Connected: Chapter 1 (Patreon)

Connected: After a summer spent hanging out and helping each other with cases, Camille, Kyla, Abby, and Luna are ready to start their new school year. But their excitement is thrown to a halt when Camille and Luna become the targets of a dark supernatural experiment. Serum Twelve turns werewolves rabid. With Camille stuck in a lab and Luna a potential danger, Kyla and Abby have to figure out who's behind the experiments and where the lab is. And they have to do it before it gets any of them killed.

Notes: NEW BOOK WOOOO! I can't wait for you all to finish this one... but that's maybe jumping the gun just a little ^_^. So we'll start with chapter one. Enjoy!

Chapter 1

Kyla

The tickle of a breeze through my blonde fur prompted me to raise my nose to the air, gathering the scents it carried with it – the grapevines from Camille’s nearby family farm, and wheat and cattle and country. After being in Oregon with the Pack for almost a year, it felt good to be back in California. To have a change in scenery and company and smell. I loved the crisp air and pine forest of our northern home, but this was the best kind of fall night. Open fields, stars unobstructed by branches, the warmth of the season checked by the soft chill of a breeze.

There was one other smell that reached my nostrils on that gentle current. Camille. I’d been tracking her for miles across the acreage of farmland in the county, to a neighbor’s almond orchard, but her skills of evasion were extraordinary. Each and every time it was my turn to chase, I tried not to let her out of my sight, because once I did, it was hard to find her again. Having a nose like hers had taught her how to keep her scent hidden – mostly. She was close enough that I smelled her on the wind, but it was faint. I couldn’t tell if it was lingering because she’d passed by, or if she was crouched down somewhere close, or if she’d run zigzags to kick up her scent, which she’d done enough times that I was suspicious.

Tracking was all fun and games at the start of a run, but it’d been almost two hours. My limbs ached for a sprint, my lungs were desperate for the burn that went with it. My skin and ears and nose craved Camille at my side. The feel of her shoulder against mine as we flew over miles of dirt. The sound of her panting from exertion, her heart thudding and her paws striking the ground in perfect rhythm with mine. The musk of sweat pouring off of her in the warmth of a fall night. The hunt was making me impatient.

We considered it cheating, but I was restless enough to use our blood connection. It had grown so sensitive that, if I focused, I could feel how close she was. If she was close enough then I could feel her exact location, her mood, even her form. She’d feel it too. She’d know I was reaching out, because a spike in the connection on my end caused a spike on hers, but I didn’t care.

I closed my eyes, inhaled deep, and fueled the energy pumping through my body. Camille’s energy. I let myself drift along the flow, followed as it seeped from my blood, into my skin and out my pores, across the everlasting static that existed between us. The static vibrated on the air, so powerfully sometimes that my fur rose to meet it, and my head and my heart and the very blood in my veins were drawn to it like the pull of a magnet.

My eyes snapped open, my head turning to meet her location. She was so much closer than I expected. So close that I heard her let out an amused huff at having been found, and she jumped out of her hiding spot in the branches of a nearby almond tree. I shot forward to reach her the moment she hit the ground, and I pounced. She rolled under me, springing up to try and wrestle me down. Teeth flashed, glowing white against the light of the moon, nudging and mouthing and nipping, but not biting. While Camille had the art of tracking down pat, thanks to Luna’s training since I’d been Changed, I’d mastered my pinning technique. I’d learned to curl and maneuver to avoid swats and bites, and to use my own limbs to trip and hinder.

It only took a minute before I’d battled Camille to the ground and stood over her, triumphant and panting from the scuffle. She craned her neck and nipped at the underside of my jaw, but immediately remedied the sting of it with a swipe of her tongue. I dropped my head to nuzzle my nose into her neck, taking in a deep breath of her scent, but I was ready to run. I let her know that with an impatient growl, and didn’t wait another moment before taking off away from her.

I heard her scramble to her feet behind me, and then her paws crashing after me. My pace wasn’t swift enough to lose her. I wanted her to catch up, and when she did, I finally increased our speed. We raced through the almond trees with the wind whizzing through our fur, bursting into a cattle pasture and blasting by the herd so fast they didn’t have time to be frightened. The cows’ only feedback was an irritated blather, but we were already past the edge of the field, splashing through the river that circled half the county and fed the pond on my own family’s land. We ran for hours, competing with playful shoves and bursts of speed, until eventually we passed my uncle’s farm for the third time.

