Around nine in the morning, Princess and Roxy start to get antsy. Lukas groans, dragging himself out of bed with clear reluctance. Which is surprising, honestly. He’s the morning person. I suppose staying up way too late last night finally caught up with him. I shift, about to sit up, but Lukas waves me off before I can move.
“Stay in bed.” His voice is gravelly with sleep.
“I have to take Roxy out, so I’ll feed Princess for you. No point in both of us being forced to get up.” He tells me. I blink at him.
“You sure? I could do it…” I offer. It’s completely insincere. I COULD do it, but I really REALLY don’t want to. Lukas just grunts and rubs a hand over his face, already heading for the door. Well, if he insists… I sigh happily and burrow deeper into my blankets, sinking into the warmth like it’s the single best thing in existence. How is it that a bed can feel awkward and uncomfortable when you’re trying to fall asleep, but then, when you need to get up, it suddenly becomes the most comfortable place in the universe? Like, I could be in the worst sleeping position imaginable, some weird half bent yoga pose, and it would still somehow feel perfect in the morning. Honestly, even if Lukas didn’t tell me to stay in bed, I still might have ended up curled in some objectively terrible position for another hour, just because I could. About twenty minutes later, Lukas returns. And instead of staying up, like he normally would, he comes straight back to bed. He MUST be tired. He lies down behind me without hesitation and tugs me against his chest, his arm sliding around my waist in a way that feels entirely too natural. I yawn, my body instinctively relaxing against him. After a few minutes, though, I realise something. He’s not sleeping. He’s not even trying to sleep. Instead, he’s just… Absently running his fingers through my hair. Or, at least, through the roots he can reach past my curlers. I never really minded sleeping with them in, but right now, I kind of regret them because they’re limiting his ability to stroke my hair. And it’s way more soothing than I ever would have expected. Despite the slight frustration of my curlers getting in the way, I fall asleep again fairly fast. Tucked against Lukas, warm and content.
By the time we finally get up, it’s early afternoon, and I actually feel well rested and happy. Which, considering everything that’s been going on, is kind of a miracle. I take my time getting ready, fixing my hair, doing my makeup, pulling on some comfortable, casual clothes. Lukas, on the other hand, is wearing suit pants and a button up shirt. BUT he isn’t wearing a tie or jacket and the top button is undone. Which, for him, is the equivalent of dressing in sweatpants and a hoodie. I could say that with our newfound knowledge of Solem’s plans, we immediately sat down, crafted an intricate strategy, and devised a meticulously detailed method to take him down. But in reality? We answered a few emails. We took Roxy for a long walk to make up for being out so much yesterday. And then we went grocery shopping. Because as much as our lives have been consumed by demon crime lords and necromancers, the truth is, life goes on. We still need food. We still need shampoo. We still need toilet paper! And honestly? Having an actual car available makes all of it infinitely easier. Even with all the awful things happening, even with everything we’re worried about, these ordinary tasks still need to be done. But underneath all that? I’m still worried about work. I’m basically out of leave at this point, and I can only afford about a week of unpaid time off before it starts really becoming a problem. Not to mention, I’m literally the entire IT department. I have no idea if they’ve found someone to temporarily cover my role, or if they’re just letting all the problems pile up for me to deal with later. That’s a terrifying thought. I miss when my days were simple. When it was just, get up, go to work, come home and relax with Princess. Now? I have all these other things and all these other people to worry about. I care about Lukas. About Wren. I appreciate my new friends, and I’ve even started rebuilding my relationship with my brother, which is amazing. But my life is definitely more complicated now. I think not having my normal routine has thrown me off a little.
And even when things settle down, when I go back to work, I’m going to have to find a new normal. A way to include my new friends in my life. Maybe I’ll start visiting Laura’s work more often. It seems like everyone ends up there at some point. I could even bring my brother with me sometime. But before any of that happens, we need to deal with Solem. We have an entire group of people willing to help now. So we might as well use them. Plus, I want to check on Wren. Lukas and I both agree, we should head back to the bar tonight. Make sure Wren is okay and update everyone on what we’ve learned so far.
We’re in the car, heading to the bar. Roxy is in the back seat, alternating between staring intensely out the window and sticking her head around to press her cold nose against my shoulder which, naturally, makes me jump every time.
“Roxy!” I exclaim, laughing as I gently push her away. She wags her tail like she knows exactly what she’s doing. Before I can fully recover, my phone starts ringing. I dig through my handbag, pulling it out quickly when I see the caller ID. Eli. I pick up immediately, a flash of worry passing through me.
“Clare!” Eli’s voice practically explodes through the phone.
“Why don’t you trust me anymore?!” He complains. I flinch at the sheer volume, then immediately squint in confusion.
“…What?” I ask, baffled. Eli’s tone is… Well, the only way I can describe it is whiny. It is probably the least attractive he’s ever sounded. Which, to be fair, is not setting a terribly low bar, because Eli basically sounds like heaven ninety nine percent of the time. But it does tell me that he’s more than a little bit upset.
“What are you talking about, Eli? Of course I still trust you!” I say, baffled. I glance at Lukas, who rolls his eyes so dramatically that I can practically hear the sarcasm radiating off him. Apparently, he has zero patience for Eli’s theatrics.
“CLEARLY, you don’t!” Eli exclaims.
“You went ahead with the plan and kidnapped a teenager, and you didn’t even ask for my help! You didn’t even call to tell me you did it!” He definitely sounds like he’s pouting.
“Oh…” I grimace.
“Sorry, Eli. I had a lot on my mind. I didn’t mean to leave you out of anything.” I apologise.
“How did you find out?” I add, shifting in my seat and trying to push Roxy’s cold nose away from my arm again.
“I’m at the bar visiting Rina, of course. Imagine my surprise when I find out there’s a teenage boy locked in the building!” He practically hisses the words. I wince.
“Eli, I said I was sorry.” I repeat. I do feel bad. But I’m not going to keep apologizing forever. Before Eli can continue his dramatics, someone clears their throat on the other end of the line. I immediately recognize the sound.
“Damien?” I guess.
“Yep. It’s me.” Damien confirms, his voice exhausted.
“Just so you know, Eli hasn’t stopped complaining about how unfair it all is since we got here… Like an hour ago.” He says flatly. I snort a laugh.
“I would really appreciate it if you could keep him in the loop from now on, for the sake of my sanity.” Damien adds dryly.
“Sure, Damien, I’ll do my best.” I say, still laughing. There’s a pause, followed by a thump as something bumps into the phone on their end. Damien lets out the longest, most suffering sigh I’ve ever heard. I think he just got dragged into another hug.
“Thank you, Dami! You’re so thoughtful!” Eli says, his voice suddenly cheerful. As if he wasn’t acting totally betrayed and heartbroken two minutes ago. I grin. “
Well… Anyway, Lukas and I are on our way over now.” I inform them.
“So we’ll see you both soon, and we can give you an update on everything. Sound good?” I confirm. Eli agrees enthusiastically, and I just finish hanging up as Lukas pulls into the parking lot. We’ve arrived. Time to see what fresh chaos awaits.