Page 42 of Demon Apathy: Sunderverse

Peeling a straw from its paper wrapping, he cautiously peered at me.

“Something on your mind?” I asked.

“Well, um, yeah, as a matter of fact, yeah.” He scratched the back of his neck. “There’s this party tomorrow night. It’s my little sister’s birthday. She’s turning seventeen. My parents are getting a DJ and everything.” He shook his head. “They never did shit like that for me, but whatever. Anyway, I want to…” He stopped, looking as if he was going to be sick.

“You want to ask Jenna to go with you,” I said, a statement, not a question.

His brown eyes went wide. “Yeah, how did you know?”

I snickered. “Call it… feminine intuition.”

“Anyway, I thought maybe… um… you and Sage could come too, then it wouldn’t be weird,” he said as if that were the best idea he’d ever had.

“Oh, I don’t think—” I started but was interrupted by Sage stepping up to the table

“Go where?” Sage asked, setting his tray on the table and taking a seat. His plate was occupied by a massive steak and green beans.

“This party at my house,” Benjamin said. “It’s not like a big rager or anything. At least I don’t think so.” He looked puzzled for a moment, then continued. “It may not be your kind of thing now that I think about it. Maybe it wasn’t such a good—” He bit his lower lip, looking mortified.

I placed my hand on top of Benjamin’s before he talked himself out of inviting Jenna. “It’s fine. We’ll go. I think Jenna will love it.” As much as I didn’t want to go with Sage, I also wanted to help my roommate. If we didn’t go now, it might take Benjamin another month to work up the courage to ask her out again.

“Right, Sage?” I said, giving him a pointed look, warning him not to mess things up.

He frowned, considering for a moment. He raised a hand to his blond hair, which looked mussed and coiffed at the same time. How he accomplished the look was a mystery to all of humankind.

“Yeah, right,” he said, giving a pointed look back that seemed to sayyou owe me.

A moment later, Jenna joined us. Her tray had nothing but a salad with light Italian dressing on the side. She hadn’t even gotten any bread sticks to go with it. The girl seriously needed to live a little. I helped her by placing a few fries on the side of her plate while she was looking at her phone.

“They still haven’t found Lunar Hudson,” she said, slipping the cell into her back pocket. “Her mom and brother just had a press conference. They’re offering a big reward for anyone who has any information on her whereabouts.”

“Really?”

She nodded.

I was surprised that Solar had been there. Since I’d had no news from Drevan, I’d been following the news pretty closely, and so far, there had been a lot of speculation about Solar since he hadn’t made a public appearance since the kidnapping.

“I wish I had some information,” Sage said, stabbing a piece of steak and stuffing it into his mouth.

“What for?” I asked. “You’re already loaded.”

“My parents are loaded,” he corrected. “I have to live off of their handouts.”

“Handouts? That’s what you call your hefty bank account and limit-free credit card they cover for you.”

“Who told you that?!” he demanded.

I waved a hand in the air. “Lucky guess.”

“Still, it’s not the same.”

“You sound like a dick, Sage, and you’re barking up the wrong tree. At least this tree.” I stabbed a finger at my chest. Jenna and Benjamin were pretty loaded, too. Maybe not as much as Sage, but still.

“Yeah, Sage,” Jenna agreed.

Sage rolled his eyes. “Like you guys wouldn’t like to get a hold of… how much is the reward?”

“Five hundred thousand dollars,” Jenna answered.