"Hi!" the small, brunette woman chirped, and I jumped in surprise when she collided with me in a hug. "I'm Everly. My friends have told meso muchabout you. Wanna be my friend, too?"
"Uh. Yeah," I agreed, smiling despite my sour mood. "Why not?"
"Yes!" Everly let go of me to pump her fist. "Another friend! How many am I up to now?" she asked Vienna.
"Counting all the sanctuary, the knights, and the people you've picked up on trips into town … fifty maybe?"
"You're number fifty-one," my new friend told me with a wide grin, her green eyes bright with genuine happiness. "I've never had real friends before," she told me, "so I'm collecting as many as possible."
"Oh. Well, I'm glad to make the list," I told her, laughing when she threw herself at me in another hug. She reminded me of an affectionate puppy, and it was cute.
"I'm glad, too. Even Lynn likes you, which iscrazy.Lynn doesn't likeanyone.Well," she paused, giving me a mischievous look, "except Devil. He's her best friend."
"My only friend," Lynn drawled, and I flicked my gaze up to see her loitering close by in her regular uniform of dark clothes and a leather jacket. She hadn't dressed up for the get-together either, I was relieved to see. "You fuckers are just inconveniences who sometimes bring me food and offer amusement."
"Liar!" Everly accused, releasing me to spin and point a finger at Lynn. "You like me; I know you do."
"Children!" ChaCha barked, clapping her hands loudly. "Can we get back to the matter at hand?"
"Can we not?" I asked under my breath, but their antics and Everly's genuine enthusiasm for literally everything had lightened my mood a little. Jessia was probably right; I was brooding.
But Priest was the only person I'd let inside all my guards, and he'd lied—about something huge and important.
"Miss Pissy-Face is in a mood, and we need to figure out why," ChaCha declared.
I scowled at the name. I didnothave a pissy face.
Although Iwaspissed off…
"Maybe she needs a nest," Everly suggested genuinely, her eyes big and brimming with enthusiasm. She dropped her voice to a whisper and added, "And a nice big cock."
"Ooookay," Lynn cut in, settling her arm across the smaller woman's shoulders and drawing her back. "Good idea; we'll try them both. First, how about you tell us what's going on, Luna? This is more than what we talked about before; I can tell."
"You’re a little more … sulky," Vienna agreed, but sympathetically. "And that's fine! We all get sulky every now and then."
"Some more than others," ChaCha drawled, sliding a look at Lynn, who grinned with far too many teeth for it to be anything but a challenge.
"We're your support network, remember?" Vienna went on, giving me an encouraging smile. "So you can talk to us. About anything."
I shook my head. But—I was pissed off. And rightly so. Why shouldn’t I tell them?
I crossed my arms over my chest and sighed, "Since I got here, you guys have been amazing, but Priest's looked after me a lot, too. He was the one who got me out of that house."
"Ohhhhh, it's a boy problem," Everly breathed, then whispered to me, "I'm amazing at boy problems."
"Your solution is literally always sex," ChaCha pointed out, a smirk on her purple lips.
"Yeah, so? It works."
I laughed. "That's not gonna work for this. Sorry, Everly. He lied to me—for days. I thought he was a decent person. I even told him Ifeltsafearound him," I snarled, angry at myself and a little disgusted. "And he's a fuckingliar."
"Do you want me to kill him?" Lynn offered genuinely, true interest in her sharp eyes.
I laughed. "Ah. No, it’s okay."
"I'm pretty sure I can get away with it," Lynn went on, deadly serious. "I don't have a problem with the guy, but if he hurt you, I've got a few ideas."
"That's worrying," Vienna murmured, her brow furrowed.