She glanced behind me, seeing no one, and nodded frantically. “Of course. Of course you do, Susan.” For a second, her eyebrows pinched together. She looked worried. “You, uh. You didn’t sneak in here, did you?”
I stared at her, dumbstruck.
“Oh!” She held up her hands in front of her. “I’m not accusing you of anything. I just don’t want you to get in trouble.”
Buzz.
“Especially now,” she added. “When things are going so well for you. I don’t want you going back to the psychiatric hospital. I know you hated it there,” she said sadly. “It would be horrible for you to have to go back.”
Buzz. As Seraphina’s lies prickled over my skin, I wrestled with the darkness that threatened to surge up and devour me. I won’t go back. I’ll never go back.
“Susan? Are you okay?” Seraphina’s big eyes grew round, and she spoke very slowly, enunciating her vowels. “Do you know where you are right now?”
I clenched my fists. Come on, Susan. You’re a strong, capable woman. Why aren’t you saying anything?
I knew why. I’d tried to escape from the psychiatric hospital twice, and both times, the nurses caught me and spoke to me exactly the same way. Slow words, sympathetic expressions, lots of nodding and eye contact, while at the same time, they jabbed needles into my arms and forced pills down my throat and strapped my arms down so I couldn’t hurt anyone else…
How did she know? How did Seraphina know exactly the right words to say to throw me off balance? How did she know the exact right way to shift her weight onto one leg and cock her hip so her pregnant belly would pop out, rendering me almost catatonic with grief and loss? How did she know the exact thing to say to stoke my biggest fears to the surface, rendering me speechless?
It was all so deliberate.
I still hadn’t fully accepted the fact that I’d been so wrong about Seraphina, too. I’d been wrong about so many things. For the last six months, I’d been chasing Old Susan, trying to get her back, trying to squeeze back into her clothes, trying to talk with her voice and move with her body.
Who was I kidding? Old Susan was a fucking idiot. Old Susan was so confident that she was right, she ignored all evidence to the contrary.
And look at how that house of cards fell down.
I’d given Seraphina the benefit of the doubt, and I was still doing it, even while I felt her lies buzz over my skin. “Like I said, I’m here for dinner, Seraphina.”
“Me, too. We’re meeting Vincent’s parents here for dinner. They wanted to talk to us.” She exhaled with relief and took a couple of steps down. “But it’s nice to see you out and about, Susan. You seem like you’re much better, and I’m so happy.” Suddenly, her smile wobbled. She frowned deeply, eyebrows drooping, as if she’d just thought of the saddest thing in the world. “And I’m so sorry about all this business with the building sale. Like I said, Vincent and I don’t want to take anything else off you, but…” She shrugged, an elegant hitch of her shoulders. “His parents insist that we get what we’re owed. If I had my way, I would stop them, but then again, I don’t want you getting into trouble.”
Buzz.
I opened my mouth, and took a deep breath.
“You.” Cress’s voice barked from behind me. “Ginger strumpet. Step away from the Chosen.”
Seraphina’s careful, sympathetic expression cracked, and a hint of rage and surprise tightened her face, but quickly, she composed herself, and pinched her eyebrows together. “I’m sorry?”
“Did you not hear me?” Cress stomped up next to me, shoving her way in front of me, as if Seraphina was a dangerous beast. “Back up, cumbucket. You are too close.”
Seraphina’s eyes widened. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me, harlot.” Cress slid one hand inside her jacket. “You positively reek of whorishness. I do not want the stench of your diseased flaps anywhere near my charge. Step away now.” Cress shot me a smug look. “Cecil gave me one of your human guns,” she muttered without moving her lips, ventriloquist-style. “I can shoot her if you want me to.”
“Cress…” My voice came out very faint. “Uh, that’s okay. Not today, thank you.” I couldn’t take my eyes off Seraphina; it was as if a spell had broken.
Her willowy, graceful posture collapsed, shoulders hunched, eyebrows furrowed, and eyes narrowed to slits. She glared and jabbed her finger at Cress. “Who the fuck are you?” Her voice—no longer soft and breathy with a beautiful Irish lilt—shrieked out of her mouth like an awful screech of tires. “Who the fuck do you think you are, talking to me like that?”
“Bitch,” Cress lifted her chin. “I’m your worst nightmare.” She turned and winked at me. “Did I say that right?”
I nodded, too shocked to say anything.
“Seraphina.” A cold, haughty voice snapped from behind us.
I turned. Delilah and Gordon were walking up behind us.
Seraphina went white and backed away, climbing up several steps weakly. She managed to make it look like she was dying of anemia. Her hands shook. “Oh, Delilah. Thank goodness you’re here.” Her breathy, soft voice was back, and she trembled like a scared puppy. “This… this… person was threatening me!”
Cress snorted. “You think that was a threat? No. I’ll give you a threat. How about this? You even breathe in the direction of my woman again, and I promise you I will cut out your tongue and use it as a doorstop to prop open my front door on all-hallows night.”
Seraphina gasped. “Did you hear her, Delilah?”
“What are you going to do about it, you cum gargling gutter-slut?”
“Seraphina.” Delilah’s voice was ice cold. “Go find Vincent and meet us at our table. We have things to discuss.”
Seraphina turned and flounced up the steps.
Gordon walked up to me. “I don't know what your game is, Susan.” He paused and swallowed, his jowls shaking. “I don’t know what you’re playing at…” He trailed off, obviously too angry to go on.
“You’re obviously up to your neck in some illegal business.” Oh, wow. Delilah, too, was trembling with rage. I’d never seen her look so angry.
For some reason, it gave me a little of my courage back. At least I’d never been wrong about these two. I summoned a smile. “I’m guessing my lawyer has been in touch with your lawyer already.”
“Oh, she has been,” Cress chipped in, casually trimming her nails with a gleaming silver throwing knife. “Martina is even more efficient and cut-throat than me.”
My smile grew wider. “Are you here to discuss legal strategies with your son? You might want to come up with something good, so you can cover up the fact that both he and his vile mistress lied when I was arrested. Where is he, anyway?” I looked around deliberately and spotted Donovan getting out of the limo and straightening his suit jacket. The others arranged themselves around him like they were planets, and he was the sun.
