Lilith tapped her foot in aggravation as she looked out the window. She shouldn’t have agreed to Eda’s dumb plan. Or, well, the overall concept to it. She expected to agree to a lot of dumb plans over the course of getting this done ‘her way’. But out of the two, Edalyn had definitely been the one to have any sort of romance in their lives, even if her relationships weren’t exactly great. To quote her, ‘Most of them were a proposal, screaming, and then running.’ Well, and laughing, but Eda had said that that wasn’t likely to happen if all of that happened between Luz and Amity.

No, they had to do it naturally. Be put in the right place and mood to get their emotions to bubble up and burst on their own. Lilith didn’t see how that helped since she expected she’d go crazy wanting to know the answer to her feelings but that wasn’t about to happen. Supposedly. That they’d just shut each other out harder if someone forced them into romance.

What Eda hadn’t told Lilith was that this method was also exponentially more fun than just yelling at the two of the girls. At least for her. It’d even given her a crafts project for the past week. She did wish she hadn’t finished it so quickly though. She was having a bit of trouble deciding what to knit next after sending off her gift yesterday.

Lilith snapped one of her fingers before saying, “She’s coming up the path. She’s alone right now too.”

Eda groaned before saying, “Finally. Waiting around is so boring. At least before now I could play Hexes Hold’em with Olwbert when I got bored.”

Lilith raised an eyebrow before asking, “Oh, and how often do you have to do their chores?”

Eda glared at Lilith for a second. Once her sister had insisted that she shuffle whenever they played, Eda had started losing a lot more of their bets when they were kids. No way to enchant the cards though robbed Eda of half of her fun with the game though so she hadn’t been too enthused to play it as of late.

“Speaking of, Owlbert, are her weird pajamas ready?”

The small owl, who had been curled up against her thigh, let out a soft hoo. When that just got him a very light tap on the top of his head, he got up and flew to the stairs. A minute later, he reappeared and was tugging on a dark purple sleeve. It was just in time too as Luz burst through the door. She would go upstairs to get changed, gush about her weird costume like she did anytime she got reminded about it, and they would casually bring up the idea of inviting Amity to a-

“Amity invited me to a sleepover at her place!”

Lilith and Eda looked at each other before simply going, “What?”

“Yeah! I was pretty surprised too, but she said that I could come over as early as I wanted so I wanted to fi- There it is!” Luz leapt up the stairs three at a time before stopping next to Owlbert and giving him some headpats. “Thank you for bringing me my jammies.”

Eda snorted at it all before looking at Lilith and saying, “I didn’t think she had it in her.”

Lilith smirked back before putting her hands behind her. “I don’t know. If I had to say who I thought would confess first, I would put Miss Blight over Luz. As brave as Luz is, she is a bit of a disaster?”

Eda scoffed at the question as she got up. “Sis, you haven’t seen how much of a wreck that the kid can make that girl. So,” she said as she offered a hand to Lilith, “is it a bet?”

Lilith glanced down and opened her mouth to remind Eda that they were doing this for more than just fun and that they should focus. But that stupid smile of Edalyn’s. It always got her into trouble but… “We’ll figure out the stakes later, but deal.”

Luz bounced back downstairs, now with zero usable hands due to the large, round stumps that were her otter onesie’s arms, and so had to steady herself for a second before she turned to the two of them. “Um, I don’t know how well I can do doors right now but I really want to make a good first impression with her parents.”

Lilith slowly tilted her head before beginning to ask, “How will tha-”

Eda answered before Luz could and so the young girl got to focus on her cute face as her mentor said, “It says she’s an otter with a dark side.”

Lilith blinked for a few moments before saying, “So is the idea that you’re cute and… dangerous?”

Luz nodded before pointing her hands at Lilith. They then waggled a little as the two looked at each other before Luz stood up straight and bemoaned, “Uh, finger guns don’t really work in these, do they?”

For a moment, Eda just enjoyed the stunned look on her sister’s face. Lilith had claimed she would get used to how weird the human was rather quickly but King and Eda had a running bet on how long it would take for the uptight witch to spend a week without getting her brain broken. This would be a tick against King, for any curious.

While her sister was indisposed though, Eda laid down on her couch and asked, “So, just you and Amity for a whole night? Pretty brave of you, kid.”

Luz’s cheeks burned for a moment before she waved her arms in front of her. And then shook her head when she accidentally smacked herself with one of the loose paws. “No, it’s not like that. Amity said it would be totally cool if I invited Gus and Willow.”

