Chapter 4 – The Demon and the Whore
Ariel
“Yeah, so,” I say, grinning at Daphne and hugging my knees. “That’s…how it all happened. Tony’s dead but he’s all blue and ghosty now and dating June. It’s weird but I’ve decided I’m supporting it.”
“That’s all so crazy,” Daphne whispers, shaking her head and staring at me with her wide blue eyes. “Your life is so filled with…adventures. All I’ve done in the past weeks is sew in the castle basement.” Her shoulders slump.
I grin wide, wanting her to feel encouraged. “Yeah, but now you can join the adventures! We’re back! We need our fearless seamstress by our side!”
Daphne sighs, narrowing her eyes, onto me. “I’m not coming to your house, let alone on any adventures, if that goblin is in there.”
“Daphne!” I cry out, my voice whiny and playful as I tilt forward, collapsing onto her bed in a fairly good imitation of the temper tantrum Marigold threw an hour ago. Mittens puffs away into dust when I land on him, completely squished. He reforms on my back, hissing at me and leaping away. “You’ve got to come! She’s not so bad – she’s great, really, when you get to know her!”
“Yeah, well, she doesn’t hate you,” Daphne murmurs, petting my hair back from my forehead where it’s fallen.
“It’s true,” I say, nodding. “She said I’m her role model.”
Daphne laughs and shakes her head, staunchly refusing.
“But come on, she just doesn’t know you!” I sit up eagerly, taking Daphne’s hand and tugging.
“Ariel…” Daphne groans, her mouth turning down in a bitter, worried frown.
“I order you!” I say, standing up and tugging harder. “As your nation’s Princess! Come on, please!? Just try!”
It takes a bit of wheedling and the promise of a new sewing machine, but about ten minutes later Daphne walks at my side across the grass towards our tiny village. Mittens crouches in the special pocket of Daphne’s smock that she sewed just for him, the little tufts of his smoky grey ears just sticking out.
I grin as I watch the little shadow cat peek out over the edge of the pocket, defying his orders to stay hidden, curious and unable to help it. Mittens is, after all, a little piece of Jesse’s soul. Following strict orders will probably never be one of his talents.
I grin at Daphne as we climb up my front steps in the twilight, quite pleased and proud of her for agreeing to come along. She smiles at me anxiously as she takes in the sight of my little house.
“It’s really cute, Ari. It’s so…tiny and quaint.”
“Thank you,” I say, wrinkling my nose at her. “Perhaps too quaint, once we fill it up with Jackson’s probably-gigantic babies.”
She laughs with me as we step into the living room, which is cozy and warm in the firelight from the little iron stove against one wall. Jesse and Jackson look over at us in surprise, Marigold sprawled across Jackson’s shoulder, limp and asleep as he crosses to the kitchen for a refill on his tea.
“Hey!” Jackson says the moment he gets over his surprise. He grins widely at Daphne and hastily puts his mug down, stepping quickly to Midnight’s side at the sink. “Welcome!”
Midnight spins towards the door at his words of welcome, her hands – encased in yellow kitchen gloves up to her elbows – snapping to her hips. Her eyes go wide for a moment before she snarls, shadows bursting from her skin like wicked, curling snakes.
“What the hell is she -?”
Daphne flinches but Jackson’s hand shoots out, quickly covering Midnight’s mouth and muffling her snarled rage.
“Hey, Daph, so nice of you to come by,” Jesse says, flashing his most charming smile at Daphne, pretending for all things like this is just a lovely, completely non-problematic surprise.
Midnight continues to spew obscenities, muffled by the expanse of Jackson’s palm as he holds her gently against him.
“Would you like some tea?” Jesse asks, cocking his head to the side as I press the door shut behind me, grinning at his stupid too-calm act. “I mean, I’d offer you a glass of wine, but Ariel’s off it these days –“
Jackson gives a shout of disgust, hopping away from Midnight and staring at her for a moment, appalled, before he lashes his hand out and wipes his palm over her hair. Marigold fusses against his shoulder but then turns her head, falling back asleep.
Midnight snarls up at Jackson, teeth bared.
“Don’t you silence me!” Midnight barks out, the shadows overtaking her face and turning her into the wicked, skull-faced ghoul of nightmares. “I’m allowed to talk!”
“Don’t lick me!” Jackson bites back, staring at her like she’s completely gross and wiping his palm roughly against his pants.
