I’d put hunting on hiatus for a while as much as I hated to do that; while I could leave the shop for short periods, I couldn’t leave the boys unattended and Jesse was too busy with filming to babysit for me. Thus I was behind the counter catching up on my reading list, research, and some other business while I kept an eye on the shop when Jesse darted through the door, slapping the sign around to say “closed” before she locked it. I watched her from over the rims of my color filtered glasses in a state somewhere between confusion and surprise with a heavy undertone of extreme boredom. She was a shade or two paler, dread coming off her in waves strong enough I could pick up the scent even across the store in human form without the… help of my synesthesia or soul collector blood so I raised an eyebrow at her in question while she approached the counter.

“What brings you in such a rush? Are you alright?”

“Do I look like I’m alright?” She snapped at me, dropping her usually polite pretext and I took a deep breath, exhaling through my teeth and ignoring the slight tremor in my hands as I closed my book and set it aside with my glasses because it wasn’t worth losing it with her. “I have a problem.” She continued rather fretfully, lilac eyes darting back toward the door like she expected to see someone had followed her and for a moment I wondered if maybe she had a stalker.

“And what, pray tell, would that be?” My voice was steady, carefully measured so as not to betray the fact I was slowly going stir crazy on top of my regular bouts of madness.

“My family is in town,” Jesse spoke with a sincerity that under normal circumstances I would’ve taken seriously, but at the moment I couldn’t help the almost hysterical laugh that escaped my lips. She didn’t take it well, a look of outrage hardening her delicate features, “What the hell are you on, Reyna? This is serious.” I shrugged, swallowing my continued laughter and settling down before I answered.

“Scotch, cigarettes, and this new thing they call apathy, though I like to call it ‘I just don’t give a damn’.” Her gaze narrowed further at the sarcasm in my tone, but I hurt and it was my go-to response when I hurt to make others hurt too.

“This isn’t a joke, they want to see you, too.” I raised an eyebrow at her as I let slip another laugh, this one short and harsh.

“An Incubus, his wife, and their two Cambion children invite a Soul Collector to dinner. I’m pretty sure there’s a joke in there somewhere.” She breathed an exasperated sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose between two fingers and closing her eyes for a moment before she continued.

“They want to meet us tonight at The Looking Glass over in Bar Harbor.” Now it was my turn to sigh; The Looking Glass is a black tie place, so I’d have to wear one of the only two dresses I owned and maybe a pair of heels if, by some stroke of bad luck, I can find one in my closet. At least I could probably find somewhere to hide a knife.

“Do I absolutely have to-”

“Yes, you have to wear a dress.” I blinked in surprise when Jesse cut me off with the answer to the question I’d been about to ask. “We’ve been friends for a long time, I know you better than you think.” I frowned at that; I don’t like when people claim they know me even if they do know me pretty well, it always just rubbed me the wrong way.

“If you know me so well, what am I allergic to?” Her gaze narrowed at my sarcasm.

“You mean outside of the full range of human emotion?”

“Yeah, smart ass.” I hadn’t actually been expecting an answer.

“Chocolate, caffeine, xylitol, grapes,” she started listing things off, counting on her fingers and I had to admit, I was kind of impressed, “prescription painkillers, antidepressants, blood pressure medications, avocado, and azaleas.” She smiled as my gaze narrowed further and I studied her for a moment in silence.

“I hate you so fucking much right now,” finally I exhaled the words, shaking my head slightly as I shifted on my feet and folded my arms across my chest. Jesse’s smile widened.

“No, you don’t.” I thought about mentioning that I did actually have my moments where I wanted nothing as much as I wanted to wring her neck, but decided against it after a moment’s consideration. “Does this mean you can’t get us out of this?” I took a deep breath, eyeing the countertop while I thought about different options for how to get both of us out of dinner without any serious consequences.

“No,” I finally looked up with a sigh of defeat, “nothing that’ll work, unfortunately.” Jesse swore and I had to agree with her. “Is-” I stopped to swallow the lump in my throat and drop my gaze before I tried again, “Is Jack going to be there?” Somehow, the tremor in my voice when I asked that made me feel very small and I couldn’t bring myself to look up from the counter at Jesse for fear of reading an answer I didn’t want to hear in her expression.