It was Eda’s turn to stare into space as Lilith barely managed to get out, “Why?”

======+++++======

“Stupid, stupid, stupid.”

“So,” Edric said as he kept adding tallies to his notepad, “how many times does she hit the wall today?”

“Stupid, stupid, stupid.”

“You mean now that we’ve made it so Mittens won’t actually hurt herself? Eeeeeeh, wait, what is she doing tonight again?”

“Stupid, stupid, stupid.”

“I think she’s having a sleepover? Mom and dad actually seem really excited for it too.”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

Both of the older Blights looked at their sister, who was no longer smacking her head against the wall did still have her face planted against it. Edric and Emira glanced at each other before the latter said, “Don’t worry, I can keep you all company if you need help with the human.”

“But I want to do that!”

“You’ll just make things boring.”

“Will not!”

Amity spent another moment paused before reaching out to her left, thanking her abomination for the water it had brought her, took a sip, and then went back to punishing herself.

======+++++======

It didn’t matter why Amity had chickened out on it being just the two of them. Edalyn had assured Lilith before the elder of the two Clawthorns left with Luz that her plan was fool proof. Lilith was more than a touch skeptical but she had a hard time caring about it too much as she watched Luz skip down the street. Amongst all of the things she’d gained when she’d sacrificed her magic, the energy that Luz added to things was pretty high up on her list for what made it worth it. She could almost get why her sister had sacrificed so much for her. Maybe that was why she was so hesitant to push her…

It didn’t matter though. Lilith wasn’t Edalyn and was staying almost fifty feet back from the young girl. Close enough that she could sprint forward to attack anyone who might spring up to hurt her but far enough back that she wouldn’t be easy to identify just by being with the brash youth. After all, while Luz was effectively absolved of all of her crimes, Eda and her were in a much grayer area. They were wild witches, even without their magics, and Lilith had never been properly tried for having betrayed the Emperor. Theoretically she should be in the same boat as Luz as having acted out the Titan’s will but most of the blame for that had been placed on Luz. That was for the best of course but it made coming to such a prestigious family’s house all the more dangerous.

Something that was obviously lost as Luz got to the gate and pressed her face against the bars. “Lilith, it’s so beautiful.”

“What have I told you about using my name in public?”

Luz turned red at the reminder but Lilith couldn’t truly blame the girl. In spite of their name, the Blight Estate was rather beautiful. The late afternoon sky was a perfect backdrop for the manor and the winding path up the hill to it had an immaculately kept lawn. The lights gave it all a surprising warmth though and Luz sighed as she could do with all of the space within. Would Amity like Deluxe Hide and Seek though?

A lanky, old man came out of a small station that was to the side of the gate. He wore a fine, dark green vest over a black button up shirt and then purple slacks. The three major colors of most Blight family servants. Green for the hair, black for your chances to match them, and purple for the abominations that they were originally known for. Colossal beasts made of plague and decay that had protected their family for hundreds of years until they started to serve Emperor Belos instead.

The man didn’t notice Lilith evaluating him and instead smiled at Luz as the excitable girl waved at him. “Are you Miss Noceda? And Owl…”

“Her guardian.”

Luz looked back as Lilith made sure to keep her face hidden by her deep cowl. Fortunately, most Emperor’s Coven members had been trained to know how to keep their faces hidden even without their masks. They couldn’t let their mystique fall after all by someone as normal as Steve being seen properly.

She then sighed for a moment as she thought about how she’d miss all the awkward moments when she’d have to review his personal journals and his… fascination with her.

Luz fidgeted for a second before turning back to the butler, who was already working on the lock to the gate. “Yeah, Eda decided to stay home. She hasn’t had her hair de-spidered recently and didn’t want to be rude. But, uh, my guardian showed up, you can see they’re good with me coming in, so they’ll be heading off. That’s okay, right? Yeah, you know it i-”

“It is not, unfortunately. Master Blight wished to speak to Miss Clawthorn, though they had made it clear that either one would be acceptable. If they are willing that is.”

Lilith narrowed her eyes before slipping through the gate with Luz. “I know what a Blight ‘wish’ means, especially in a situation like this.”

Luz sighed in exasperation before pulling on Lilith’s arm. “You need to calm down! They’re normal people like any of us and you should stop acting like they’re going to try and kill me or something! If they’re so bad, why aren’t Edric and Emira meaner?”

