Savage Saints (Monsters of Saint Mark's)

Good God, that was like thirty minutes ago. How could so much happen in thirty minutes?

I feel a little upended. But for some reason, it’s not upsetting. It’s a little bit exciting. A whole group of girlfriends. I would never even dare to dream of such riches in my other life. It’s so out of the realm of possibilities.

But here, it’s different.

I’m someone else, that’s true. But maybe it doesn’t have to be a bad thing?

“OK,” I finally say. “Charmday. That’s the one after Fireday?”

“Yes!” Talina looks ecstatic. “Two days from now.”

“I would love to be a part of Zantha’s ceremony. She’s the healer with the sweet face, right?”

Talina laughs. “Oh, she will hate you for saying that, but yes. We’ve been calling her Sweetface since she was seven.”

I smile too, then laugh. “I will let Pell know I’ll be a little late that night. He won’t mind. And I would love to be part of your group, Talina. It’s… it’s like a dream come true.”

CHAPTER TWENTY – TOMAS

I end up missing the rest of Dr. Love and all of Conspiracy Hour because I had to go tell Cookie to make Pell something to eat. Pell’s so helpless at times. And his memory is not the best. He’s forgotten more than I realized. So high-maintenance.

But he’s worth it.

Or he will be one day.

By the time all that is over I’m craving Madeline’s attention, so I take the truck into town and stop by the feed store before I pay Big Jim a visit.

Madeline is helping a customer at the hay counter, so I browse the shelves as I wait, picking up various farm tools and accessories and giving them curious looks.

Finally, the annoying customers are all gone and Madeline makes her way over to me. “Need a new ax today, Tomas?”

“No.” I look at her and smile, wondering how I got so lucky. “I’m sure we have dozens of axes lying around the place.”

“Did you come in for something specific or…” She lets that sentence hang there.

“I came in to see you.”

She blushes at this attention. “We’re still on for dinner, right?”

“Absolutely. I was just on my way to Big Jim’s to pick up another generator for one of my friends and decided to stop in so I could see your face.”

“Aww. That’s sweet.” She blushes again. And I feel a peculiar excitement building inside me. “If you want to wait around, we could have lunch in a little bit.”

I would like to have lunch with her. I would like to take all meals with her. But Pell’s memory issues, plus the news of a new door, not the mention my errand, keep me focused. “I can’t stay. But I will be back for dinner. I just have a few things going on at home at the moment.”

She’s staring up into my eyes. Like she can penetrate my soul. “That’s fine. I brought a sandwich for lunch, anyway. But dinner…” She winks at me. “We should go out of town for dinner.”

“Out of town? How far out of town?”

“Oh, we could go in to Latrobe. They have a new brewery there.”

“How many miles is that?”

Madeline looks surprised. “I’m not sure.” She takes out her phone and begins tapping it. Then she shows it to me. “From here, it’s thirty-five miles. But it’s a quick drive. I go there a lot. Maybe… thirty minutes.”

I squint at the map, trying to figure out where Saint Mark’s is.

“What are you thinking?” Madeline asks.