“Are you really so upset about this?” Roksana asked, still under the bed for some reason. “Jonas is loaded. He won’t even feel it and now we don’t have to conk old Larissa on the noggin every time we come over. It’s good for everyone.”
“He can’t make decisions this big when they affect us both. How would you feel if Elias—”
“No no no.” Roksana’s wagging index finger emerged first, followed by the rest of her. “Don’t bring him up and kill my chipper mood.”
“What happened between you two?” Ginny asked, being more abrasive than usual because this crazy huge thing just happened and Roksana was acting quite cavalier. They’d see how cavalier she’d be when someone prodded her sore spot. “He’s the reason you can’t slaughter them, isn’t he?”
Roksana smacked the floor. “I’m doing it tomorrow!”
Ginny snorted.
Larissa appeared in the doorway, staring at Roksana and her leather bustier like they were a personal offense. “Who are you?”
“Death. Here to collect,” Roksana said, unsheathing a knife from inside her boot. “Go now and I might let you live.”
Larissa ran screaming down the stairs as though wild boars were snapping at her heels.
“Well that was unnecessary.”
Roksana flipped her knife end over end and caught it. “She had it coming.”
A laugh tickled the inside of Ginny’s throat, so she smacked a hand over her lips to trap it. Was this going to be her life now? Swinging between the disturbing to the shocking to the absurd with every tick of the clock?
“Clock,” she breathed. “What time is it? I have to finish my dresses before tonight and there’s the meeting with that man about his son…”
“I’ll just be under here,” Roksana intoned, vanishing once more beneath Ginny’s queen-sized bed. “Wake me up if they bring the snack cart around.”
Shaking her head, Ginny got down to business. She wheeled the squeaky garment rack over to her sitting area and fired up her sewing machine. Thankfully there weren’t too many things left undone. She polished the hem on her green, wool A-line, for which a Christmas tree had been the inspiration, then sewed on the red holly embellishment over the chest pocket.
The formal, white silk gown required steam cleaning, along with the faux fur being affixed to the collar. And maybe she needed a trail of rhinestones traveling down between the breasts and spreading along the hips?
With a needle and thread permanently stuck between her lips, she’d never worked faster in her life and by the time late afternoon rolled around, she had a full, finished collection, against all odds.
Ginny eyed her napping couch longingly, but there was no time to rest. She sped through a shower, blow drying her hair and applying lip gloss, mascara and some blush. When her usual go-to for anything fancy—that wasn’t a funeral—would have been bright and pattered, she found herself reaching for the red, lightweight chiffon number in the back of her closet. A black belt cinched the floaty material in the waist, layers of ruby red cascading to mid-thigh.
And for once, when putting on a dress, she felt exactly like herself. Not Elizabeth Taylor, Lauren Bacall or even Grace Kelly.
Just Ginny.
“I believe they call this a glow up,” Roksana murmured, coming up beside her. “Are we over our tiff?”
“It wasn’t really a tiff,” Ginny sighed.
“Ahhh. You are saving your wrath for Jonas.”
Ginny squared her shoulders. “Like I said, he can’t make big decisions that affect us both without some kind of communication. It’s not fair.” She shook her head. “My heart already trusts him, but my mind is another story. I need both on board. Both are important to me.”
“He’s used to being the prince. He makes a decree, others obey.”
“Why?”
Roksana shrugged. “He inspires loyalty. Even from me.”
“Does it have something to do with the fact that Jonas helped Elias when he was freshly Silenced?”
“I thought our tiff had ended,” sniffed the slayer.
Ginny hid a smile. “I have to get to my meeting. Could you do me a huge favor and put these dresses in garment bags? It’ll save me time when we have to leave for the expo.”
“Nyet.” She slashed a hand across her neck. “I’m not to leave you alone. The Elder might have been eliminated, but now we have the High Order to worry about, since you’ve deemed it wise to give yourself to a bloodsucker.”
“Five minutes. Please?” Ginny was already backing from the room. “I’m going to be running late as it is. And anyway, the sun doesn’t go down for another half an hour. It’s nature’s vampire repellant.”
“I’ll walk you to the office and make sure there are no intruders. Or spiders. Or sharp edges. I’m not taking any chances with your fragile humanity.”
Ginny rolled her eyes, but didn’t protest as Roksana followed her down the stairs. “Maybe I’d be better off if…” She watched closely for the slayer’s reaction. “If Jonas made me a vampire.”