Hours later, the party was still rocking, some people were playing games in the living room, others gathered on the balcony.
"Hey," Jules said. "All of the humans are gone for the night and Will's passed out in my room. We're going to drop our glamor’s and break out some real wine. Want some?"
"Oh, that would be perfect right about now," I answered with a relieved sigh, my mouth already watering at the thought of summer wine. "Hey, what about Jack and Celadine, is everyone okay with them?"
"Oh yeah, totally, I explained the whole situation, everyone's cool. Moya said she was fascinated the moment they showed up."
"Great! I'm going to let Lattie out of my room then. She's probably bouncing off of the walls.”
Lattie was so excited. She flew around the apartment, happy to be free and included in the gathering, although she kept her distance from my two vampires.
Unable to contain myself after the wine warmed my veins I danced around the kitchen, Jack and Celadine watching with amusement. I stopped for a moment to sip some more wine when I noticed the bathroom door open. Tess!
Panicked, I glanced around at the gathered fey, shimmering Maidens with their candy color hair, the blue sprite flying about with a cookie in her mouth, and...Julie! How would I ever explain all of this to Tess?
I slammed my glass down and ran over to her, but it was too late. She saw everyone.
"Avery, what’s going on?" she asked nervously, not able to take her eyes off of the strange company I kept.
"Tess, I know this seems crazy. Just sit down, I’ll explain everything."
She continued to stare at the group of magical creatures in disbelief. But when she caught sight of Moya, her eyes all but popped out of her skull. "No, no. I need to leave. This is crazy," she claimed, shaking her head and made her way to the door as fast as she could.
I desperately ran after her. "Tess, please. It's okay, don't be freaked out. These are my friends."
She looked at me, her lips trembling and her eyes about to overflow with tears. She then glanced behind me at Moya and the others. "I have to go, I can't be here with...with this. This is crazy." And she left.
I stood there in the entryway, not able to move. I wanted to throw up. Tess knew about my secret world. I’d had no idea how I’d ever tell her, but I’d always thought that she would be happy when she found out. Tess loved fairy tales so much, more than anyone in the world. Two arms wrapped themselves around my waist from behind and Jack kissed my neck.
"Don't worry, Avery. She's just overwhelmed. You did the same, remember?" he assured me. "Just give her time. Call her tomorrow."
I nodded slowly and turned to him to bury my face in his iron chest, where I often felt safe and, ironically, warm. But I quickly pulled away. There were others here, I was being rude.
"Sorry about that, you guys. But I assure you, your secret is safe with her. She won't tell anyone, I promise.” I grabbed my glass of wine and chugged it back. This party was turning out to be very stressful for me.
"Avery?" inquired a soft voice from behind me. It was Moya. "Was that your Aunt Tess?"
"Yes, that was her," I replied. "I'm sorry for her reaction, she was just really shocked, as you could imagine."
"Yes, so it seems," she agreed thoughtfully. But there was something else in what she said, or how she said it. "Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that my sisters and I will be retiring for the night. Thank you for inviting us to your wonderful party. We had a lovely time."
"Oh, no problem, I loved having you." I hugged her goodbye and waved to Aya and Brie. They didn't talk much but they seemed just as sweet as their sister.
After that, everyone else slowly finished their drinks and was on their way as well. Lattie had curled up in the big chair in the living room and Julie had joined Will in her room. Only two people remained.
Celadine looked at her brother like she was asking a question, which, now that I thought about it, she probably was. Then she looked at me and grinned.
"Well, darling, I’m off for the night. I have lots of work to do tomorrow. Thank you for a wonderful time." And she pecked me on the cheek.
"No problem, I’m just glad that I could manage to get you out of the gallery for a night.”
"Only for you," she kidded back. "Goodnight."
"Night, Celadine, see you on Tuesday."
Once she left, I ran to Jack’s arms where I had been aching to be all night. He embraced me tightly as he planted soft kisses on my lips.
"Would you like to spend the night here?" I asked. "Or can you?" What would happen if he woke up in my sunlit bedroom? I knew he and his sister couldn’t go out in the daytime, but I also knew that Celadine worked inside all day long, so I didn’t think they slept in coffins or anything.
"I would love to spend the night with you, Miss Quinn," he answered a bit mockingly. "And yes, I can," he grinned his Jack grin and scooped me up in his arms to carry me to my room.
A little while later, I rested my head on his chest and he played mindlessly with my hair. "So, what do you do during the day?" I asked.
I could tell that he was grinning without even looking at him. "Well, I don't burst into flames or anything if that's what you're thinking."
"No, well, I dunno what I thought, actually," I admitted.
"I can’t go into the daylight because it makes me very, very weak. Imagine having every bit of energy drained from your body all at once. So much so, that you could barely lift your leg to take a step. That's a vampire in the sunlight," he explained.
"Why, though? It's so strange."
"I have no idea. We are creatures of the night, our senses are extremely heightened after dark, so I guess they are really weakened during the day."
"I suppose. So it's okay for you to wake up here then? Because I get the southern exposure, so it's pretty sunny in here," I rambled.
"Fine by me, just don't be surprised to see that I am not a morning person," he joked and snuggled me closer to his body.
"Okay," I said through a big yawn. I was so tired. The party had taken a lot out of me. The whole mess with Aunt Tess, I didn't even want to think about it. But there was one thing I had to find out right now.
"Jack, how do you know Max?"
"What? I have never met her before in my life."
"Are you sure? Why did it seem like you guys hated each other so much?"
"I just knew her from things that you told me before. I assumed that she was being herself and making things difficult for you, so I came over to let her know that she was not welcome here if she couldn't...control herself." He seemed to be telling the truth. What else could I say?
"Okay then. I guess it was just weird, that's all," I said. "I'll have to talk to her on Monday. She was convinced that you were a bad guy for me, maybe she was just jealous or something."
"Well, I am quite a catch. Just look at me," he kidded. I slapped his chest and moved myself up to meet his face and kiss him. I loved his soft pink lips. I loved his hands in my hair. I loved his body in my bed. I loved him.
CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT
MAX ON A MILK CARTON