Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 26232 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 131(@200wpm)___ 105(@250wpm)___ 87(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26232 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 131(@200wpm)___ 105(@250wpm)___ 87(@300wpm)
“I have my car,” Carter says, waving his arm toward the parking lot.
“So, you’ll follow us,” Wrath says. “Come on. Rav wants you there.”
“He does?” Carter asks.
“Yeah.”
“Let’s go,” I urge. “I’m supposed to help Hope with her hair, Lilly with her makeup, and I need them to help me with something.” I grab Wrath’s hand and tug him toward the parking lot.
The ride to the new clubhouse isn’t far. I check my mirror to make sure Carter’s still following.
I tuck my Jeep into a spot by the side door. The new building feels somewhere between a dorm and a house. Not that I ever went to college and lived in a dorm. Just based off of television and movies.
Outside, Wrath joins me and takes my hand. It’s not quite dark yet but the twelve-foot Frankenstein and fake tombstones in front of the building are already lit up.
“They must’ve been busy decorating,” I say to Wrath.
“Rav really wants to prove himself to Rock,” he answers in a low voice. “To all of us, I guess.”
“Well, he did a stellar job.” I flick a tiny spider nestled in a cotton spiderweb as we enter the front door.
“Swan said it was a horror movie theme,” Carter says.
My gaze quickly scans the room. What I hope is a fake skull sits on a bed of orange maple leaves over the fireplace. Spooky fog rolls over the floor. Flashing lights, skeletons, monsters, coffins, bats, and all sorts of decorations surround us. “You mean every horror movie ever?” I ask.
Carter nods.
Swan—decked out in a sparkling black feather tutu—runs up and hugs me. “I’m so glad you’re here. How’d it go?”
“Great! We raised a lot of money.” I search the room again. Where the hell is Hope?
Swan and Carter disappear into the fog. Wrath tugs me to the side, out of the way of the front door. “I see Grinder and Serena,” he shouts over the opening notes of the theme song to The Exorcist.
“Oh good. Lead us that way.”
Grinder and Rooster are deep in conversation while Serena’s sitting on the couch, touching up Shelby’s makeup.
“What the heck is Serena’s costume?” Wrath mutters to me.
“I don’t know. Be nice,” I warn him.
He peers down at me. “I’m always nice.”
Serena struggles to get off the couch when we approach. But Grinder’s right there to offer his assistance, gently easing her to her feet.
“Girl, are you ready to pop yet?” I ask.
“Almost.” She grins.
I take in her costume of what looks like white gauze wrapped around her from neck to toes, a stylish white turban and black-and-white makeup. The woman’s a million months pregnant and looks stunning. “What are you?”
She rubs her hand over her belly in an affectionate circle. “Mummy to be!”
“Oh my God.” I snort-laugh. “Damn, that’s good.”
Shelby pops up next to her. “You have to see Charlotte. She’s so dang cute.”
I check out Shelby’s sparkly velvet and chiffon dress embroidered with silver stars and threads. A necklace of rainbow crystals at her neck and her face glammed out with silver makeup and rhinestones. “Fortune teller.” Shelby shrugs. “My version.”
“Pretty.” I study her makeup again. “How long did that take?”
“Hours.” She gestures at Serena. “We filmed the whole thing. It came out great.”
Damn. I can apply some eyeliner and shadow well enough to avoid looking like a clown, but Serena’s skills are movie level.
Lilly touches my shoulder and gives me a quick hug. I’d barely had a chance to talk to her earlier. “Where’s your costume?” I ask.
She points to the ceiling. “Z brought all our stuff up earlier.” She pats Serena’s back. “Her train case is literally the size of a train.”
Serena giggles. “No it’s not. I did bring a lot of stuff, though.”
“Has anyone seen Hope?” I ask.
“Um, last we knew she went to take a shower,” Lilly laughs. “We haven’t seen her or Rock since.”
“Oh, Christ,” I mutter at the ceiling.
Serena points at Lilly. “Your face is going to take forever. Let’s get going.”
“You know what, I better check to see if Hope’s decent,” I say to the girls, pulling out my phone to send her a text. I notice she sent me a text earlier that I never saw or responded to. Ooops. “Did anyone bring curling irons?” I ask as I type out an are you decent text.
“I did!” Shelby volunteers. “I got this cool new auto-spinning one.” She twirls her finger in the air. “At the press of a button.”
“I brought a few,” Serena says. “All different sizes.”
“Oh good. I need a small-diameter one for Hope’s hair. She said absolutely not to wearing a wig with her costume.”
Shelby wrinkles her nose. “Don’t blame her. It’s already hot as Hades in here.”
“I got you,” Serena assures me.
I walk over to Wrath and tap his arm. “We’re headed upstairs.”
“Let me go with you,” Grinder says to Serena. He tosses a worried glance at the staircase.