I burst out laughing, realizing what Midnight did to get Jackon to drop his hand.
But all this does is turn Midnight’s attention to me. “How dare you invite the whore into the house!” she snaps, storming forward, pointing right at Daphne with one yellow finger.
“Midnight!” I scold, my hands snapping to my own hips as I stake half a step in front of Daphne, defensive. “You’re being –“
“I said that I was fine with her working here!” Midnight shouts, glaring first at me and then at Jesse. Jackson, I note, is free from her ire. He sighs, readjusting Marigold – who is miraculously sleeping through this – and leaning against the counter. “But not in our houses!”
“When did you say that, Mids?” Jesse asks, his smile dropping from his face. I watch curiously as he goes extra-languid in his chair, lifting his leg to drape over the arm, taking up his favorite useless Duke role. I watch, curious to see how he’ll play this. “Surely I’d remember such a bold statement.”
“You weren’t there,” Midnight growls, focusing her rage on him now. I smirk a bit, pleased to see how quickly Jesse has drawn Midnight’s attention away from Daphne.
“Well, who was there?” Jesse asks, turning his eyes to Jackson and seemingly ignoring Midnight. “Were you?”
“I was not,” Jackson says, his low voice all calm and rumbly, meeting Jesse’s gaze with an even nod as he strokes a hand over Marigold’s back. I grin and try to hide it, because even if I like that low rumbly voice very much I know that this is…not the moment to swoon over my mate.
“Fine, I said it to myself!” Midnight huffs, tossing her hair loftily back, some of the shadows fading from her face. “I say lots of things to myself – and they still matter, even if you weren’t there to hear them, Jesse! The rules stand! No whores in the houses!”
“Well, this is my house, Midnight,” Jackson says, turning his even gaze on her now. She spins to glare at him, betrayed. “And honestly, I’m not sure I want to ban whores. Not that Daphne fits that expression – just…they probably have interesting life stories. I might want to hear those.”
I work really, really hard against a laugh, relaxing a little and stepping back to Daphne’s side.
Midnight snarls at Jackson, who looks at her evenly, clearly not giving in. Then she spins back to face Daphne. “This is my family now and you can’t be here!”
I turn to look at Daphne, expecting her to shrink and be deflated, but to my surprise she stands with her jaw clenched and her body rigid. She breathes in a deep breath through her nose, still staring at Mids, and then shifts her eyes to Jackson. “Thanks!” she bites out. “I think I will take that cup of tea.”
To my delight, Daphne turns sharply and strides to the couch, sitting in the corner closest to Jesse, tense and afraid but clearly standing her ground.
Midnight lets out a choked little wrathful shout, shadows swarming around her in long lethal ropes. She bares her fangs, raising her arms so that the shadows raise with her.
“Enough of that, Mids,” Jesse says with a casual sigh, waving a hand and sucking all her shadows towards him, absorbing them into his palm.
“Hey!” she shouts. Then she gasps as the shadows slip away from her as one, sinking into Jesse completely. “Give those back!”
“Not if you’re going to use them to terrorize our friends, Midnight,” Jesse answers, cold and stern. I watch curiously as the shadows start to seep from his skin a bit, puffing out of his mouth as he exhales, his body perhaps overfilled with both his magic and Midnight’s at once.
Midnight snarls as Jackson moves behind her, perfectly at ease, making Daphne her cup of tea. “This is unfair! I – I –“ she stumbles for words, some of her anger failing her. My heart tenses when I see it replaced with anxiety – the true thing driving her fear. “I’m not…comfy with this!”
“Well, neither is Daphne,” Jesse says calmly, holding out his hand towards the beautiful redhead at his side, who sits with her hands clenched in her lap, the little shadow cat peering fascinated from the top of his smock pocket. “So, perhaps it’s time we do something about it? Find some common ground between you two – so that you can both be comfortable.”
“I will never be comfortable with her,” Midnight growls, her hands curling into stubborn fists at her side.
“Oh, I think you’ll get over that pretty fast, Mids,” Jesse says, smiling blissfully despite all the tension in the room. “Because Daphne, I think, has a gift for you. And it’s one that I’m sure you really, really want.”
Midnight goes still and quiet, her face falling slack with surprise.
“Right Daphne?” Jesse asks, tilting his head and smiling at her. “You have a gift for Midnight.”
Daphne goes even more still, staring back at him. “I do?”