“Yeah, he flew in with mum last night.” She spoke softly, “Wha-What exactly happened with you and Jack?” I looked up at her question before looking away again because Jack and I had agreed never to mention Kelly to her. I stayed quiet for what felt like a long time, drumming my fingers on my arm while I tried to think of a way to explain without actually explaining anything. Then I took a deep breath.

“Some things are just broken from the very start.” My voice was quiet, barely above a whisper and broken in a way it hadn’t been since we’d left the hospital and parted ways. After a few more minutes of painful silence, I unhitched myself from the shelves behind me and lifted my book and glasses from the counter. “I’ll pick you up at your place in,” I paused to glance at my watch, “add two hours for the drive to your place,” I looked up again, “three hours?” Jesse nodded slightly, already headed towards the door.

“Thanks. I’ll see you then.” I waved her off and locked the door behind her before heading upstairs to check on the boys and call a sitter for the night.

The sitter had come just in time and so I was making the long drive to Jesse’s place in Lincoln and resisting the urge to try to pull down the skirt of a “shirt” Jesse had insisted was a dress when she gave it to me. I’m not the type to wear dresses, I own a grand total of two, the other being a family heirloom of sorts, and I’m fairly certain this was the first time I’d worn either of them. I’m not the type to “prowl” the clubs because I’m single, I generally stick to my usual bar for drinks and I don’t dance if I can get away with it, not to mention I’m not comfortable in high-end restaurants, so I’ve never needed to wear a dress before. I breathed what was probably the thousandth sigh since receiving the invite; Ornais Matlock had probably picked The Looking Glass at least in part to spite me. At least Jesse looked happy to see that I’d worn it when I pulled up to the curb in front of her house, looking me over with a critical eye. I’d pulled my wild red hair up into a moderately tidier version of my usual knot and she seemed to appreciate the sentiment, but I could tell by her expression she didn’t like the fact I’d “accessorized” by wearing the same things I wear every day: my rosary, a silver pentagram pendant, the sigil of the Corvid Prince, and a handful of silver piercings across both ears.

“Are you sure you won’t let me do your makeup?” She repeated the question she’d texted me earlier as she climbed into the Jeep and I shook my head.

“No, it itches too much and this dinner is going to be painful enough as is.” She glanced down at my hi-tops and opened her mouth to speak again, but I could guess what she was about to say, “I don’t have any heels or flats and before you ask, I’m not going to borrow a pair from you.” She rolled her eyes at me as we pulled away from the curb and started South towards Bar Harbor.

“I don’t understand why you hate heels so much.” I breathed yet another heavy sigh.

“I have an excellent sense of balance on a line 50-plus feet in the air, but I can’t walk in heels. I’m sorry, it’s just not a priority,” I paused as I turned onto the highway, “besides, I’m 5’8”, I’m tall enough without them.” She rolled her eyes and started to nitpick something else, but I reached out very pointedly and turned on the radio.

We reached The Looking Glass with relative ease, eager to get out and stretch after two hours on the road. I shrugged my leather jacket on over my dress before locking the doors, ignoring the fact Jesse had rolled her eyes once again. I led the way up to the door fueled by anxiety and an eagerness to get this whole thing over with so that I could return to my apathetic haze.

“Ready?” I glanced back at Jesse, hand on the door, and she flashed me a nervous smile. I pulled open the door to let her in before slipping through behind her.

“Excuse me, sir.” She approached the host to ask about a reservation under the name Matlock while I scanned what I could see of the dining hall for familiar faces.

“Jessimae!” Jesse stiffened at the familiar man’s voice and his use of her full name, so I reached out to rest a hand on her shoulder in what I hoped was a comforting gesture, forcing a smile when she glanced back at me with uncertainty in her lilac eyes.

