“What…?” Deen asked in a whisper. Her mind wasn’t prepared to process this bombshell of a revelation.

  What the fuck was I supposed to do in this situation? Not much, I guess?

  Myra had already mentioned it; I couldn’t return that into Pandora’s Box anymore. I had to handle Deen’s reaction so that the Three Bs wouldn't turn into the Three Bitches and ruin the quiet sanctity of my condo unit. I didn’t have much experience pacifying drama between other people. I usually started the drama.

  “Sander’s Mall parking lot,” Myra said, sighing. “You were attacked by someone shooting—”

  “Shooting spikes!” Deen exclaimed. “That was you all along? You almost killed us, you… you! We were normal humans back then!”

  “I didn’t intend to—”

  “You didn’t intend to kill us? What were those spikes for? Just to scare us?”

  Those were the fun times… I fondly recalled the event.

  The possibility of dying was more real than it was now. In fact, I would’ve died if it weren’t for Spooky Erind offering me to become an Adumbrae. I missed that level of stress and drive to survive. Nowadays, I was having fun even if death was staring me in the face. I considered myself technically dead, and this was my second life, which was why I was no longer thrilled with life-and-death situations.

  “Why did you do that?” Deen demanded.

  “Kelsey…” Myra mumbled.

  Deen inhaled before booming, “Did you think we had something to do with Kelsey’s disappearance? Did you assume that we pushed her off the building?”

  I expected Myra to flare up and start a shouting match with Deen. Yes, Myra was at fault, but I thought that she’d be defensive and deflect the accusations with anger. That was a tactic many people used. Instead, the hot-headed Myra seemed to deflate, guilt and shame evident on her face. She pressed her lips together, bowed her head, and looked away.

  “I was wrong, I know that now,” Myra said. “I was overcome by anger and worry. I didn’t mean to kill—”

  “You were throwing your spikes everywhere!” Deen shouted, forgetting about her panties that needed changing. “It was a miracle that we didn’t get hit. We could’ve died! If Dario didn’t ram you, you would’ve killed Erind.”

  Myra glanced at me with pleading eyes. I subtly nodded—I wasn’t going to remind Deen how I became an Adumbrae. Maybe I could dangle this over Myra’s head someday.

  But my plan was instantly shattered. Deen looked at me. Our eyes met. I averted my gaze too late.

  Deen had put two and two together, and it was a disastrous math equation. She grabbed my shoulders. “Erind, didn’t you become an Adumbrae at Sanders? It was because of Myra, wasn’t it? Did she almost kill you?”

  “Ah… I’ve forgiven her.”

  “I haven’t!” Deen exclaimed, shaking me.

  This was a really shitty situation. I didn’t like this sort of drama. Rather, I’d be fine if I were dishing out the drama. Standing on the sidelines felt awkward to me. “Deen, you should for—”

  “I can’t forgive Myra just like that.” Deen hugged me. “We almost died! We almost didn’t…” She trailed her words, not finishing her sentence.

  From the tightness of Deen’s hug, I knew that she was thinking that we wouldn’t have been a couple if Myra killed even one of us. I should probably be angrier at Myra. Incensed, even. But I couldn’t muster up anger and other strong emotions. The most I could manage was be incredibly pissed, which I was at Myra. Before. With the passage of time, and so many other things happening, I sort of didn’t care much about her.

  Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

  However, that didn’t mean she was beyond the reach of Rule #4. I still had to exact justice, even though I had almost forgotten about it. Did the universe send Myra my way so that I could punish her? Perhaps this was the time to do it, while she was staying with us.

  “I’m really, really, really sorry,” Myra said. “If I could make it up to you and—”

  “Wait, Dario rammed you,” Deen cut in as she released me. Her brain was working overtime to figure out the implications of Myra’s revelation. “Dario knew that it was you—he came to stop you! Everyone else knew about it. Reo, Johann, Everet…”

  Myra nodded, chewing her tongue. “You got that right. Sorry for—”

  “The fire! Oh my god! Did Everett do it?”

  “Deen, calm down,” I said, awkwardly patting her back. “We can talk about this later.” I had to stop this before things got out of hand. And I had very small hands! Myra’s horrified expression told me that she also knew where this was going. Deen’s personality wouldn’t drop the topic of the Sanders’ fire.

  “People died!” Deen drew her full height, which was about an inch or two taller than Myra. She glowered at her. “Did Everett kill those people?

  “He didn’t mean to,” Myra said. “Everett was trying to stop Erind from eating me.”

  Deen mouthed something, but no words came out. Her expression couldn’t be explained, and I could almost see steam coming out of her ears as she reconstructed what had happened in her head.

  “Okay, that’s enough.” I hugged Deen around her waist and pulled her out of Mom’s room. “Myra, just make yourself comfortable. Rest a bit. We’ll talk later when everything has calmed down.”

  “I’m not done with you!” Deen shouted as I closed the door.

  The last I saw of Myra, she looked like she was about to cry. A very unexpected sight. Similarly, I didn’t expect Deen to get this mad. Perhaps I wasn’t good at judging how people would react to drama.

  I dragged Deen into my room, also closing the door behind me. “Deen, calm down. Let’s talk this out.”

  She folded her arms across her chest and glared at me. “Talk—why did you keep this a secret from me?”

  Standing on tiptoes, I held Deen’s cheeks and kissed her mouth. She wouldn’t open her lips despite my tongue knocking on them. I mistakenly thought this would mellow her a bit. I stepped back. “Okay, you’re really mad,” I said. “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want this to happen.”

  “I would’ve been less angry if you had told me before,” she replied. “Now, it feels like you’ve been keeping an important secret from me… because you were. This isn’t only about you, Erind. Myra almost killed me, too. She should’ve approached me much earlier than this. Actually, the three of us should’ve talked together for reconciliation. Instead, it was only the two of you. How did you think I would feel?”

  “Judging by what’s happening now?” I sheepishly grinned. “Very mad.”

  Deen exhaled and started to undress. “I’m going to take a shower,” she said, heading to my bathroom as she flung her clothes away. “We’re going to continue our talk there.”

  “Do you want me to bathe you?” I asked. I just wanted her not be angry anymore because it pissed me off. I needed peace to return to my humble abode. Maybe I wasn’t cut out for relationships because I didn’t want to deal with emotional stuff.

  “No. I know what you’re trying to do, and I’m not in the mood for it. You can sit on the sink while we talk.”

  I shrugged as I followed her, watching her shapely, toned butt as she peeled away her panties. They must’ve been incredibly uncomfortable to wear. My gaze lowered to the back of Deen’s legs. Every step she took, her muscles became defined. But there was also a slight jiggling of her flesh.

  Saliva pooled in my mouth as I focused my gaze between her legs. I had no idea why I was horny at a time like this. Also shocking that I had these feelings… desires. I was ambivalent to Deen before, or any other person, whether guy or gal. Huh, I’m really attracted to her now, I guess.

  Deen looked over her shoulder, her back muscles stretching sexily as she half-turned her body. “Are you ogling me?”

  “Uh, yeah? I’m allowed to do that to my girlfriend, right?”

  A touch of redness blossomed on Deen’s cheeks. She frowned at me before entering the shower. “Yes, you are. But don’t expect that to lessen my anger.”

  Deen didn’t close the glass door to the shower area. The water splashed out of it. I knew she wanted to put on a show for me, so I sat on the sink and watched her. I took this to mean that part of her anger was fading away, despite what she had said.

  “Deen, I’m really sorry for keeping it a secret from you,” I said. “I was scared of your reaction, and so was Myra. I’m going to tell you the truth now.”