We stopped for a drink at the pond, and I was thirsty enough that I had my muzzle completely submerged in the water. I was so preoccupied with drinking that I didn’t catch the glint in Camille’s eyes, or even the feeling in our connection that she was in such a playful mood. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a blur flash by me, and then a massive splash as she plopped sideways into the pond directly at my nose. A surge of water washed over my upper half, drenching my fur, and to make it worse, she trotted out and shook her own fur out at my side. I bowed, water dripping from my body and wiggling my back half to let her know I was about to pounce.

Before I could jump, she Phased, rising to two feet and stretching her human arms above her head. Then she grabbed her curly blonde hair in both hands, wringing out the rest of the water and watching me like she was waiting for me to Change too. But I dug my front paws into the dirt, further preparing to spring at her.

“You wouldn’t dare,” she said, an amused smile pulling at her thin lips. I let out a playful growl. “Kyla, don’t you dare.” I lunged, plowing into her and taking her straight to the ground. “Ow,” she complained through a laugh. I dropped sideways, heaving the entirety of my wolf weight onto her hard enough that it knocked some breath out of her. “…Ow.”

I got off of her and Phased back, still giggling by the time I was human again and standing at her feet. “Payback for splashing me,” I teased.

Camille rolled her eyes and stood. “The splash was payback for cheating during the hunt.” I felt the mischief in our connection this time, but still didn’t react fast enough to dodge her. She grabbed me by the waist, whipping us around and pinning me against a tree at the water’s edge. “Or did you think I forgot?”

Normally, I’d have squirmed, or wrestled with her some more because, with a run so fresh, the highly physical expression of affection carried over for a while. But I felt something entirely different in our connection now. I knew what was coming, what always came after we ran together, alone, and I didn’t want to delay it with more play-fighting.

I slid my arms around her neck to encourage it instead, tilting my chin upward to bring my mouth to hers. “Maybe payback was part of the plan.”

“If you wanted to feel me,” she said against my lips, and she wrapped one arm tighter around my waist, lifting me off the ground while the other grabbed the back of my knee, instructing my legs around her hips. “All you had to do was ask.” And she pushed her hips hard against me, so I could feel her at my core while her hands ran up my thighs.

The only response I offered was a hum of acknowledgment before my legs tightened around her waist and my arms around her neck, and I kissed her. I kissed her hard. I kissed her deep. And I felt her. It was one thing that sex with Camille was physically amazing, but the blood connection made it something else entirely. Every spark of lust with a push of her hips, every pulse of heat in her body as my lips found her neck echoed in my own. When her hand slipped between my legs, she could feel it every time I thought yes, and each moan she drew out of me reverberated so deeply in her that I felt it again.

But unlike an echo, each repetition didn’t grow softer. It grew louder. It gained on us, shutting out anything but Camille until she was everything. Until she was the only thing in my skin and blood and every one of my senses. Until all I could see, smell, taste, feel, and hear was her and the sensations she was raising within me and coaxing out of me. Until I came so hard against her fingers that the echoes of it triggered a climax in her, and it left both of us too weak to stand so that we collapsed into the dirt. So that I could lay her down and give all the pleasure she just had.

Every time it ended, we were panting and tired. Overwhelmed with the physical, mental, and emotional stimulation. And hungry. So hungry, but I curled against the cool dirt into Camille’s side to surround myself with her and shut my eyes. Sleep wasn’t just welcome. We were both so drowsy with exhaustion that it was unavoidable.

The next morning, I woke to the sound of footsteps drawing near. It would’ve put me on alert, thinking someone was about to discover Camille and me naked at the edge of the pond, but the gait was light and familiar. It was Camille’s fraternal twin, Luna.

“Hey, lesbiweres,” she greeted, stopping beside us. Her eyebrows furrowed at that. “Werehomos?” While she glanced upward thoughtfully, she pulled the backpack off her shoulders. “Weresbians?” She made a face, unsatisfied with any of those, and purposefully dropped the pack onto Camille’s stomach. “Whatever, I brought you clothes – you’re welcome, by the way, since it took me forever to track you. Kyla’s mom called, said she’s making breakfast. So if you want a shower and pre-breakfast, then you better get moving.”

Both Camille and I simply lay there. It was early, the sun was barely up and Camille’s warmth was sheltering me from the morning chill. When neither of us moved, Luna sighed.

“Seriously, you both need showers, you guys are filthy. You smell like wet dog and sex.” She turned back toward the road where she’d probably parked a car to pick us up, and I heard her mumble as she walked away, “I don’t know why you can’t just do it in a bed like normal people.”