“Look at it this way: we’re stuck here together, right?” A strained laugh escaped her lips at my attempted optimism and we turned to face her parents, her mother waving from her place at the table with a brilliant smile. Rajani Matlock was of English and Indian descent, and still a beautiful woman despite how sick her relationship (if you could call it that) with Ornais made her; in my opinion, Jesse and Jack got most of their looks from their mother, certain infernal features aside. As we approached the table, Ornais and Jack rose from their seats to pull out our chairs for us. I couldn’t help my uncomfortable glance at Jack, it’d been years since I last saw him.

“Reyna,” Rajani beamed at me as they sat back down, “I’m so glad you could make it today.” I returned her smile and started to thank her for inviting me, but Ornais cut me off.

“I’d hoped you’d be out of town, it’s the only good thing about you being a bloody Soul Collector.” I turned a coy smile on him, almost speaking through my teeth when I replied.

“Of course I’m here, you’re in my territory after all. It’s part of my job to assess threats and, if necessary,” I paused, my smile widening into a rather wicked grin as I leaned forward to meet his gaze across the table, “deport them.” I straightened up again, tenting my fingers in front of me as if I were thinking it over, “Although I suppose I should say exorcize in your case.” His gaze narrowed into a sharp glare, but before he could retort, a server came by to take our drink orders. Jesse cut in as soon as he left, probably hoping to derail the fight I was about to pick with her father before either of us snapped.

“You know I’m actually playing a monster hunter in the movie I’m working on right now. Reyna has been a big help to me.” She spoke with a smile and her mother let out an excited exclamation as the subject turned to Jesse’s work and I tuned them out. The server returned with a bottle of Scotch and a small glass, setting another down when Jack gestured for one discreetly before pouring for both of us. I’d downed my glass and poured myself another by the time he disappeared again.

“I wondered this before, too, but isn’t Scotch a little heavy for someone so small to be drinking that fast on an empty stomach?” He spoke as if he didn't remember how we'd met so I downed the last of the glass and he reached for the bottle. I caught hold of his wrist and bared my teeth in an almost territorial snarl.

“I don’t like sharing,” Jack only smirked, apparently still used to my possessiveness, and pulled his hand free.

“Don’t look at me like that.” There was a self-assuredness in his crooked smile and a cold edge to the fire in his amber eyes that hadn’t been there before I left London, “I’m glad to see your tastes haven’t changed.” He lifted the bottle deftly in his fingers and refilled my glass.

“Reyna.” Jack hid his smirk behind a sip of his own glass before I looked back at Rajani in question, “Where’s Michael tonight?” She smiled, “Is he still painting?” I shrugged, taking a sip of my glass as if to buy myself time to answer.

“I’ve no idea where he is or what he’s doing. I’m not his keeper.” I spoke with maybe a little more bitterness than was necessary and Jesse shot me a concerned look, but Rajani didn’t seem to mind.

“It’d be a pity if he wasn’t painting anymore.” I finished off the rest of my glass without really registering it. “I always found his works so…” she paused as if looking for the right word, “fascinating.” My laugh was harsh and at it, all eyes turned on me, but it was too late and I was far too apathetic to keep my mouth shut even without the alcohol in the mix.

“That’s definitely one way to put it.” I went to take another sip and frowned when I realized my glass was empty. Jack was kind enough to refill it for me again before refilling his own, “His style is erratic at best,” I lifted the glass in a gesture of thanks to Jack before downing half of it and continuing, “it ranges from realistic to impressionist to something that should remain in the heads of those with synesthesia or schizophrenia on LSD.” The three of them stared at me, though for different reasons.

“I liked his paintings, the ones I’ve seen at least.” Jack was the one to finally break the silence, pausing to take another sip of his glass, “I liked the subject matter.” I shot him a pointed look.

“Well,” I flashed a cruel smile, “there’s no accounting for taste.” He frowned at me as I finished off my glass and refilled it; the glasses here were much too small.

“I like your art, too.” I finally met his gaze over the rim of my glass, deadpan as I downed it in one go.

“You’re only proving my point,” I reached again for the bottle, but Jesse had snatched it away, I guess she’d had enough of my bullshit for the night.

