“So does Ethan’s family live around here?” Rene asks, dipping a chip in the guacamole.
“No, they’re back in Syracuse. That’s where we met,” I say, not sure if I mentioned that yet. It’s getting hard to keep details straight in my head when there’s so much I have to omit. Though, the core of our relationship is pretty easy to explain. It’s not hard to believe that we met, fell hard and fast for each other, and couldn’t stand the thought of being apart; hence, us moving in together so soon.
“His sister came out this way for work,” I add.
“What does she do?”
Crap. My mind races to find a believable lie. What kind of jobs make you travel? My mind is suddenly blank. “She’s um…a, um…nurse,” I blurt out. “A traveling nurse.”
“I heard they make a lot of money. My sister wanted to do that before she had kids. Not the one that runs the store with me. I have two sisters. And two brothers.” She wrinkles her nose. “It was chaos growing up in my house, as you can imagine.”
“Having one brother drove me crazy enough as it is.” I hear the front door open and close. The kitchen is in the back of the house, so I can’t see Sam. “I’ll introduce you,” I tell Rene, getting up and waving for her to follow me. As soon as I get into the foyer, I wished I would have given Ethan just a minute to warn Sam I had a guest over.
Both she and her friend are splattered with blood and Sam has a crossbow hanging from her shoulder. Her friend, a pretty girl and a fellow redhead, has a knife strapped to the outside of her boot. She also has something splattered across her face, but it’s thick, looking almost like tar. They both turn, eyes going wide as they look from me to Rene and back.
“Hey, Sam,” I say, fully aware how weird this is. “Your zombie apocalypse cosplay has really improved.”
She gives Ethan a what the fuck look but then fakes a smile. “Yeah. It’s much better than yours.”
“It is. You know me, though, I much prefer dressing up like an elf who uses magic to fight the forces of evil.”
Now she gives me a what the fuck look before shrugging off the crossbow, handing it to Ethan. “This is Yuma. Yuma, this is Anora. And I don’t know who that is.”
“I’m Rene.” She brings her hand up and waves. “You guys really went all out with your costumes.”
“It was my idea,” Yuma says without missing a beat. “I forced her to do one of those zombie-theme photo shoots and everything.” She laughs and elbows Sam. “I’m scared to hear what she’s going to say I owe her. But this stage makeup is kinda itchy, so we should probably take a shower and wash it off soon.” She looks at the grand staircase ahead of us. “Your house is gorgeous.”
I’m liking Yuma already. “Thanks. I can give you a tour. Unless you want to shower first.”
“A shower would be great,” Sam deadpans, looking down at the blood on her arm.
“I’ll show you where the bathrooms are upstairs,” Ethan says, needing to talk to them about whatever sort of demon hunt they just came back from.
“So.” I turn, hoping Rene bought our little cover story, though I don’t see why she wouldn’t. “It’s time to feed the horses. And the donkeys. I kinda lump them in with horses though they’re different. I assume you know what I’m talking about when I say horses though.”
She laughs. “I do.”
“You’re gonna want to borrow some barn boots,” I tell her, eyeing the heeled suede boots she wore over here. I’m a good few inches taller than her so I’m sure my boots will be too big, but at least she’ll be able to wear them. We bundle up and go out the back door, with Hunter racing ahead. We bring everyone in the barn. Rene is eager to help me feed as well as groom the horses, and she knows what she’s doing. I’ve been told more than once that someone “knows how to ride” and it turns out their only experience was a pony ride at summer camp ten years ago.
Sam and Yuma are sitting in the kitchen with Ethan when we get back inside. There’s a bottle of whiskey and three empty glasses on the counter, which seems to be a hunter custom whenever there’s news—good or bad.
Rene goes right back to her spot after she washes her hands, making small talk with Sam and Yuma. Ethan’s eyes meet mine, telling me he needs to talk to me.
In private.
“I need to feed Romeo,” I tell her. “Stay here and eat. I’ll be right back.”
Ethan follows me up the stairs and pulls me into the alcove that leads to our bedroom.