“Well, I would perhaps say that that’s in part because they believe themselves to be free spirits, much like your mentor.”

The voice held power behind it. Not the sort of authority you immediately recognized though. Luz sure didn’t as a shiver running up her spine was the only sort of warning of what was in front of her. She didn’t know sophistication though. The calm charm that lets one inform another that they’re nothing without ever needing to say it. The sort of thing Luz would attach to Victorian Englishmen if she didn’t enjoy cockney chimney sweeps more.

Such a though would fit the man before Luz though. The Englismen thought, not the chimney sweep. Tall, well dressed in a fine, purple Italian suit, green cuffs, and slick, pulled back brown hair. He had piercing, orange eyes that were cold as ice upon the otter before they softened and his thin lipped stoicism slipped into a more comfortable smile. “Such things are unimportant for tonight though. I’m Alador, Alador Blight. My wife should be along soon but she’s decided she has to fix something first. I kept telling her she didn’t but, well, her and colors.”

Luz giggled at the statement before she extended her hand to Alador. The tall man spent a moment staring at the paw before awkwardly trying to shake it. He mostly got sleeve but that was more than enough to make the human beam at him the same sort of radiant smile that usually managed to floor Amity. “It’s nice to meet you! Amity hasn’t really talked about you much other than saying you’re usually busy so it’s nice that we’ll all be able to hang out tonight.”

Alador smiled down at the child. His face to her made him look like he was in his late forties, at most. And that might be true, but Lilith saw the momentary weight upon his shoulders. The age and exhaustion that she knew too well from too many long nights dealing with her coven. The weight of society. The weight of never having enough time. Two things someone as young as Luz could never understand.

Alador stood up straight before saying, “I unfortunately won’t be available. With,” he coughed for a moment to cover his paused before saying, “recent events, the emperor has asked much of me and I’ll be working late to take care of a new order. My wife should be able to at least make something for you all to eat before she has to join me.”

Luz groaned in disappointment before gasping. “Wait. What if your wife didn’t need to cook? After all, if we’re going to do this sleepover right, then pizza would work perfectly for that!”

The look of horror that crossed Alador’s face for a moment was priceless to Lilith. Even she enjoyed the odd pizza night from time to time but with how large the Blights were, well, such common food was likely beneath them. What would he offer instead? Broglebree and crackers? Ftagan eggs? She then winced at the thought of poor Luz graining a tentacle from the latter and was suddenly very happy she was here in case she needed to save her charge from being accidentally poisoned.

Instead, the man didn’t even need to spend a proper moment recomposing himself. Then again, Lilith didn’t know if she’d ever seen Alador truly miss a beat in a conversation. He was too well trained for such things. But apparently, not so well that he didn’t say, “That sounds like a wonderful idea, especially if your guardian might be willing to pick it up for us.”

Luz looked over at Lilith with stars in her eyes and the old witch slipped some hair behind one of her ears before saying, “I believe I can do that, especially if you provide me with a proper cloak to disguise myself in.”

Not even Lilith could notice Alador’s shoulders relaxing ever so slightly at the agreement. He didn’t get a chance to say thank you though as a woman stepped out of the front door. She was pure elegance as she walked. Not a hair was out of place as her dark green locks were kept tightly in a bun. Her dress was of various, cascading shades of purple that flowed with her movements like water and was finished by onyx eyeshadow, lipstick, and earrings shaped in the symbol of the abomination course at school.

She then looked directly at Luz. The two stared at each other for a moment before Luz raised one of her arms and said, “Hi, I’m Luz! You?”

“Upset.”

Her voice was colder than the rest of her lithe, pale form, which was saying something, but the venom seemed like it was likely uncommon. Alador placed a hand on his wife’s shoulder before saying, “Sorry. I told Odalia to wait before she made any alterations to Amity’s outfit but she is quite a stickler for keeping things within the family’s primary colors.”

“Or adding them.”

“Honey, please, calm down.”

Odalia glanced between Alador and Luz before bringing one hand up and pinching the bridge of her nose. “Sorry. I’ve been having to deal with Emira and Edric demanding that two fifths of the house be blue to reflect their magics all week and that was after Edric flunked his mid-term.”

Alador placed a hand on Odalia’s head and shushed her as Lilith mentally reeled at what just happened. To say Odalia was anal retentive was true. For her to admit she was having issues wasn’t. After all, Alador hadn’t been a socially wise choice for her and ever since she’d been a touch protective about the Blight legacy. After all, the house didn’t used to have any black on the outside.