“I think you’ve had enough.” I disagree, I thought to myself as I sat very still and very quiet, studying her, there’s not enough alcohol in the world to satisfy me right now. I swallowed the thought when I read the sorrow in her gaze and in the greyish blue that hung around her like a cloud.

“You’re right,” I spoke softly as I pushed away from the table, “I have had enough.” I stood slowly and pulled on my jacket. “One of you can give her a ride home, right?” I glanced around the table as I pulled my wallet from a pocket so that I could pay for my scotch, “Good, I’ll see you later then.” I turned to leave before any of them had answered my question, but Ornais’s hand closed firmly around my upper arm and I was glad for the leather jacket when I heard the hiss of heat. I turned on him with a fox’s snarl and eyes turned red tinged gold.

“You will not continue to disrespect my family,” under different circumstances, I would’ve been pleasantly surprised at his words, but as it stood, I wasn’t in the mood to celebrate his finally showing some appreciation for family ties.

“I am not your possession, nor am I your underling.” I jerked free of his grip on my arm, “Don’t forget you’re an unwelcome guest in my territory, not the other way around.” He wore a smile befitting a Lord of Hell.

“Pity you’re a Soul Collector, you’d make an interesting little pet.” I couldn’t help it, I swung at him and, to my surprise, I hit him square in the jaw. “You little-” He grabbed for my neck but caught hold of the pentagram instead when I ducked back out of his reach. The combination of silver and a symbol to ward evil spirits made the contact singe his hand and he let out a surprised and angry cry that froze me to the spot. He lunged again and before I could react, Jack had snatched the Scotch bottle from Jesse and smashed it over Ornais’ head hard enough to shatter. The man dropped to the ground and Jack let the remains of the bottle slip from his fingers.

“Bloody bastard,” he muttered the words before looking up at me and speaking again, something I couldn’t hear.

I ran.

I didn’t stop until I was outside and down the sidewalk a ways away from the door. I leaned back from the wall and raked my fingers through my hair, dislodging the knot as I focused on breathing and trying to steady my heart rate. My hands shook as I fumbled with the knife inside my jacket until I’d pulled it free to drag the blade across my wrist to let the scent of iron and blood fill the air. A sigh of relief escaped my lips as I slid down the wall, pressing my mouth to the cut and drinking in the blood because at least it was something.

For an Alcaimynder, blood is a drug and we’re all genetically addicted right from the start.

I heard the door of the restaurant open and I glanced up out of the corner of my eye to watch because underneath the blood I’d picked up Jack and Jesse stepping out into the night air. They rounded the corner a moment later and worry filled Jesse’s expression when she saw me.

“Reyna,” she started forward, but Jack held her back when he saw that my dull gaze was still red gold.

“Go back inside, take mum back to the hotel,” his voice as he handed her the keys to their rental car was gentle and, to me, nostalgic as something clicked and Jesse understood as well. She nodded slightly before turned to head back inside alone. “Reyna,” Jack kept his gentle tone as he approached me, he movements slow and deliberate as if I were an injured animal, “let me see.” He reached for my arm and I let him take it, licking the blood from my lips around extended primary canines while he examined the cut; the fire in his amber eyes had softened, they were the eyes I fell in love with again for the time being. “You Owhis,” he breathed a weary sigh as he turned my arm slightly and pulled a hankercheif from his pocket, using it to wipe the cut clean. “There is no greater curse than yours.” I watched as he pressed his lips to the cut and it sealed itself, leaving only smooth skin behind.

“Thanks,” I was quiet. Slowly, Jack’s self-assured smile returned and he straightened up, offering me a hand.

