Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 101168 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 337(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101168 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 337(@300wpm)
Poe rolled his eyes. “Sure, maybe not right away. Maybe you’d promise me it would never happen. But at some point, there comes a time when everyone thinks they’d be better off knowing what’s gonna happen.”
He looked haunted. How many people had promised him they’d never ask, and how many of them had smashed that promise to smithereens?
“And if by some miracle neither of you ever asked me, then I’d end up seeing it anyway. By accident or in a dream. Or in some weird fucking freak way that I haven’t even experienced yet because who the hell knows what I am.”
The hand holding Poe’s fork shook, and he put it down.
“If I wasn’t here. If I wasn’t around you. I thought it was less likely that I’d see your—”
“Futures,” Allie finished for him.
“Deaths,” Edgar corrected, the penny finally dropping. “You were afraid you’d see our deaths. That’s why you left.”
Poe nodded miserably. “Please don’t make me,” he said.
His voice was colored with fear and exhaustion and something that hurt Edgar in ways he didn’t understand.
“No one’s gonna make you do anything,” Edgar said fiercely.
He didn’t care how long Poe had been gone for, he would destroy anyone who pushed him to do anything he didn’t want to do.
“Except cook more often,” Allie said. “Cuz this is seriously good.”
Poe ducked his head at her praise.
“Yeah, uh, cool. I…enjoy it.”
Jamie caught Edgar’s glance and raised an eyebrow, as if to say, Poe unsarcastically expressed enjoyment?!
Allie took another bite and eyed Poe with respect. None of them had ever been very good at expressing emotion; they’d never learned to. But Edgar thought maybe that could change. After all, it had already started to change for him, being in a relationship with Jamie.
“Well, don’t just sit there,” Allie said, wiping at her eyes. “Tell us what the hell you’ve been up to the past six years, you enormous freak.”
Looking around the table, a genuine smile that Edgar realized he hadn’t seen in years quirked his brother’s lips. As if assessing the level of their interest and deeming it sufficient, he leaned in, eyes shining with six years of stories. Edgar felt something that had been tightly coiled in his belly all these years relax and go to sleep.
“Okay,” Poe said, raising his eyebrows. He began to talk and didn’t stop until they were all hungry again.
25
Jamie
It was casting day for scare actors at House of Screams, one of Jamie’s favorite parts of their job. They swung by to pick up Amelia on the way.
“Dude,” she said as she hopped into the front seat and slung her bag in the back. “I think we’ve got a preliminary cut. Can you come over after work to watch?”
“Hell yes.” They raised their hand, and Amelia high-fived it. “Sorry I’ve been so busy lately. The text thread with Emma and my folks has exploded.”
Now that the wedding was drawing nearer, new problems or decisions cropped up nearly every day. Dozens of texts would greet Jamie when they took their lunch break, with links and pictures and words like URGENT at the top of every single one.
Jamie had told their family multiple times that if emergent decisions needed to be made, they shouldn’t wait for Jamie to weigh in. It hadn’t made a difference though. This wedding was a train chugging along the tracks, and god help anyone who got in its way.
“If I don’t respond quickly enough, my folks call when they know I’m at work and leave sigh-punctuated messages about how I’ll regret being selfish and not prioritizing my only sister’s wedding years from now, because a wedding only happens once.”
“Ew,” Amelia expectorated. “Wait, wasn’t your mom married before she and your dad got together?”
“Yeah, I dare you to try and bring that up with her.”
“So would I be right in assuming my invitation to be your date to the blessed event is rescinded?”
Jamie sighed. “I haven’t asked him yet.”
“I thought it was going well?”
“Edgar’s wonderful. But I’m honestly dreading the wedding. Even with the suit issue settled, I just… You’ve been to these family events where my mom is running a political shadow op while the rest of us eat macaroni salad. You know how it is.”
Amelia snarled. “Yeah, every time your parents misgendered you, I wanted to scream. I don’t know how you stand it.”
Jamie’s stomach hurt. “Hence my dread.” They waved a merging truck in front of them as they slowed down to make the turn into the haunt. “So what do you think I should do?” Jamie asked, throwing the truck into park. “Should I go?”
“You don’t have to decide now if you’re gonna go to the wedding. But I think you should invite Edgar no matter what you choose later. I’d want to be asked.”
“I would too,” Jamie said, linking elbows with her as they walked toward work. “Thanks.”