Page 120 of Blood that Burns

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

MAGGIE

“Cheers, my loves,” Addy sings, raising her glass of champagne.

We all clink our glasses to hers and repeat the words.

This isn’t our first glass of the bubbly drink, and with every new pour, it’s the same routine.

Addy loves her champagne and loves the sound of the crystal stemware clinking together even more.

It’s a small group with just Addy, Reese, Marina, and me. Katina had to tend to some things with the death of her sister.

Despite their lack of love and differences in moral compass, Katina was all that Ratilda had left in the world, so she felt she needed to take care of her burial.

I wonder if Katina’s okay. She made it clear that she hated her sister, but having to burn and spread her ashes can’t be easy.

“Maggie,” Addy says, drawing my attention back to the group. “What do you think?”

“What do I think about what?”

Her eyebrows waggle. “Large... or enormous co—”

Marina’s hand flies to Addy’s mouth, cutting off the crass word she was about to say.

My face heats to inferno levels, and Addy giggles.

“She’s new to this,” Marina chides. “She probably doesn’t even know what that word is.”

I scrunch my nose and laser her with ayou’ve got to be kidding meexpression.

“Don’t be an idiot, Rina. I know what that is.”

“What what is?” Addy asks, blinking a few too many times before breaking out into a fit of giggles.

“I’m not going to say it.” I cross my arms over my chest, making my stand.

The girls laugh like hyenas as I fall back onto the couch with a huff.

I know they’re just doing it to tease me, but it’s so embarrassing. The last thing that I want to do is talk to them about my sex life. It’s private. They don’t need to know how well-endowed Law is or how skilled he is in bed.

And if I’m being honest, I don’t want to know if any of them already know these details about him. It would kill me to find out that Law and Reese had a thing at one point.

“Reese,” Marina calls, breaking through the laughter. “Maggie and I have some questions that we were hoping maybe you could shed some light on.”

I want to kiss my sister for changing the subject.

Reese’s thickly penciled eyebrow rises. “This, I’ve got to hear.”

The innuendo is not lost on me, or Marina, if her chuckles are any indication. “Not about that. It’s stuff about this world.”

Reese purses her lips. “Go on.”

“There’s this bird that can talk to me.”

Addy spits out her mouth full of champagne in the most unladylike fashion. She wipes at her mouth. “I’m sorry. What? A bird talks to you?”

Marina nods. “His name is Mosely. I thought it was Julian’s bird, but apparently it’s mine. Shante said it’s my guardian. “