“Come on, I’ll take you home.” I pushed myself to my feet on the wall and started towards the parking lot, putting my hand to the wall again for support when I stumbled. He watched in silence for a moment before breathing an exasperated sigh and reaching into my jacket’s pocket to draw out my keys despite my warning growl. “You are in no shape to drive.” he muttered the words as he wrapped an arm around my waist to steady me, “Come along, love, you can lean on me.” I shook my head, causing my world to spin, but the combination of alcohol and madness in my system made it hard for me to do much else as he guided me back to my Jeep and watched as I swung myself up into the passenger seat. My eyes were still red gold as they began to drift closed and I could feel my canines biting into my lower lip again. “Has anyone ever told you that your eyes are beautiful when you turn feral?” I glanced towards Jack out of the corner of my eye now that my vision had really begun to double and bared my teeth at him, but he only laughed quietly.

“Has anyone told you that you’re incredibly self-assured?” Again my bitterness only received a quiet laugh from him.

“Loads of people, but they never mean it as an insult.” I flashed sharp teeth at him in a cruel smile.

“I do.” I drifted off to another carefree laugh and the steady tick of my Jeep’s engine as he turned the key in the ignition and pulled smoothly out of the parking lot.

It was the delicious smell of food I didn’t have to make that woke me up the next morning. I groaned as I opened my eyes to survey the room, taking a minute to register that the throbbing in my head was the sound of my own heart pumping. I was alone in my own bed, stripped bare, which could be a bad thing considering all I really remembered at the moment was Jack taking me home.

Jaxson Matlock…

The ex I never really got over...

I hid my face in my pillow, taking a deep breath as I tried to retrieve some memory of what happened last night when we got here. I vaguely remembered asking him for help I didn’t need with the zipper on the back of my “dress”, warmth, the feeling of cotton fabric and… Jack, Sleep, Reyna. You’re going to hate me in the morning if I let you have your way, with a sad look in his eyes, just before he covered mine with his free hand. I sat up slowly, still half asleep as I looked around the room again, taking in the clothes on the floor as my head spun.

It took me much longer than it should’ve for me to really register that there was someone in my home cooking what smelled like breakfast and I wasn’t entirely sure who it was.

I’m going to blame the hangover.

I climbed out of bed in a hurry, snatching the cotton dress shirt from the floor and shrugging it on before I lifted my knife from the table and rushed out the door. My steps were silent as I crept down the hall towards the kitchen, hugging the wall and balancing on the balls of my feet while I listened to the person’s steady heartbeat. When I stepped into the archway, I stopped dead in my tracks.

“Good morning,” Jaxson smirked when he glanced back at me, eyes trailing me up and down briefly before his amber gaze returned to whatever he had on the stove in front of him.

“‘Morning,” I mumbled the word and set the knife aside as I buttoned the shirt I wore up a hole or two. “That smells amazing,” I inhaled deeply, “what is it?” It smelled like ham and sunrise and fresh cut hay to me, pale orange rising from the pan like steam.

“Scrambled eggs with mozzarella, honey smoked ham slices, and coffee.” He paused to hand me a cup of strangely scented coffee, “That should help with your hangover.” I murmured my thanks as I sipped the coffee so hot I burned what little I had in the way of taste buds for the next few minutes.

“I didn’t know you cooked.” Jack laughed coldly at my quiet words; he seemed to be enjoying the tension that bothered me so much.

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me,” he paused as he shoveled the food onto a couple of plates and handed one to me, “it’s been six years. People change.” I nodded slightly even though I generally disagreed with his statement, taking a moment to perch on the granite counter before savoring a piece of the ham.

“This is really good,” the words came out almost in a purr as Jack sat down at the table, his lazy, arrogant smile returning to his lips along with a wicked glint in his eyes. I swallowed, looking back at my plate as if in great interest.

“I’m glad you like it.” His smile tugged into a crooked grin to match his eyes as he continued in a nonchalant tone, “Are you going to stay up there? Because I quite like the view from here.” I blinked my confusion, glancing down at my clothes for a second before baring my teeth in a snarl while I crossed my legs. Still, that didn’t stop the heat from rising in my cheeks.

“Bastard,” I muttered the word and he raised his hands in mock surrender.

