“Not true,” Lachlan said, shaking his head. “The old legend says that Elianna, the first Queen of the Realm who brought the Summer and Winter Courts together, had two escorts—one from the Winter Court and one from the Summer Court. It was the way she united the two Courts—something which had never been done before or since,” he added.
“Those are just old legends,” Bran objected. “In reality, it would be scandalous for a girl to be Marked by two males at once.”
“Scandalous according to whose standards?” Lachlan asked sarcastically, arching an eyebrow at his friend. “Are you really still so worried about what the other Fae at Nocturne Academy think? You wouldn’t be hanging around with me if you were, since I am, after all, UnSeelie trash.”
It was the first time he had mentioned out loud some of the nasty things I’d heard the other Fae muttering about him and I could see the hurt in his emerald eyes when he said it.
“Of course I don’t care what they think,” Bran said, frowning. “I just…worry about Emma’s reputation if she ever goes to Court—that’s all.”
“Well, I can certainly see I opened a can of worms here,” Avery remarked. He and Megan and Kaitlyn had been watching the conversation between my two guys with wide eyes and silent interest. “Sorry about that, Emmers.”
“It’s all right,” I said, shaking my head. “Anyway, nobody’s Marking anybody. I’m too busy for any of that—I have to get through the last of my classes, so I can hurry up and get down to the diner for my shift tonight.”
“You’re working again tonight?” Kaitlyn sounded dismayed.
“You haven’t had Second Supper with us once this whole week,” Megan added. “We miss you, Emma.”
“I miss you guys, too,” I assured them. “And I’m sorry—it’s just been a hectic week and Joey has been short-handed, so he asked me to help out.”
I could see Bran and Lachlan exchanging glances. Since they insisted on walking me to and from work every night, they knew very well how slow business had been and that I was telling a lie. But to their credit, neither one of them contradicted me.
“Things will be different after tonight,” I promised my coven-mates.
Which was absolutely true—if I couldn’t somehow earn enough in tips to pay the double rent Groperson had demanded, everything was going to be different. And not in a good way.
“So you promise you’ll spend more time with us?” Kaitlyn asked. “Megan is right, Emma, we really do miss you.” Mr. Seahorse, who was sitting on her shoulder, let out a mournful chime of agreement.
“I promise,” I said, hoping I wasn’t telling another big fat lie. “But I can’t until after my shift tonight. Joey is counting on me.”
And I was hoping I could earn five hundred dollars. But there was slim to no chance of that—not unless the diner was suddenly overrun by customers who were feeling extra generous with their tips.
48
You know that saying “be careful what you wish for?” We’ve all heard it, of course, but that Friday night at the I Scream diner, I was actually living it.
I had been hoping all the way there that there would be lots of customers willing to leave me some big tips. At first, it seemed like my hopes would be dashed and we would be in for another slow night. But just as Joey was beginning to talk about closing early, a roaring, blatting sound split the twilight air.
I looked out the plate-glass front windows of the diner and saw a whole long line of motorcycles headed towards the I Scream. Not nice quiet little Vespas, either. These were Harley Davidsons—Hogs. And every one of them was being ridden by a rough-looking biker.
The leader of the gang lifted his hand and pointed right at the diner. He made a waving motion as he pulled into the mostly empty parking lot. At his wave, the rest of the long line of motorcycles pulled in too. Soon the entire lot was filled with rows and rows of the big black bikes, their silver chrome sparkling in the light of the setting sun.
“Well, we’re in for it now,” Joey muttered. He’d been leaning on the counter staring at me—which was deeply creepy and also his usual MO when we worked together now. But the sight of the bikers seemed to break the fascination spell and get him moving.
I was glad my boss was no longer staring at me like I was the most amazing creature he’d ever seen—his new habit was making it really hard to come to work, even though I desperately needed the money. But the sight of a bunch of big, burly bikers coming through the front door of the diner was also deeply unsettling.
I was the only waitress there that night since we had been so slow, and Joey was doubling as the cook again. I wished that I hadn’t sent Lachlan and Bran away, but I hadn’t wanted them hanging around watching me fill salt and pepper shakers and wiping down ketchup bottles all evening. So I had shooed them off, promising to call as soon as I was ready to go, so they could walk me back to the Academy.