What was the Emperor asking of them nowadays?

Odalia took a moment to recompose herself before looking at Luz. Her voice was much calmer now, and much warmer, as she said, “My apologies. My name is Odalia Blight. Amity doesn’t share much about school but I’ve heard snippets here and there about you.”

Luz giggled for a moment before barely stopping herself from tapping Odalia’s arm. Something about how the two stood made her think they wouldn’t appreciate the sort of stuff that Amity usually freaked out about. Kind of a ‘no touchy’ policy was usually a safe bet with Amity, at least if Luz wanted her not to run off or pass out. “I bet a lot of “Oh, that darn human,” or that whole breathing thing that Edric and Emira told me about?”

Odalia’s eye twitched as she mouthed ‘they told her about-’ before any sort of annoyance slid away for a genuinely warm smile. “That’s a good impression and I would say something like that.”

Luz let out a full laugh at that before Odalia hesitated, glanced at Alador, who nodded back, and then gently tapped Luz’s shoulder with the back of her hand. Just like Luz had just considered doing to her. “I bet Eda knows about my little Amity better than I know you though. Or I hope she does.”

Luz tried to make a pair of finger guns again before remembering about her paws and so instead hopped up in the air with excitement. “I tell her everything! Did she tell you about the Grudgeby match and how she saved me from Boscha? It was amazing! Though I do wish she hadn’t gotten hurt from it.”

“Boscha broke our little Amity’s-” Both parents stopped themselves from going further in front of Luz before Alador stepped forward. “I’m happy to hear and we’ll be checking in on you two from time to time but, since we’ll be busy, please don’t bother us outside of when we do so.”

Luz furiously nodded at that before grabbing her head to stop it. “Wait, has Amity not told you that I invited Gus and Willow?”

Alador kept his composure as his wife began to rapidly blink. “I see. Strange, but Amity likely has a reason for why she said yes.”

======+++++======

“Stupid, stupid, stupid.”

======+++++======

Odalia then smiled and added, “It will be good to see Willow again. A fitting touch to tonight even, I would say.”

Luz frowned slightly at that before saying, “Uh, you sure. I mean you two…” She then slapped a paw over her mouth as she realized that Amity would likely be in big trouble if they had to explain the whole memory fiasco.

Odalia looked at Alador before the woman turned away. Alador let out a small sigh before saying, “Yes, we’ve had issues with her in the past. However, Amity has told us about how strong she’s been getting so we’d been considering inviting her over ourselves for a little bit now. Make up for lost time.”

Luz narrowed her eyes at them. That seemed like a really casual way to brush off breaking up Willow and Amity but… Well, if they were happy then it would probably be better to let things go for now. Unless Willow wanted to do something. Then they would be reminded of the dark side. Dark side of the otter. And teeth.

Odalia then looked at the watch on her wrist and winced. “Oh. If I’m going to have time to fix dinner then I should get to that pretty soon.”

Luz came closer and mimicked the sack of the shoulder that Odalia had done before, which entirely caught the high strung woman off guard as she yelped at the touch, before she said, “Don’t worry, we got you covered. We’re getting pizza!”

Odalia blinked a few times before looking at Alador and saying, “But my plans.”

Alador placed his hands on her shoulders and whispered, “Calm down. I think you could use the rest.”

“But I cook for my…” Odalia hung her head down for a second before looking at Luz. “If that’s what you want, then we’ll order some pizza.”

Luz sucked in her lips as she suddenly had no idea what to do with her hands. “Um, you don’t need to for me.”

Odalia shook her head. “No. No. I… I could use a chance to breathe, especially if we’re going to have Willow over too.”

Luz nodded before smiling and saying, “I wouldn’t worry too much about it. With how hard you’re trying to be a cool mamacita I’ll bet she’ll be more than okay coming back.”

Instead of asking what the word meant, Odalia brushed it off and curtsied slightly to Luz. “Well, we still should get you to Amity, shouldn’t we?” She then turned to the front door and shouted, “Amity!”

For a moment, all Luz could see was a dark purple hood and a green ear.

Then the head poked out a little further and she caught a glimpse of an orange eye.

