I’d spent far less than a year in his company, I couldn’t forget the need and lust that had emanated from him in the woods. He’d stood there shaking like a mad man on the verge of losing control.
“I don’t know what to do, Mom. I’m just so tired of fighting what I am.”
“Then stop.”
I gave a derisive laugh.
“And destroy the people around me? Choose myself over them?”
“It doesn’t need to be one or the other. I’ve chosen your father over myself, and he chose me over himself. It’s not always easy but it’s working for us. We’re happy.”
Her ability to see real happiness versus the false contentment of a man enthralled by her was non-existent. She was as blind to what was happening to Dad as Eugene had been to his own actions after our dip in the pool. It took a kiss from Ashlyn to break him from that spell.
My eyes went wide as an idea took root.
“How much prep do you still need to do for tonight?” I asked.
“Just a bit of coordinating. Nothing too time consuming if you have something else in mind.”
“I might. Do you think you could talk Adira into allowing me out for a shopping trip with a friend?”
“Depends on the friend and where you want to go. I doubt Adira would be willing to portal us to Paris.”
“Jenna. She’s a werewolf and has proven herself safe around humans. And the closest city is fine.”
“I’ll speak with Adira. What time were you thinking?”
“Eleven? We could do lunch.” I hesitated a moment. “Tell Adira I want a dress for tonight. A real one. And I want to pick it out myself.”
“Are you sure?”
“No,” I said honestly. “But I know it will ensure the shopping trip. And that, I am sure about. Hopefully, Raiden won’t oppose.”
“He won’t. Adira will make sure of it.”
I hung up a moment later and sent a text to Jenna.
Me: Adira and Mom confirmed the soft opening for Mom’s club will be tonight. Want to skip school and go shopping in the city with me?
Jenna: Yes! Does Adira approve?
Jenna’s immediate reply made me smile. There was no way she’d been awake before my message.
Me: My mom is asking her now. I’ll keep you posted. Feel free to come to the Quills’ instead of going to the Academy.
Jenna: I’ll see you at seven.
Mom: Adira approved the outing. I specifically requested that Mrs. Quill portal us and act as our chaperone so I wouldn’t be tempted to peel the skin from Adira’s face and make her eat it.
I wrinkled my nose and shook my head as I connected the similarities between Adira’s threat and the one I’d issued to Dewy a few hours ago.
Me: Thank you! I’ll see you at 11.
Settling into bed, I put my phone aside and thought again of how Ashlyn had broken my thrall on Eugene with a kiss.
At seven o’clock sharp, the doorbell rang.
“Eliana,” Mrs. Quill’s voice rang throughout the house. “Jenna is here.”
I hurried from my room and waved her up from the top of the stairs.
“Do you girls want anything to eat? I could make something chocolate if you’d like.”
Jenna’s eyes indicated her interest.
“Sure. Can you call us down when it’s ready?”
Mrs. Quill agreed as Jenna hurried up the stairs to join me. Her excitement was palpable. Hopefully, that wouldn’t dim when I asked for her help.
“I can’t believe I’m skipping school,” she said when I shut my door. She held her arms out and spun around. “You won’t believe how close I came to not being able to go. My mom was dead set against it. At first, I thought I’d woken her up too early to ask and she was in a bad mood, but nope. She was worried about me going to the city with you and your mom. I’m pretty sure she was picturing some kind of weird girl orgy or something.” She laughed. “Like either of you would need to take me to New York to make that happen.”
Jenna had a point. If Mom was hungry, location didn’t matter.
“What made your mom change her mind?”
“Raiden. He showed up at our door and said I needed to go with you.”
Some of her humor faded.
“Mom didn’t like that and pulled him into another room. The closed door wasn’t enough to keep me from overhearing their whispered conversation. Raiden said that I needed to go to distract you from Fenris. He thinks Fenris is under your spell.”
I sat on my bed.
“I think he’s right, and I need your help to fix it.”
“Me? How?”
“Well, when I accidentally did the same thing to Eugene, Ashlyn kissed him to bring him out of it.”
Jenna’s eyes rounded.
“You want me to kiss Fenris?”
“Yes.”
“He’ll never hold still long enough for that to happen.”
I smiled.
“That’s why we’re going shopping. When I’m done with you, he won’t be able to move.”
She fell back onto the bed, a grin tugging on her lips.
“This is going to be the best day ever,” she said. “After the earthquake last night, I was pretty sure I’d die without ever having been kissed.”
“You haven’t kissed anyone?”
She sat up and shook her head, completely unconcerned with her lack of experience. However, given that her kind considered a nose lick a kiss, I was very concerned.
“How opposed are you to kissing someone else first?”
“Uh…won’t I forget about kissing Fenris if I kiss you?”
My eyes went black, and I quickly looked down at my hands.
“Not me. That would be too dangerous.”
“Then who?”