“Like she always does it in a bed,” I muttered as I sat up, removing the bag from Camille’s stomach. She chuckled and sat up too while I pulled out a jeans and hoodie.

I didn’t bother standing to put the clothes on, and while I was tugging the jeans up to my hips, Camille’s hand traced down the left side of my ribs, followed briefly by her lips. She was touching the month-old tattoo in my skin – a dark blue wolf crest that matched the one inside her left forearm. I would’ve gotten it in the same place as her, but I liked where it was, and it wasn’t something I wanted to explain to my parents. Having told them that Camille and I were together was enough for this trip. I didn’t need to also find an excuse for matching tattoos.

Her lips touched down again, followed by the gentle nip of her teeth, and I immediately stood to put on my blue hoodie. “Keep touching me like that,” I told her, offering my hand to lift her up, “and we’ll miss pre-breakfast for a different kind of hungry.”

She laughed while I pulled her to her feet, and then pressed a kiss to my cheek. “I won’t survive another round of you without something to eat.”

She took a second pair of clothes from the bag, and after she’d dressed too, we headed for the road. Luna was sitting in the driver’s seat of the old yellow Jeep waiting for us, so we both climbed into the back. Once we reached Camille’s house, our noses dragged us right to the kitchen, as the smell of bacon and coffee filled the house with a stomach-clenching aroma.

“Morning, Rachel,” I greeted Camille’s mother as I strode to her, and bent over the large skillet full of bacon to inhale a deep breath of the greasy air.

“Good morning,” she said, extending the same greeting to Camille, who leaned against the counter at her other side. She used the metal tongs she was holding to grab a slice of bacon and flip it, pulling the meat away when Camille tried to steal it. “Don’t burn yourself,” she scolded. “There’s some on the table.”

I followed Camille to the kitchen table, where she threw a whole piece of bacon into her mouth and then picked up the cellphone she’d left nearby overnight. “Someone’s lonely,” she laughed, showing me a text message from Abby, which said ‘life is boring without werewolves’ and had three crying emoji faces.

“I called her yesterday,” I laughed.

Luna stole the second piece of bacon Camille had been raising to her mouth while leaning in to look at the text. “She needs a hobby that isn’t you two,” she said, and Camille smacked her on the arm.

In Abby’s defense, we’d been back in California for over a month now, and Abby was stuck in Oregon because she’d started summer classes for college. It wasn’t just me she missed, either. Despite the still-strained relationship between the Pack and the Supernatural Council, which Abby worked for, the four of us had helped each other with minor cases over the last handful of months. We hoped it would help prove that the Council and the Pack could have a good working relationship. So far, we hadn’t been successful, but Camille and Abby had grown close, Luna and Abby had become good friends too, and that was a success to me.

Camille typed a quick response into her phone and then tossed it back onto the table. “You can eat,” she told me, “I’ll go shower first.”

I gave her a grateful kiss on the cheek, and patiently waited until she’d at least left the kitchen to pile bacon, eggs, and ham onto a plate. Pre-breakfast. Any time we went over to eat with my family, we prefaced that meal with some food at the Zade house, because it was impossible to satisfy our appetites around my own family without it looking bizarre.

By the time I’d finished eating, Camille was done getting ready, and we traded places at the table so I could take my turn in the shower. The hot water washed away all the dirt and sweat from last night, and soon I was clean, presentable again to the human world. Shortly afterward, Camille and I left ahead of Luna for my family’s home. Camille parked the Jeep in the driveway, and we headed through the front door and into the kitchen, thinking that’s where everyone would be, but finding it empty.

“Hello?” I called, lumbering into the adjacent dining room, and then back out to the hall and into the living room. “Anybody home?”

My mom’s car hadn’t been in the driveway, and it was likely that my brother Jeremy was out in the fields with my dad and uncle. Who knows where my other brother, Scott, was, but if he was here, he wasn’t answering. Truly, it was almost a comfort that nobody felt the need to hover in case Camille and I came around – like they had when I’d first come home.

A couple of weeks into summer break, I called Jeremy because he was the only one in my family who knew where I was in Oregon, and why. I told him that I was finally coming home, and I wanted him to prepare my parents for it so it didn’t shock them as badly as it had the first time. It seemed to have worked. The days that Jeremy’s warning had given them to accept that I was alive, and coming home, had also given them time to think about how they wanted to react.