“Hey, I’m not the one running around in someone else's shirt and nothing else.” I looked down again, silently taking in the fact the shirt I was wearing wasn’t at all my size. Ah… cotton, I thought to myself as I fit together that little piece of last night’s haze. “Or I suppose you could stay up here,” Jack had set his plate aside when I wasn’t looking and now he stood before me, the wicked grin tugging at his lips again as he leaned close enough to whisper in my ear, slipping the plate deftly from my hand and setting it aside before propping himself up on the counter beside me, “it’s not such a bad place to be.” He exhaled the words and his breath sent a chill down my spine as he pressed a silent kiss to the side of my neck, teeth grazing skin and his fingers biting into my hip as he slid me just a little bit closer. He kept going, kissing slowly up the side of my neck along the vein there, a smirk tugging at his lips as he felt my pulse quicken beneath his touch and I let slip a quiet gasp as my eyes fluttered closed. “Bloody hell, Reyna,” he pressed his lips to the edge of my jaw, “I missed you.” His husky voice right then combined with the underlying lust in his scent was like sin and I…

well…

I guess I figured I was already going to hell anyway. I reached up to trace the line of his jaw guiding him up to me until I could kiss him, knotting my fingers in his messy hair so that I had some leverage while his hand trailed up from my hip under the shirt until it was pressed flat against my back, holding me close.

Then we heard someone coming up the stairs two at a time and we broke apart just in time to find Jesse in the doorway. I snapped back to myself then, moving both hands to Jack’s chest so that I could put some distance between us, trying to focus on keeping my breathing even. Jack listened, letting go of me so that I had some room. I let my hands fall back to my lap, balling them into fists to hide the almost imperceptible shaking.

“Damn it, Jackie,” Jesse finally recovered from the initial shock and for a split second, I could see the exhaustion in Jack’s amber eyes before he hung his head, dark hair shielding them from view while he breathed a sigh of what sounded like defeat. “You could've warned me you were spending the night,” she almost sounded heartbroken, a distinctive violet swirling around her that I usually only saw around jilted lovers.

“Would you please stop calling me Jackie? You’re not a little girl anymore.” Jack’s words came out in a growl, but he hadn’t turned to meet her gaze yet… maybe he couldn’t… maybe he knew the same thing I did.

“You swore,” there was rage in her voice, but I couldn’t pin down a reason why with any amount of certainty. There was a weariness written into every fiber of his being at those words and, as much as I hate to admit it, I felt kind of bad for him seeing him like this. He took another deep breath before straightening up, the unfamiliar cold distance from last night in his eyes again as he turned to face Jesse, all seriousness in his expression.

“I slept on the sofa,” his voice was empty and level, “I wouldn’t take advantage of her like that.” His smirk returned as if he were trying to lighten the tension in the room, “Besides, she’d be liable to kill me if I did anything to her while she was drunk.” I hid my smirk behind a sip of my coffee; it was too early and I’d had far too little caffeine to keep a straight face through this conversation.

“You didn’t take advantage of an attractive woman.” Jesse spoke as if she were struggling to wrap her mind around the idea, but Jack simply nodded.

“I didn’t lay a hand on her,” Jesse gave him a look like she was asking him to go back and try again so he stopped and thought it over for a second or two, “at least not until she was awake and sober.” She continued to glare at him, but tears were starting to well in her eyes because I was starting to pick up the scent of salt in the air. Then she bolted, vanishing back down the stairs almost as quickly as she’d come despite Jack’s attempt to catch her. He swore under his breath and I couldn’t help the smirk that tugged on my lips again so I hid behind more coffee. “So…” He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his dark jeans and turned back to me, “I suppose I’m going to need my shirt back sooner than I'd hoped.” I studied him in silence a moment while lifting my fork again to take another bite of my previously discarded breakfast.

“How did it end up on the floor of my room?” He smirked, something I was starting to find vaguely annoying.

“You took it off after I helped you with the zipper on your dress.” I took a deep breath as he shrugged, I’d feared as much, “They say you're more likely to be sexually attracted to your exes when you’re drunk, I guess that was a good example.” Part of me was incredibly frustrated and reminded why I'd stopped drinking in the first place, the rest of me was tired, a little hungover, and generally not in a good mood, especially with the considerable lack of caffeine in my system.

