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After our flying escapade, I convince Shay that we need a cup of tea. It’s been months since I had a decent mug, and there is only one place to get it, which is what brings us to Coffee Grind. The small mom and pop shop looks the same as it always has. The tall glass windows are so spotless, I can see my reflection. A tiny bell chimes when the door opens, greeting customers.
“Quinn?” I spot her in the far corner of, dragging Shay with me. “Is that you? How have you been feeling?”
The Coffee Grind’s signature cinnamon dessert scent wafts through the air. The original stone hearth is clean of soot, and freshly cut wood lays strategically on the black, metal grate.
“Zoe? You’re back?” Quinn stands and embraces me. “Oh, my gosh. How was Europe? Everyone was so jealous that you got a free eight-week, once-in-a-life-time trip. I mean, you couldn’t pass that up. No one would’ve wanted you to. But to go alone without even Kieran? Any one of us would have taken that opp.” She hugs me again. “I’m so glad you’re back. And hi, Shay.”
“Hello, Quinn,” Shay says.
“Don’t forget to breathe in there, girl.” Man, I missed her. All the excitement that she carries around her, rolled into a tight, fun-sized body. Lowering my voice, I say, “So ... are you feeling better?” I scan the room looking for anyone lingering to overhear our conversation.
“Oh, yeah, I was only at Mayo for a couple of days,” Quinn says. “But the doctors never found—”
“I know what you are. Aiden told me before I left for ... vacation.”
“I hope you’re not mad.”
“Why would I be mad?”
“Aiden ... he came to visit me in the hospital like every day, and we started to hang out and one thing led to another and now ... we’re kinda dating.”
My mouth opens and closes. I look at Shay, and he’s doing the same thing.
He recovers first. “Tell us everything. I know Zoe wants to know.” He elbows me in the ribs.
“Yeah, I do.” We sit in the loveseat, sipping our chai teas as Quinn regales us with the past few weeks after her hospital stay, her training with weapons, and her latest exercise program that Aiden is putting her through.
“I’ll be right back.” Quinn stands. “Do you guys need refills or anything?”
Peering into my cup, I shake my head as Shay does the same. I can tell that Quinn is smitten with Aiden. Neither Shay nor I have the heart to say anything further.
“We have to say something to her,” Shay says.
“I know. She’s just so happy.”
We don’t know for sure what exactly Aiden’s end game is or if he’s truly evil. Yes, he kidnapped me, but he never physically hurt me. And my friend needs to know about him. I don’t want to hurt her, but if Aiden hurts her I’d rather Quinn hate me that to let one of my friends suffer because I didn’t say something.
Silently, Shay and I agree to let things play out.
When Quinn returns with her steaming cup of decaf coffee—she doesn’t need anything to add to her bubbly personality—she sits on the edge of the high-back leather chair. “I got my Nephilim Sword the other day. It’s really cool.”
“That’s great,” Shay says. “Aiden’s teaching you technique?”
“Yeah, with other types of swords and weapons in general because when I was learning those, I didn’t have my own yet. It just came the other day.”
“Quinn,” I say. “Just be careful around him. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“I know he’s your neighbor, and he’s relatively new in town, but you don’t know him like I do. We have a connection. Maybe it’s like what you and Shay have, or maybe it isn’t. But I want to find out.”
“Okay, but Quinn—”
“Zoe, maybe we can double date, and you can see what I see in him.” Seeing Aiden again so soon is not going to happen in my book. At any point in my life for that matter. I don’t care if she likes or dates him. Quinn is not changing my mind about Aiden. He kidnapped me. Granted, I think he might have let me go. But still. Shay squeezes my hand, confirming that he’s thinking the same thing. Then again, maybe we should double so I can see what he’s up to. “I know you guys had a fight before prom about Morgan—”
“And there’s the boyfriend stealer.” Morgan glides toward us.
“Take it up with Aiden.” Quinn raises her hand. “He’s the one who dumped you.”
“And I see that Zoe is back.” Morgan continues her advance on us. “Word on the street is that you were in Europe galivanting around.” She leans in really close to my ear. “But I think that’s a cover to where you really were doing. Hiding a baby bump.”
