Chapter 444
I laugh and happily move forward with Jesse, ducking into the yurt and looking around with curiosity at the surprisingly large, semi-shabby space. Some things were very obviously brought over from the Land of Darkness – like her bed and some of her pots and pans. But some things are very obviously new, and very obviously Ella additions.
“Oh, I like your tiny fridge,” I say with an admiring gasp, taking a seat on a pillow on the floor around what I assume is Midnight’s eating area. I leaning close to admire the shiny black mini fridge in Midnight’s makeshift kitchen, which is only an arm’s length away.
“Thank you,” Midnight says, patting the fridge, very pleased as she sits down across from me. Jesse sits down next to both of us so that we form a little semi-circle and begins to open and pour the wine as I continue to look around at Midnight’s strange little home. The whole space speaks of so much deprivation and sadness but bizarrely also holds an adorable array of toys and supplies and books - even a little television in the corner with a DVD player attached and what looks like dozens of movies resting next to it on the floor.
“You’ve got a lot of good stuff here, Mids,” I murmur, still looking around.
“Yes,” Midnight says, confirming this with a steady nod. “Miss Ella has given me lots of Orange Soda and I like that very much once I stir it so all the bubbles come out. She says that I can have as I want any time I want and all I have to do is order up more.” Midnight leans over to tap on a little walkie-talkie that’s resting on the floor.
“Well, that is very convenient,” I say, nodding appreciatively as I accept the glass of wine from Jesse and take a sip from it. He pours himself one too and then, to my delight, pulls a can of orange soda out of the fridge and empties it into the third wine glass, offering it to Midnight, who takes it very lightly and grabs a straw, beginning to stir out the carbonation.
“How are you liking it here, Mids?” I ask quietly, curious.
“I like it a lot. I like the bathroom,” Midnight says, gesturing out of the tent towards the corner of the roof where, indeed, my mom had a full bathroom put in a few years ago. “It is sometimes strange and scary here, with all the planes and helicopters going on overhead, but,” she shrugs. “I like it better here. There is more food and things to do and Jesse is here.”
She nods casually to him and Jesse raises his glass towards her in salute, which breaks my heart just a little bit.
“Plus, Miss Ella says I can start going to school and learn a lot more – she says I’m smart,” Midnight says, perking up quite a bit at that idea. “I would like to learn more. My brain…got very bored, all alone in the Darkness.”
I work very, very hard not to cry for this girl, instead swallowing and forcing a smile onto my face.
“That’s fantastic, Mids.” I say, forcing myself to be cheerful. Jesse smirks at me, knowing me well enough to tell precisely what’s going on in my heart and my mind. “Any downsides yet?”
She narrows her eyes at me. “The pups.”
I burst out laughing, grinning at her. “You don’t like Jesse’s siblings? But they’re so cute!”
“Did you know there were five of them, Ariel?” Midnight asks, looking at me with wide eyes like it’s an unbelievable number. “And each louder than the next!”
“They’re a rambunctious group, for sure,” Jesse says with a casual shrug, smiling with pride at the thought of the ducklings.
“I don’t know why anyone would want one of those,” she says, staring at the door, a little appalled as she leans back on one hand, shaking her head, her pretty curls bouncing. “Darkness told me that it was my job to have eighteen of Jesse’s pups and to raise them all in his honor but…Miss Cora told me that I get to decide how many pups I have. And that I can have none, if I don’t want any.”
I look in a bit of shock between Midnight and Jesse.
“Yes,” Jesse murmurs, a bit dry, taking a long sip of his drink. “Many of Midnight and my early conversations revolved around the many children she wished me to sire.”
“Jesse,” I breathe, shaking my head at him, appalled.
He bursts out laughing, giving a shrug. “Hey, I was always on team no pups,” he says, his shoulders shaking with it.
“I should have listened to you from the start,” Midnight says, reaching behind her to take a packet of my favorite cookies off of the shelf behind her. “But…Darkness said it was my destiny and no one told me otherwise. But pups are very loud and very messy and I don’t want any of them in my house ever.”