Then it disappeared behind the doorway for a second before, finally, Amity stepped out. She was forcing herself to stand up straight and proper for her parents, in spite of the fact that she felt like a complete dork. It was okay for Luz to wear something like this after all. She looked so cute as an otter. She had those cute ears, bounced enough that her running looked natural, and when she covered her face with her paws…

Amity felt like she could melt before her oversized hood fell over her eyes. The stupid hood that Odalia had spent the last hour trying to pin back enough that it would stay on Amity’s head properly. The hood that had one ear painted black and one ear painted green instead of the dark purples they had been originally, much to Odalia’s distress both before she’d seen Luz and after but for wholly opposite reasons.

After all, Amity was an otter too. Where Luz was dark purple, she was light. Where Luz had brighter colors, she was darker. Otherwise, it was a perfect mirror. Or, as perfect a mirror as Eda could manage. It was beyond embarrassing for the high society girl who was struggling not to just pull the hood over her eyes to hide. If she was even two steps back and out of her parents line of sight then she could. But with them there… They expected her to be strong. To be able to be serious unlike Edrik and Emira.

And right now all she wanted to do was scream. That very nearly became a reality as, when she finally got the hood to come off of her head, found her face within a foot of Luz’s. “Ah!”

Luz jumped back as Amity almost fell straight back but instead caught herself on the door frame. The excitable girl tried grabbing one of Amity’s arms but as the two had been realizing more and more that night, these outfits weren’t the best if you needed to grab something. So, instead of helping Amity up, Luz toppled over and landed right on top of Amity.

The two blinked a few times as their faces now stayed within centimeters of each other. Amity’s brain was thoroughly dead now while Luz tried desperately to focus on something other than how stupidly clean Amity’s skin was and how much those lips glistened in the light. In her panic, she reached up, grabbed Amity’s hood, and then pulled it over her face as she shouted, “You’re an otter!”

From beneath the cloth, Amity yelled, “Yep! An otter. Nothing else. Nothing at all!”

Luz giggled as she couldn’t help but push the hood back up and raise an eyebrow at Amity while she smirked. “In fact, I know why I’m an otter, but why are you?”

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.

“Uh. Gift. Yeah. Um…” What had the note on the stupid outfit said? It told her to do something if someone asked about the whole otter thing. What was it? “With a light side?”

Luz gasped before she jumped up and spread her arms out. “That’s perfect! After all, I’m an otter,” she then paused to swipe a paw over her face and put on her cool eyes, which was mostly her best James Bond impression, for Amity. “With a dark side.”

A light, high pitched whine escaped Amity as she stared at Luz before Edric’s voice caught both of theirs’ attention. “Ah, and here I was hoping you’d kiss.”

Emira glared at her idiot twin before smacking him on the arm. “Idiot, you’ll ruin the mood!”

That was enough to perform a full reset on Amity. Or, well, it and seeing that her mom and dad had been watching all of this. She slowly got up, brushed herself off, looked Edric dead in the eyes as she said, “Don’t worry, there was no mood to ruin,” before then turning to Luz and saying, “I’ll show you to my room so I can get out of this stupid thing.”

Luz was still recovering as Amity stepped past The hurt girl didn’t try to grab Luz but she did spin her finger in a circle and one of the nearby abominations managed to properly grab the dark side otter, unlike everyone else that night. Luz yelped at the touch before yelling, “Bye! It was nice to meet you all!”

Emira giggled for a moment before both her and Edric shouted, “Don’t worry, we’ll be right behind you, Mittens!”

“Will you now?”

Both of the older siblings froze at their father’s voice before turning to him. Emira, thankfully, beat Edric to saying something. “Well, um, Amity has friends over so rarely that we thought we’d make sure the two have the best time possible! Isn’t that what Blight hospitality is all about?”

Odalia stepped next to her husband as she said, “It is, but only when it can be afforded to someone. I remember someone failed their most recent test and someone else came dangerously close to doing the same.”

Edric rolled his eyes before saying, “Mom, relax. I could have passed just fine if I tried. I’ll fix it in the make u-”

“A Blight shouldn’t need to fix a mistake.”

Both kids became quiet at that as both parents said the line unison. Alador then pointed down the hall. “Rooms, now. And if I see you out of them then you’ll be staying in those rooms all weekend.”

Emira and Edric shared a look for a second before Odalia added, “And that includes if the abominations of servants see you.”

Edric let out a light groan while Emira shrugged and began walking down the hallway. The male twin went to make some sort of case but one more glare got him to run after his sister.

Lilith slinked behind them before saying, “There are the Blights I know.”