The first time I’d gone home, after being away for weeks when I’d first been bitten, they were furious. They sent me to sessions with a school counselor, treated me like I’d done something horribly wrong – not that I could blame them – and watched me constantly for fear that I’d leave again, which only made it more difficult for me to go out for much-needed runs. All it had done was make it hard for me to build my already thin control, and I’d almost killed Jeremy. I’d had to leave again.

This time, coming home was a wildly different experience. They seemed to want to do things differently. To not want to scare me away. Jeremy’s warning had to have helped prepare them, but I also think it helped that I’d be eighteen in a few weeks and able to come and go as I pleased, and they wanted to make sure I’d come often.

So, emotional as they’d been this time around, my parents didn’t ask questions about where I’d been, or why I left. All they asked was if I’d been safe. They apologized for not giving me what I needed the first time, and begged me to tell them what I needed this time. If anything, they were overly nice… For the first couple of weeks after I got back, they lingered and walked on eggshells. It made me feel worse than it did when they were angry, because they were genuinely afraid that I’d leave again, and only time had convinced them I wouldn’t.

But it seemed they were finally comfortable enough that nobody answered my calls throughout the house. Camille had waited for me in the kitchen and helped herself to a glass of water, and when I returned, I stopped in the doorway and leaned back against the doorpost, answering her curious glance with a shrug.

“Maybe your mom didn’t think we’d get here for another hour,” she offered, setting her cup down on the counter and wandering over.

“We have been sleeping in,” I agreed.

She leaned back against the doorpost opposite me. “Running with you every night gets exhausting.”

I squinted in a mock scowl. “Don’t act like you haven’t loved every second of it.”

“You know,” she said, humming and glancing upward in thought, “nothing memorable springs to mind.”

I would've feigned offense if it weren't for the incredibly coy smile on her face. The kind that said she knew exactly what ‘wasn’t’ springing to mind. So I reached across the space between us, grabbed the collar of her shirt, and pulled her to me. I threw my arms around her neck and held myself up so I could wrap my legs around her hips, and she pinned me back against the doorpost with recognition.

“This don’t feel familiar?” I asked, touching my forehead to hers and making sure she could feel my breath on her lips, deliberately allowing a flare of heated tension in my stomach so she’d get one in hers.

She hummed thoughtfully again, as if she could even convincingly play along. But I didn’t need the blood connection to sense exactly how familiar this felt to her. I could read it in her body language. In the way her dark brown eyes kept dropping to my lips, or how there was a tremor in her breathing as her hands inched up my thighs.

“You might have to remind me what came next,” she said.

“Something like this…” I pressed my mouth to hers in a slow kiss, lingering for a few seconds before guiding her lips apart and giving the barest graze of my tongue against hers. It only took another moment for her hands to travel up the lengths of my legs, around my hips and down, where her fingers clutched at my backside. “You do remember,” I smiled, pulling away from the kiss.

Though she tried to hide it, one corner of her mouth pulled into a smirk. “It’s coming back to me.”

“For Camille’s sake,” my mother said, surprising both of us as she walked through the kitchen door. Werewolf hearing was no match for when our connection shut the world out… “You best not let your father catch that.” She laughed and set a paper bag of groceries on the counter. “Don’t matter who you’re dating, you’re still his little girl.”

Camille’s cheeks flared red as her hands released my rear, and the secondhand embarrassment I felt from her was almost enough to make me blush too. I dropped my legs from her waist to plant both feet on the floor, and released my hold on her neck so she could take a step back.

Telling my parents about Camille and me had been one of the most frightening things about coming back. There was no excuse for how we were together when I’d been gone from home all this time, no way not to tell them that Camille had been with me. I’d worried that they’d blame her for it, that they’d think it was her fault I left no matter what I said, when the truth was that Camille had given up her home for me. But, like they’d been so nice about everything else, they were nice about her too. A part of me didn’t want to believe they were truly okay with me being back, and being with Camille, but another part wanted to think I was projecting my own guilt about leaving. Maybe they really were just that happy I was here…

“Morning,” I greeted my mom, striding over to hug her.

She returned the hug and pressed a kiss to the side of my head. Once she released me, I squatted down to say hello to Benson, the young Golden Retriever that had been following at her heels, and scratched behind his ears. While he’d grown accustomed to the presence of Camille and Luna, he still avoided them, and I was the only one he actually let touch him. Camille thought it might be because I’m bitten, and even though I smell like a confusing mix of human and wolf, the wolf side of my scent isn’t as pungent as theirs. It worked with the horses too, though they were still more standoffish with me than Benson was.