“If that’s the case,” I seethe. “Why after two months of being gone is my stomach as flat as a pancake?” I lift my shirt just high enough for her to see my abs. “And I recall that it takes nine months for a baby.”
“You must have lost it.” Morgan shrugs. “I’m so sorry for your loss.” She squints her eyes. “Not really, it’s just something that people say, isn’t it? Well, I’ve gotta run. I have much more important places to be like the beach. Ta ta, losers.”
“Oh, my gosh, she just burns my hide,” Quinn says. “I don’t understand how you can stand her meanness, Zoe. I didn’t steal Aiden. He said that he broke up with her. She, of course, was extremely upset about it and wouldn’t take no for an answer. She didn’t take it lightly.”
“She’s been like that since elementary school.” I watch Morgan leave the shop. “I’ve learned to ignore her.”
“But she does have a good idea.” Quinn wiggles her brows. “It’s a gorgeous day out, and we’re on summer vacation. You don’t have a job yet, do you?”
“Nope. I didn’t get a chance to line one up before ...”
“So?” She bounces in the chair. “We should get the gang together and go have fun. Celebrate the end of our junior year since you weren’t there for it.”
“All right,” I relent. “Meet at Prairie Lake in an hour?
“Fantastic. This is going to be so awesome. Just like old times.” Quinn takes out her cell. “I’ll text Rena. You text Cali.” She waves bye and walks out of Coffee Grind.
I nod and stand to leave.
“Do you think it’s wise to go swimming today?” Shay asks. “I know you need to have time with your friends after everything you’ve been through, but we still need to find your Seraph’s Sword.”
“I know we do, but my sister isn’t back from soccer yet, so we have a few hours. Besides, I really do need to hang out with them to feel normal. We won’t know when the next time I’ll get to see them again.” I remove my phone from my back pocket and text Kieran, Cali, and Sidelle.
Me: Prairie Beach in 1 hr. Getting the gang to hang today.
Immediately, Sidelle returns my text.
Sidelle: OK
“You’re coming though, right?” I ask.
“Of course. Where you go, I go.” We take off and leisurely stroll on the sidewalk, heading for home. “What was it like for you?”
“Don’t torment yourself, Shay; there wasn’t anything for you to do with all the cities that needed you.” We amble hand-in-hand, as always. “Besides, most of the time, I thought I would die of boredom. I talked to myself a lot and at the tail end of my time, Aiden would visit me. So, all in all, I guess it wasn’t so bad. I could think of worse scenarios.”
“I can, too.” He flattens his mouth into a thin line.
Kieran: Are you on your way home? We can all ride together.
I show the text to Shay and he nods.
As we round the corner and turn onto Sandbar Lane, I finally receive Cali’s response. She’s in, too, but will meet us at the lake since she’s still in Minnetonka and has pack business to attend.
The parking lot is full, but we manage to snag an open spot near the end of a row. The park where Prairie Lake butts up against is packed with students milling about, runners on the path getting exercise, and young moms with strollers soaking up the perfect day.
As we near the beach, children build castles in the sand, an on-duty lifeguard supervises the kids swimming, and the concession stand is open with a line of hungry people.
“We can stay a couple of hours, maybe three to allow time for my sister to get home, change, and meet at your house,” I say to Kieran as we walk the short distance to an empty picnic table. Shay is carrying my bag that’s loaded with towels, sunscreen, and a football. I decided to wear my swimsuit under a coverup; both are purple, of course. “I wonder if Sidelle is here yet?” I scan the thick crowd of people but don’t spot her.
“I think she’s over there.” Kieran points to the far end of the beach where a group of guys huddle around our fairy friend. He scrunches his brows together. “I’ll be right back.” He turns and leaves us.
“She can take care of herself,” I say to his retreating back.
“I know. I’m going to tell her that we’re here,” Kieran says over his shoulder.
Turning to Shay, I say, “I think she knows we are.”
He shrugs and takes the bottle of sunscreen out. “Would you like me to apply this to your back?”
“Sure,” I say and spin around so he can spray me. “When you’re done, would you like me to do you?”
“If you insist.” He smirks.
“Ah.” My cheeks flood a deep red as Shay chuckles. He doesn’t say anything about my question.