Aladora turned on her, almost shoulder checking the tall woman as his anger flashed across his face for a second. “Will you cease, please? We have enough on our plates, as you might have been able to tell.”

Lilith paused for a moment before taking a deep breath in and nodding. “My apologies. I would hope you would understand being worried about what might happen to a young gi-”

“She’s fine.” Odalia turned her back to Lilith. “In fact, both her and Willow are just fine. Luz is currently advantageous enough to make it so we wouldn’t want her to leave and Willow has more than proven herself to be strong enough to associate with Blights in the recent months.”

Lilith squeezed her staff but kept it hidden behind her cloak. Not that she could use it for spells but she still had a pretty good swing if push came to shove. “So it’s just for gain?”

Alador looked back at Odalia but the question must have been too much for her. The noble woman stepped away and didn’t make a sound as she went inside. The noble man was silent for a moment before looking back to Lilith. “No. Or not just for us. You saw Edric and Edira. They… They grew out of control so quickly and the toll on poor Odalia has been a lot. They do what they want, talk back, and once Amity talked back even once, they stopped thanking her for making them lunch. Or they would make jokes. They even talk about the exotic locals they’re excited to go to when they graduate in the Illusions Coven.”

Lilith’s face softened at the words. She even stepped closer and whispered, “And that troubles you because…”

Alador looked back at her. For just a split second, he took it as mocking him. That she was challenging him about whether he would be troubled by it at all. Lilith knew the politics of the Isle too well though. “I… Neither of us truly know. Or, we know but…”

“Is the great Alador stunned?”

He smirked for a moment before properly looking at Lilith. “Amity is… perfect. She got along with her mother when she was a baby, has so much potential, gets along with people in spite of her drive, and she’s excited to be an abominations major. We’ve had disagreements but you should have seen her and Odalia on her tenth birthday. They must have tried fifty different looks before settling on dying her hair like we do right now. Both so Odalia could have her color coding and so Amity could feel like she fit in better with the rest of us. Especially with how rarely I’m at home. And yet she still cares about even me…”

Lilith stepped closer before whispering, “But you can’t tell her that. You know too well what weakness does to a man like you and if Amity thought you were weak like Edric and Emira do…”

He nodded before covering his eyes. “I was furious when the news of Luz helping you and Eda came in. We’d been discussing maybe letting her come over for short visits, just to try and make Amity happy, but it was Odalia who figured out the spin. The fact that to be able to say that our daughter was friends with the human picked by Titan to enact his will would be a piece of status no one else amongst the families could capitalize on right now. It even made Odalia think that maybe, if she’s right about little Ami loving that human, that all of that could excuse those feelings to everyone else just like me gaining a seat in Belos’ court allowed me to propose to her.”

Lilith placed a hand on Alador’s shoulder before whispering, “I know you may not have time to help us, but Eda and I believe that Luz does indeed like Amity back and we’re trying to do what we can to help them. That’s why my stupid sister sent that silly costume.”

Alador chuckled for a moment before looking back at the house. “Yes, but I maybe have a minute more at most and then there’s the question of Amity’s studies being interrupted-”

“Leave such things to me. Besides, we suspect Luz will give even me and Eda in our primes, together, a run for our money someday soon so if you’re worried about Amity not being strong enough to match her legacy, she will. That, and after the weekend I think Eda and I will have two new helpers.”

Alador glanced over at the Lilith before she watched the woman throw her staff into the bushes beside the stairs that led into the house. Two puffs of blue smoke came from the bushes but not before an all too distinct male voice said, “Aw, crap.”

Alador’s frame shook as he stared at the bushes. His face turned red, his eyes widened, and his hands curled into fists. It was something Lilith didn’t even think was possible, and apparently it was for long as the regal man had to steady himself. “Sorry. Almost made myself pass out. Haven’t done that in a long time.”

Lilith smiled before turning around. “Luz has that sort of effect on people’s lives. Don’t worry though, me and Eda will more than make sure that those two pay for eavesdropping on you being a proper person.”

Alador sighed before turning and walking back into the manor, all too ill prepared for work but having no choice in the matter. For Lilith’s part, she almost got to the gate of the grounds before Luz leaned out of one of the windows and shouted, “Don’t forget to get pineapple on mine!”

Oh. Right. Pizza. Eda wouldn’t mind if they covered dinner this time, right?

And Lilith was right. Eda didn’t mind at all, which is exactly why she let Hooty into their room for the night and slept in Luz’s room instead.