“I liked your dress,” Rika said, not looking at me. “It was perfect.”
My dress?
Oh, the wedding. The dress was still sitting in a pile on the dining room floor, now that I thought of it.
“Do you think you’ll be happy?” She leaned down, carefully slicing with her small, serrated knife to form an eye.
“I’m not unhappy,” I told her. “I know that.”
She nodded, still concentrating on her work. “Kai’s a good man. He’s family.”
I know. And I knew what she was telling me. I’d better make him happy, too. Things might be complicated, and it might be a very long time before they loosened the reins enough to widen their circle to fit me, but I admired her loyalty.
I walked up, pushing a tea light and lighter over to her whenever she was ready. “So, how’s your wedding planning going?”
A wide smile spread across her face. “I’m having ideas,” she replied coyly. “Wanna help me shop?”
“Shop?” I couldn’t contain the abhorrence on my face. “For dresses?”
She looked at me, leaning in. “For a train.”
“A train? As in…”
“All abooooard,” she sing-songed.
Huh?
But before I had a chance to question further, all light in the kitchen died, and the whole room went dim.
“Whoa.” Rika straightened on her stool.
I charged across the kitchen, quickly flipping the switches on the wall.
But the lights were out. “Flashlights and candles!” I yelled down the hallway. “Move your asses!”
“I can’t believe they went out already.” Rika rubbed her arms as if she had a chill. “It’s not even that bad out yet.”
“Alright, here.” David and Lev came rushing back, setting the supplies down on the island.
I handed Rika a utility lighter. “Light the candles in the holders in the dining room?”
She took it and hopped off her stool, leaving the room. I handed Alex some candle sticks. “Can you spread out a few upstairs in the hallways? Lev go with her.”
David handed me a flashlight, and I took some candles and a lighter to put in the living room, while he jogged upstairs.
I went into the den first and dumped out a small tray of paper clips from Kai’s desk. Placing the candle on it, I lit it and left, doing a double-take to make sure the secret entrance to the tunnel was closed.
Walking into the living room, I broke out in chills, feeling a draft. I looked up, seeing the curtains blowing and seeing the rain falling through the open window.
“What the hell?” I dumped the candles on the couch and ran over to the window, grabbing it and trying to pull it down again. “How the hell is this open?”
Rain splattered the windowsill, droplets bouncing against my shirt as I put all my weight into yanking the window back down.
“Why is this open?” Rika rushed up to me, grabbing the window. Both of us pulled, finally getting it to slide back down.
“I have no idea.” I breathed hard and dusted off my hands. “Thank you, though. It’s getting bad out there.”
“Yeah.” She peered out the window, her long blonde hair hanging over her shoulders. “Kind of wish we were home. Devil’s Night is even better in the rain.”