“All right, you’re all set.” He hands me the can and turns. The bottle is almost empty, and I shake it to get every drop out.
“Let’s go and pick our spot then see if Quinn and Rena are here.”
We lay our towels out onto the hot sand. I place my flip-flops on two corners and the football on another.
The sun is shining high in the sky. No clouds will provide us any shade today. A half a dozen wind surfers zigzag across the water as a pair of Jet Skis cut through their paths. Jerks. To our left, kids are learning to paddle board.
Laughter fills the air as birds chip their excitement on such a beautiful day. Everyone is enjoying the summer weather.
“Do you think Aiden will come?” I ask. My eyes are closed, soaking in the rays.
“I don’t know. If he knows better, he won’t.”
“Won’t what?” Quinn asks. “Rena can’t come today; she’s working.” Her body stands in front of me, blocking the sun.
“Oh, um. We don’t want the day to end.” I sit up, raising my hand to shield my eyes. “Sidelle and Kieran are over there.” I point to the far end of the beach. “And Cali is on her way.”
“Heads up!” Kieran dives toward us, sand flying everywhere. “Hi, ladies.” He lands on his side and flashes us a smile.
“K,” I scream as Quinn shouts, “Kieran.”
We immediately stand and shake the sand off our bodies. Shay is smart enough not to say anything, but his mouth is fighting a smile.
Kieran grabs for the football. “Shay?”
He looks at me.
“You go have fun with K. I’ll be here with the girls.”
“We’ll be right over there,” Shay says.
“I hope we can do this a lot this summer.” Cali plops down beside us. “Hi guys.”
“Hey, Cali,” I say. “Glad you could make it.”
“And miss this gorgeous day and spend time with all of my besties? Never!”
“How was the end of school?” I ask now that all my friends are here, except for Rena.
“Boring as heck without you,” Quinn says.
“Yeah, it wasn’t the same,” Cali agrees. “How was your trip? Do you have any pictures?” She spreads out her beach blanket and sinks down to lie beside us. I notice for the first time that her body is leaner, not that she was fat before she became a wolf, but she’s taught with muscle. She’s totally rockin’ it in her white bikini.
“Um, I forgot to take any.” I shake my head, trying to recover from staring at my friend’s body. “And what I did were on my phone, but I left it someplace and never got it back. Someone probably has stolen it by now.”
“That’s a big bummer,” Quinn says.
“Yeah, it was.” I look at Cali and hope that she can hear me, even though she’s not in her wolf form. “We haven’t told Quinn the truth because she’s dating Aiden.” Cali’s eye grows wide, and she subtly nods her head.
“So, what is everyone’s plan for the summer?” Sidelle asks as she nears us. She left her crowd of followers. I can see why people flock to her. She’s tall, her long legs seemingly never stopping. A fashionable short pixie hair cut surrounds a round face with bright green eyes that shine. She’s thin, like a model, but has a perfect hourglass figure, highlighting an exotic emerald green swimsuit that has all eyes roaming over her body. “I might travel or go meet up with my folks. I haven’t seen my mom in ages. My dad came to visit me, but that was just for a couple of hours while he was passing through on business.”
Close enough to the truth. I’m sure Vash has filled Cali in on everything.
“I don’t know about me,” Cali says. “Try to spend as much time I can with Vash while he’s around. Since his parents passed away, he’s taken on all of the business and household needs. I’m helping where I can, but it’s not enough. His brother, Jackson, has been great, too. I feel really bad for their sister, Era. She’s so young and needs parental guidance. I hope that she one day will understand.”
She’s gotten good about telling a story with just enough truth entangled with it. It was flawless, and I know it’s something I need to work on.
“What about you, Zoe?” Quinn asks. “You said that you don’t have a summer job yet. Are you planning to get one? I know that you are saving up for a car.”
“I don’t know yet. Since I just got back, I’m trying to find my groove. I guess I’ll take one day at a time. But like Cali, I plan to spend as much time with Shay and all of you guys as possible. You never know what tomorrow will bring.”
This day is exactly what I needed. A few hours of normalcy where I’m not thinking of a war, demons, or the world ending, just being a normal teenager and hanging with my friends, enjoying our summer before our senior year.