Six Months Wiser (Maybe?)
“Damn girl, hold your horses and let me park before you break your neck!”
Darcy’s hand was already on the latch and was pushing the door open as her friend coasted to a stop. “Sorry, can’t wait!” She was impatient, everything in her body buzzing.
There was joy and then there was celebration and today, after six months, twenty-five days, eight hours and forty-three minutes she was going to be in the arms of Kellen and nothing like pesky road rules were going to stop her from being there to greet him.
Except maybe the seat-belt.
The nylon belt snagged and locked in place, keeping her tethered to the seat while Vanessa cackled beside her. “You totally deserved that, Darsh.”
“Are you telling me I deserved to be decapitated by your jeep?” Darcy snarled before laughing at the idiocy of what happened. “What a great friend you are!”
“You deserved that because Deputy Smith is over there giving us a stank eye that would have impressed Mother Teresa and I have a feeling it’s not about the fact that I ghosted him last week.” Vanessa chortled in a sing-song voice as she pulled into the second closest spot to the docks.
“Why did you ghost him?” Darcy asked as she pressed the release on her belt and let it snap up with a clatter that had her flinch. She really needed to chill, else she was bound to owe her friend a new window, and she wasn’t sure she had the money.
“Lets just say I saw the text to his wife while he was in the bathroom.” The woman next to her grimaced and splayed her hands on the steering wheel, fingers spread. “Also sending your wife poorly lit dick pics is so cringe.”
Darcy stopped, hand on the latch again, eyes wide as she looked at her dearest and oldest friend in shock. “You’re shitting me?”
“I wish.” Vanessa sighed, eyes closed, head thrown back against the headrest. “I should have known better.”
“What a fucking dog.” Darcy looked up and saw Deputy Sean Smith duck into Gina’s Bakery. This island really had shitty luck with shitty deputies. “Was it at least something to look at?”
Vanessa shook her head, a quick movement before she opened one eye to look at her as she turned her head. “Let’s not focus on my failed hook up and look forward to yours.” She grinned as she gave Darcy a once over. “Did you at least shave?”
At the question, Darcy blinked, confusion shifting to embarrassment as she realized what she was asking. “What? No!”
Vanessa sighed, rolling her eyes as she opened her door and got out. “You’re seriously hopeless Darsh. Hopeless with a capital H.”
The door closed, leaving Darcy alone in the car to watch her friend walk around the front bumper. Vanessa Nolette was the best friend a girl could have. Though tiny, she possessed a mighty spirit, a hellion unchanged from her high school days, where she’d relentlessly challenged anyone who dared to cross her. She had been the glue that connected their tiny little click. It wasn’t as if the island had that many to begin with, but even the small school had its cheerleaders and jocks.
Darcy, with her own particular brand of weirdness, had been lucky to find Vanessa in the third grade.
They were an odd couple, but they’d made it through school until Rebecca joined them, their contrasting personalities and styles creating a noticeable dynamic that just worked.
Human, vampire, and freak.
The odd Musketeers of Moose Hill High.
Darcy let out a groan at the memory and shook her head. It had been months since she had last thought of the wolf stealing leech that had led her straight into the arms of Kellen.
So honestly, she really should send a thank-you card.
“You coming, Darsh?” Vanessa mouthed as she stepped up onto the curb, looking over her shoulder, large hazel eyes flashing with mischief. “Or you want some alone time?”
“No, give me a second Nes.” Darcy mouthed back before she nodded and left the safety of the jeep. She paused a moment, hand on the metal as she took a deep breath of the briny air.
There was something metallic in the air, painting her tongue as she swallowed.
It shot her back to the night in the woods and for a moment her body chilled.
Darcy forced herself to ignore it, and instead she stepped up beside her friend. “Fen said that they would be on the one-thirty ferry.” She glanced down at her watch and watched the second hand twitch. They still had a half-hour unless the ferry was running late, which rarely happened.
Silence hung in the air as they made their way towards the seating area near the exit area. A fence separated the area from the rocky expanse of the beach. Shallow on this side, the fence was a last-minute addition after a child had fallen a few weeks ago. The roughshod wood unfinished, Darcy made sure not to skim the wood as she leaned against it.
“I know you’re super into this Kellen of yours,” Vanessa looked up at Darcy as she shifted on her feet, pushing her shoulder against hers. “But I’m super excited to meet this Fen you keep talking about.”
“You would,” Darcy snorted. “Seriously, I’ll make sure you get a proper introduction to the myth himself.”
“You’re the best Darsh.” Vanessa beamed and wiggled her shoulders happily.
Darcy fought the grin that was forming and cleared her throat. “I mean, you’ll need someone to keep you busy while I spend the next five weeks happily climbing Mt. Kellen.”
Vanessa turned on her, staring wide eyed as her mouth dropped open. “What?” She snapped her mouth closed and snorted. “If you plan on spending five weeks with Ser Kellen, the fairy knight, you really should have waxed.” Vanessa waggled her eyebrows and in minutes, both of them were hysterical.
It felt good to laugh, the August sun shining and all the monsters left in the dark of the woods. Darcy wouldn’t say anything to anyone, but the nightmares still kept her up late into the night. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the Carnute’s decaying form, its immense claws raised in a final, futile strike before it withered, its body shrinking and drying until Darcy stared into her own reflection in its empty eye-sockets.
She closed her eyes and listened to Vanessa’s giggling beside her.
When the dreams had started she had texted Fenwick, told him she needed them to come back. Yet all he could say was that they were working on it. She had felt so alone but had found warmth with both Vanessa and Poe. Yet what she needed was answers.
Now, six months later, and whatever mountains they had climbed, the Queen had finally agreed to send them back to her. It was almost as if she could breathe again. The nights hadn’t seemed so dark since the text last week. Fenwick had been her lifeline to Kellen, and she would be thankful until her last breath.