The front door of the house opened as I straightened back up, and then Jeremy walked in. He smiled at us both, giving hugs all around and then walking to the coffee maker. “Coffee?” he offered. Camille and I nodded, and so he poured three cups and then moved aside so we could add our own cream and sugar.

My mother had been pulling things out to start making breakfast, and since Camille loved to cook, she offered to help. It left them both preoccupied, so I followed Jeremy when he left to drink his coffee on the front porch. I plopped down beside him on the swing and slumped to kick my feet up on the railing in front of us. He mimicked my position exactly, and laughed when I nudged him with my elbow.

“You have a good night?” he asked. “I was up late watching the fields and trying to catch a glimpse of y’all running by.”

“Did you?” I asked amusedly.

“I think so,” he said. “Just a dark blur, though. Camille?”

“Probably,” I answered. “I would’ve howled for you or something if I knew you were looking.”

He laughed, waving it off. “Not worth you scaring the shit out of everyone.”

I laughed too, and we sat for a few moments in silence before I asked, “Are Mom and Dad really taking all this as well as it looks like? Especially, you know, Camille…”

“Yeah,” he said, and took a sip of his coffee. “Why?”

“I guess I was so scared of coming home that I expected the worst.” I stared at the steam rising from my cup and shrugged. “I was scared they’d blame her.”

He made a noise of understanding, and took another drink before saying, “The day after you told them you and Camille are together, I was out in the fields with Dad. He had this moment where he stopped what he was doing and looked at me, and he was just talking to himself, but he said, ‘what if she was scared to come home because she didn’t think we’d accept her?’”

My eyebrows furrowed with a pang at the thought that my parents might blame themselves. At the idea that, even though I’d come home, my absence might still hurt them. “God,” I breathed, “I’m so sorry.”

“You ain’t got to apologize to me,” he said.

“I know,” I said. “I wish I could apologize to them. I wish I could tell them everything, but…” I sighed and dropped my head back against the swing. “I don’t know. Maybe I should just let them think it’s because I’m gay.”

“Trust me,” he said, offering an attempt at a humored smile, “it’s the easier truth to swallow.”

I didn't say anything, but he was right. I couldn’t ever tell them I was a werewolf – even Jeremy knowing was too much – and letting them think I’d run away because I was afraid of how they’d react to me coming out was a better excuse than the truth.

We sat for a minute more in silence. I listened to the low murmur of my mom and Camille talking in the kitchen, the steady rumble of a truck in the nectarine trees surrounding the house, and the birds stirring in the morning chill. I took in a deep breath of the cool air and the scent of cooking oil and herbs coming from the kitchen, letting it lull me to relaxation.

“Anyway,” Jeremy said to get my attention again, “you look good.”

“Stop,” I teased, bumping him with my shoulder. 

“I mean it,” he chuckled. “I was worried about you when you left for Oregon, but you look happy.”

“I really am in control now.” That’s what I thought would be the most comforting to him, seeing as I’d almost killed him when I’d first been bitten. “It feels good, being adjusted. Feeling some kind of normal again. I am happy.”

“What about school?” he asked, and added, “apply for college yet?” I made a noncommittal noise at which he laughed. “What? Is college not a werewolf thing?”

Camille came out onto the porch, answering while she went to lean back against the railing across from us, “College is a thing. Kyla just thinks her good looks will get her through life.”

“Hey,” I laughed, kicking out to nudge her with my foot, “it’s worked so far.”

She was right about college being a thing, though. She and Luna would be starting their first year in just over a week, and Abby had already started with summer classes. All the members of the Pack had jobs if they weren’t in school. It wasn’t so much about the money as it was about assimilating, but I knew I’d have to figure something out once I was done with high school.

“I just have no idea what I want to do,” I groaned, making Camille laugh because this wasn’t the first time I’d complained about it. “Maybe I should model, then my looks could get me through life.”

“That’s a negative, superstar,” Camille said. “Fame’s against the rules.” I knew that too, which was why I couldn’t try making a career out of music.

“What about you?” Jeremy asked Camille.

“I start soon,” she answered. “I’m going to study environmental science, maybe become a park ranger or something like that.”

Camille hadn’t necessarily wanted to go to school, but she decided it was a sacrifice she'd make for a career outdoors, and Luna would study criminal justice and become a police officer. Both of their careers would be useful to the Pack, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel pressure to pick something that’d be useful too. But I had no idea what I wanted to do, or what I’d have done if I’d never been bitten. Maybe I would’ve been stuck on a farm my whole life like my parents and brothers.