“The only thing that was proof of was that muscle memory still works after four or five glasses of Scotch,” I spoke bitterly but he only smiled.

“It was more like seven or eight.” I shot him a sharp look, but he didn’t seem to care.

“If you want your shirt back, then you need to move.” He seemed to hesitate, leaning closer as he let his slightly calloused fingers brush a lock of my hair aside and pressing his lips in a silent kiss to my cheek before he sat back down at the table to finish breakfast. I swallowed, climbing down from the counter and lifting my knife. I hesitated before leaving, I felt like I should’ve said something, anything to fill the silence, but all I could think of was, “Thank you, for getting me home.” I left without waiting to see if he’d heard me.

Jack was doing the dishes when I came back; the scene was so surreal it took me by surprise. He glanced up at me when I paused in the doorway as if he’d sensed me watching him even though I’d made no sound.

“I could’ve done that,” I let myself slip back behind my mask of bitterness and sarcasm when I broke the silence. He shrugged.

“I got bored looking through your library.” I blinked in surprise, turning to see that the door had indeed opened for him; it was odd, I had the only key and without it, magic usually kept the room sealed. “I did find this though,” he turned the water off and dried his hands, “while I was looking through some of your collection.” He turned to lean back against the counter with a fox half mask in his fingers. My blood ran cold when I saw it, “Did you—” he stopped when he saw the pain in my eyes, “What?” I swallowed the lump in my throat.

“Don’t touch it, please.” My voice was surprisingly low and even despite the tremor in my hands and the sense of panic clawing its way up the back of my throat. Jack held it out to me, but I took an unconscious step back and shook my head slightly. “I can’t—” My voice cracked and I broke off the sentence so he set the mask gently on the table.

“It’s yours, isn’t it.” It wasn’t a question when he finally spoke, but still, I nodded slightly. “What happened?” He didn’t need to clarify for me to know he was asking about the fracture in the otherwise smooth surface. I remembered that day far too well, it haunted my nightmares from time to time, after all.

“I was young, drunk, and grieving.” He nodded slightly as if he could guess which time I was referring to.

“Kelly…?” He trailed off when I shook my head to signal that I didn't want to talk about it, my wild red hair falling in front of my eyes.

“It doesn’t matter,” I breathed a heavy sigh and finally, tentatively, took the mask in my hands, “not anymore.” The light, leather-like material flexed slightly in my hands, but I knew if I flexed it far enough, it would crack and shatter like porcelain.

“Reyna.” Jack slipped the mask carefully from my fingertips and I unconsciously reached up to wipe my eyes, I was surprised when my fingers came away damp; I hadn’t cried in years. “Reyna?” He set the mask aside again and reached out to brush my hair out of my eyes, but I shook myself and pushed his shirt more forceful than I probably needed into his chest.

“Here’s your shirt, now get out of my house.” I practically snarled the words as he stumbled back, confusion written clear in his eyes.

“But—”

“No. You’ve probably already woken up the boys, I don’t need you causing more problems for me.” He frowned as I herded him towards the stairs.

“‘The boys’? I thought you couldn’t—?” I shoved him back again, this time more to stop him from finishing his sentence than anything else.

“Shut up!” I snarled at him as my teeth and eyes changed. I pushed him away again and he started to fall back down the steps, but reflex made me catch him by the arm and pull him back to his feet.

“Thanks,” he spoke breathlessly and my now red gold gaze narrowed.

“You’ve become a jackass and an arrogant bastard, I should let you fall.” He smirked at my cold tone.

“Maybe you still like me.” I let go of his wrist, no longer keeping him suspended over the stairs. He tumbled down them with a series of grunts, earning a few bumps and scrapes along the way. I followed him down, then through the shop all the way to the sidewalk out front. I watched from the step as he walked towards Main Street and the bus stop, buttoning up his shirt as he went. He paused briefly to wave goodbye, the annoyingly self-assured smile on his lips, but my gaze only narrowed as I waited for him to disappear.

Then I collapsed on the step as if all of the strength in my legs left me at that moment.