Page 75 of One Bad Knight

“What’s so funny?” Calan asked, walking into the room, Gatsby close behind.

The three of us girls laughed even harder. Emma fell to the floor and Krystan gripped the edge of the counter, while I had to cross my legs to keep from peeing myself.

“That’s it,” Travis said, pushing his way past us to stand by Calan and Gatsby. “I don’t want to be stuck with the girls anymore. All guy time in the future”—he thumbed his own chest—“I get to be included.”

Calan grunted in what sounded like begrudging agreement.

Now the three of us were positively screaming while Emma mocked his grunt.

With a parting strange glance, the men left us gasping for breath in the kitchen.

We endedup staying for lunch at Krystan’s insistence, while everyone passed around Trystan, who was a snuggly baby. Though the parrot who was always on his shoulder or nearby creeped me out. Especially when I found out it was a demon. Though admittedly, its snack cake problem made it far less scary.

At the lunch table, Travis looked off to the side with a sudden intensity. “Uh-uh, okay. Oh no, sorry, I mean, yes ma’am. Of course, I will.”

“Tell Gran I say hi,” Krystan said without looking up from handing Trystan a cracker covered in cream cheese, which he happily smashed into his mouth.

“I need to come home with you,” Travis said to me with a shrug. “Ghost gran’s orders.”

I shared a look with Gatsby. He seemed as confused as me, but I agreed.

Krystan stayed home with the baby while Travis followed us home in their big van.

“What did you and Calan talk about?” I asked, not expecting Gatsby to share but hoping anyway.

He didn’t speak for a minute. “I told him everything. How I was never one of them. My missions were different, and about all the lives I ruined. How I hated him for being the favorite.”

“And?” I asked, trying not to sound pushy, butreallywanting to push.

“He said he had no idea. That he hates what they did to all of us, but especially to me. That he wants me to know that no matter what, he is still my brother. He would help me with anything I needed. That he hates how we were together but kept separate. And if I want to use my talents with them to fight the Stygian, I am welcome to, but even if I don’t, he wants to stay in touch. Because we are… family.”

“And you said…”

“I’d think about things.”

I continued to stare at him. Finally, he looked over at me with a little smirk on his face. I had to fight my own smile as I settled back into my seat. He’d gotten what he needed. And where I loved Gatsby inside out, he needed his brothers. With their shared history, with their powers and abilities, I couldn’t be everything to him. Just as he couldn’t be everything to me.

I remembered then that I had drinks planned with Viet and Molly on Friday. And then Saturday, my aunt had invited us over to her house. Since coming back, she’d had a real maternal hold over me. It was like getting another mother I never knew I had.

At that, I was saddened, remembering my own mother had been sacrificed to a demon. I’d always thought her soul was up in heaven, like in the painting she’d done on the ceiling of my bedroom. But she’d gone the most horrible way I could imagine, and it made my heart clench in pain.

When we got inside the house, Travis immediately fixed his eyes on something we couldn’t see.

“Is it Krystan’s grandma?” I asked, knowing that was the only ghost he ever saw.

He shook his head, as he continued to watch the invisible specter and followed it up the stairs. Gatsby and I went with him.

We followed him into my bedroom, where he instantly looked up at the ceiling my mother painted and smiled.

Then he turned around to look at me, his eyes softer than before, his smile almost strangely feminine.

“Hello, my little darling,” he said.

Shock went through me. “My mother used to call me that.”

Travis shook his head as if trying to brush something off. “Yes, she wanted to say hello in person but that really tickles.”

My heart stopped. “You are telling me my mom is here?”