“You think the guys will be okay with movie night?” Vanessa asked after she sobered, “I mean, I won’t say no to an action flick, but I love our girls’ movie nights.”
“I think they will.” At least, she hoped they would be.
“Seriously,” Vanessa’s voice darkened, “they need to be ok with Pride and Prejudice once a month, else I will have some strong words with your knights.” She paused before clicking her tongue, “I’m gonna say something and don’t get angry.”
Darcy frowned as her stomach flipped in panic. “Should I be worried?”
Vanessa shook her head, sending waves through her dark hair. “Nope, I’m just happy your landlord was a dick and kicked you out.”
She turned to stare at her friend. “What?”
“I mean totally a dick move kicking you out because of that pretty puppy you adopted, but he did me a solid, giving me back movie nights with my best friend.” Vanessa nodded and grinned up at Darcy. “And I don’t mean Poe.”
“Right,” Darcy shook her head and let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. “Thank you for clarifying.”
It had been a shock to know that Poe could appear to mundies that had no fae blood. The screaming had been a massive give away when the man in question had entered her apartment without an appointment for ‘emergency maintenance’. Darcy could only assume it wasn’t because of her dishwasher.
Vanessa continued, paying her no mind. “Besides, I’m only here for half the year so you’re doing me a massive favor house sitting and it’s not like I’m going to let you be homeless.”
“Not exactly homeless.” Darcy snorted. “We could have lived in the old tree house we found when we were kids.”
“Like hell would I let Poe sleep out there?” Vanessa clicked her tongue. “My princess needs warm meals.”
“And the truth comes out.” Darcy laughed, hand on her chest as she gave Vanessa a look of mock shock. “You don’t care about me in the slightest.”
“You have opposable thumbs and can use the microwave.” Vanessa deadpanned as she shoved Darcy with her shoulder again.
Darcy gave her friend a hurt look. “I knew you liked her better than me.”
“Darsh, you’re my sister from another mister. Of course I love you,” Vanessa let out a long sigh as she placed her hands on her hips. “I just wish you would have let me have a minute with that asshole landlord.”
“Ex-landlord,” Darcy quipped before closing her mouth.
“Ex-landlord, ex-fiance, ex-friend,” Vanessa shifted on her feet, turning to rest her back against the fence. “Feels like you’re collecting them all.”
“Just call me Triple X.”
They looked at each other before laughter bubbled out between them as they settled to watch the calm ocean, the soft waves breaking along the rocky shore.
After the laughter ended, Vanessa kicked the toe of her sneaker against the gravel, sending bits flying. “So beyond us picking up your sexy elves today, any news from the harem?”
“You and Edith really need to get your minds out of the gutter and stop reading the same bad romance novels.” Darcy shook her head and leaned against the fence with her elbows. “Kylie is in Boston for a conference on cybersecurity, and they sent Mark up North to deal with a rogue vampire. She’s not really sure what’s happening with that.” Darcy bit her lower lip, the memory of the Carnute standing in the shadows of her mind.
Vanessa let out a low whistle. “Imagine going toe to toe with a bloodsucking leech? Maybe it’s Becca?”
Darcy grunted. “I don’t think Becca would ever consider sucking off someone unless they’re dressed in a fursuit.”
Her friend made a gagging sound. “Ew, now I’m going to have that image stuck in my head when I would much rather hear about the better sex you had with the elf that rocked your world.” Vanessa whined and kicked her foot up, causing gravel to scatter again. “Or better yet, what else do you know about the rogue? Bet they are all sexy Dracula-like. Or maybe it’s like a feral Edward?”
Darcy wrinkled her nose. “Stop romanticizing murder, Nes. It’s creepy as hell and you wouldn’t be saying that if you had been here during the Spring.”
Vanessa sobered slightly, her tone growing serious. “I know, I know. I wasn’t here when the Carnute was murdering women.”
“Which I’m stupidly grateful for.” Darcy didn’t doubt that the thing in the woods would have targeted Vanessa if she had been on the island and not happily working in New York.
“You could have used a friend though, especially as a shoulder after you know what happened with that man sucking fang-slut.”
“First, I totally did. A wonderful friend who talked me off the edge and helped with everything you could from your office.” Darcy gave her friend a wide smile. While the pain of betrayal wasn’t as sharp, she still didn’t like putting it out into the world. “And second, that’s an insult to sluts. Becca is just a terrible person, fangs or not, who went after a flea-bag cheater.”
“But I wish I had done something more to help. Like, I don’t know, hold her in place while you gave her a one-two Buffy stake through her fake boob.” Vanessa sighed with a dejected humph.
Darcy didn’t have a response and instead turned to look at her friend with wide eyes. “Wait, she has fake boobs?”
“Did you really think those were real?” Vanessa clicked her tongue before giving Darcy a big smile before she raised a hand to her brow, squinting against the sun. “Any news about dad?”
Darcy stared out at the ocean. She thought she could see the ferry on the horizon.
“I called his office and left a message with the admin. He’s on site and probably won’t be able to get messages until December at the earliest. At least, that’s what the secretary told me.” It wasn’t uncommon that he would be off-grid thanks to his work; she just really needed to talk to him about her mom.
“I really cannot imagine living without a phone for almost a year.” Vanessa groaned, “I need my social media doom scrolling with my morning coffee poop.”
“Nes, T. M. I.” Darcy groaned out laughing. “Next you’re going to tell me the shape and color.”
“I mean, if you really want to know.” Vanessa grinned before the smile fell. “Seriously, dad will be back soon and you’ll get to ask him about your mom.”
Darcy gave a slow nod, her chin dropping slightly. “I know, it’s just the waiting is hell.”
And the nightmares weren’t helping.