“Wait till you meet an infant one,” I say, raising my eyebrows as Midnight offers me the packet of cookies and I take a few, popping one into my mouth. “They’re really loud.”
“Pippa has promised me that I can meet her pup when she is born,” Midnight says, nodding to me eagerly. “I’m excited to see if she will be as loud as everyone says.”
“Babies are also super cute,” I say, laughing and shaking my head at her. “It’s not all bad.”
“Don’t try to talk me into bearing Jesse’s pups, Ariel,” Midnight says, holding up a hand flat towards me. “The other Rat already gave me a book describing how they are made and I am not interested in any of that.”
I smile at Midnight in a bit of wonder, shifting my eyes to Jesse, having no idea what she’s talking about. But he just grins at me and leans forward. “So, what was up with Rafe?” he asks, eager and gossipy.
“Yes!” I gasp, dropping the cookies onto the floor as I whip my hand out to smack him on the knee. “What was up with him!? Why was he all silent and tense and weird!?”
“I don’t know,” Jesse says, equally baffled and eager to talk to me about it.
“What happened?” Midnight asks, curious, likewise leaning forward. I grin to see that even if she’s new and bizarrely out of touch with the world, she’s already caught the Sinclair flair for drama.
Jesse and I take a quick moment to fill Mids in on how weirdly quiet Rafe was tonight, and how much he was drinking, and how he would go all tense and turning towards Maryam whenever she would talk. And then how when she’d finish speaking he’d slump back into the pillows like he was at turns relieved or devastated or one of a thousand other emotions.
“I mean is he sick?” Jesse asks, peering at me. “Did he like…eat a bunch of psychedelic mushrooms in anticipation of the party?”
“Maybe food poisoning,” I say slowly, agreeing.
“Sounds like he just met his mate,” Midnight says, taking a casual sip of her orange soda.
We both go still and stare at her.
“What?” I ask, leaning forward towards her.
“All the things you’re saying,” Midnight says, reaching for one of the cookies I dropped. “It just sounds like the way people feel when they meet their mate. Fascinated, acting all strange. I mean, I followed Jesse around all googoo-eyed for days in the shadows, listening to his every word, watching him sleep, thinking he was the most fantastic thing ever.”
“You did?” Jesse asks, his eyes flying wide.
“Rafe just sounds like his wolf is adjusting,” Midnight says, putting her soda down as she ignores Jesse and keeps her eyes on me, stretching her arms above her head with a yawn. “And maybe he’s ashamed of her so he hasn’t told his whole family that she’s his mate yet.”
“But Mids,” I say, leaning forward and shaking my head at her. “She can’t be his mate – Maryam is a human.”
“I know,” Midnight says, rolling her eyes at me. “I met her. She is very weak and ineffectual, as most humans are, so if she is Rafe’s mate then I will feel sorry for him. But Darkness always used to grumble on about that – about how it was the Goddess’s first born grandchild’s destiny to unite the human and the wolf worlds, and what he could do to stop it –“
Jesse and I both freeze.
“I mean, I didn’t think the prophecy would be fulfilled so literally as having Rafe be mated to a human but,” Mids shrugs and takes a sip of her drink. “Who knows. Maybe the Goddess is dull and unimaginative.”
She looks between the pair of us, still staring at her shocked and frozen.
“What?” Midnight asks with a frown. “What’s wrong? What did I say?”
As one Jesse and I whip our heads to each other and then scamper to our feet.
“Did you know about this?” I gasp out.
“No, I fucking didn’t!” He snarls, storming for the tent door. “Rafe!” he shouts out into the night, even though there’s no chance that Rafe is going to hear him.
“Okay, bye!” Midnight calls after us, completely unperturbed by our abrupt departure, perhaps not fully understanding how rude we’re being. “Don’t let the children up! And bring me cake when you can!”
I wave to Midnight over my shoulder as I begin to sprint after Jesse down the stairs.