Luckily for me, I didn’t have to think about it much longer, because my other brother, Scott, tramped up the porch steps and dropped down right in my lap. “Hey,” he greeted, ignoring my protests about his weight and stretching his legs over Jeremy’s lap. “I need your help.”

“With?” I asked, resisting the urge to pick up my six-foot sibling and drop him into Camille’s arms because she was laughing at me.

“Me and Uncle Rob were talking about this.” He reached down and squeezed at my bicep through the sleeve of my sweater. Camille had always been toned, but apparently all the running and training I’d been doing the last year had begun to show. “I bet him you could beat Dad at arm wrestling.”

“Is there money involved?” I asked. Scott nodded.

“I want in on this,” Camille said. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the folded-up cash she always carried around with her license, handing Scott a bill. “Ten bucks on your dad.”

Jeremy shoved Scott’s feet off his lap with a grin, reaching for his wallet. “Shoot, I’m betting on Kyla.”

Scott collected the cash, and we all hurried to the truck in the orchard where my dad and uncle were. Both Camille and Jeremy knew I could win easily, but Camille was the only one who knew I’d lose on purpose.

“Jer and Camille wanted in too,” Scott announced. “Best two out of three.”

They’d folded down the truck bed, and my dad and I lined up over one corner, preparing to arm wrestle. Truth be told, it was a bit of a challenge letting him win knowing there was cash on the table, but as strong as they thought I was, it’d be suspicious if I did win. I still had a little fun with it, making the first round hard, dragging it out for a while as Scott and Jeremy cheered me on. My mom came out looking for us halfway through the second one.

“What are y’all doing?” she called. She stopped with Benson at her feet to put her hands on her hips, and rolled her eyes when she saw us arm wrestling. “Breakfast is ready, come eat.”

The first round went on long enough that I blamed my second loss on exhaustion, and let my dad pin my hand faster.

“Nice try,” he laughed when he won, rubbing out his tired arm. While the others divvied up the cash, Jeremy glared at me for losing on purpose.

Luna got to the house in another car soon after that to eat breakfast with us, and we spent the rest of the day with my family. Since Camille and Luna had to get back to buy all their textbooks before the college bookstore sold out, this was our last day in California. We left my house in the afternoon to go back to Camille’s and say goodbye to her family, and then we jumped into the Jeep to start our all-night trip north. Camille and I took turns driving first, and then Luna took over for the final leg.

I’d been sleeping for a couple of hours when the turns in the roads became familiar enough to wake me. It wasn’t quite daylight yet, but the sky was a dark gray that let us know we’d be racing the sun home. I blinked to rid the tiredness from my eyes as I straightened in my seat in the back. Camille was still slouched and asleep at my side, her head against the window, but now that I was awake, I watched Luna stretch her arm back from the driver’s seat and drop a tiny ball of paper into Camille’s messy blond curls. Then I noticed that she’d done it so many times Camille’s hair was littered with paper scraps.

“You’re the worst,” I laughed quietly.

Luna glanced back at me through the rearview mirror, asking sarcastically, “Did you not see her switch the sugar and salt when I was making my coffee this morning?”

I snickered to myself, but Camille stirred, her groggy voice asking, “What are you doing to me?”

Instead of trying to stick the next piece directly in her hair, Luna simply threw it backward. Camille straightened up, a few revealing pieces falling into her lap. At seeing them, she leaned all the way into the front seat, shoving her head over Luna’s shoulder and then giving it a shake, sending all the tiny wads cascading into her lap.

Luna groaned, brushing the pieces off her thighs and onto the floor. “I’m not cleaning those up.”

“Yeah, you are,” Camille said, trying her best to hold back a smile. “I let you off easy.”

“Easy?” Luna scoffed. “You put salt in my coffee!”

“No,” Camille chuckled, “you put salt in your coffee.”

“Okay,” Luna argued, “but only thanks to you, jerk.” Camille and I laughed, and as much as Luna was complaining, she couldn’t hold back a smile either. “Truce?”

“Deal,” Camille agreed. “How far are we from Abby’s?”

Abby had been so excited about us finally coming home that we told her we’d come over to her apartment for an early breakfast, and she was happy enough about it that she hadn’t cared if we’d be arriving before the sun was up.

“Fifteen minutes,” Luna answered.

“Perfect.” Camille folded her arms across her chest and slouched back down. “Fifteen more minutes of sleep.”

We were so close though, and it’d been so long since I’d seen Abby that I was too excited to go back to sleep. I stared out the window to watch the sky turn yellow between the breaks in the trees flying by.