Frost

Chapter TWELVE

"So you actually knew Lily."

"Yep."

All Sofia had to do was ask for two beers and they appeared on the bar. No fake ID needed.

"Will you tell me about her?"

"Sure, Izzy, if you tell me why you are so interested."

For once Gabby didn't have to lie. "Because every time I ask about her Luke clams up."

"Does he now?" Sofia's hazel eyes got an evil glint to them. "In that case whaddya want to know?"

"Oh, just, generally what was she like as a kid?"

"Shy. Quiet. She kept up with the group ok though and got a little more chatty when we showed her where the sealions would sleep on the beach."

Gabby's brain short circuited at the thought of Mariah being quiet. "I heard she didn't actually live here."

"Yeah well Luke didn't either at the time. He lived out East with his mom. He'd just come spend summers here with his lola. A few times she came with him. The first time she was like, ten and that's when she was shy. She warmed up but I remember the last year she was maybe, fourteen? She got really strange. I remember her being very jumpy. She had kinda a temper too. Jack happened right around then though and Luke never came back so I didn't see her after that."

"They must have been close."

"Pfff. Luke pretends to be some hot shot because he's company flies him all over the country but I bet if you brought up the time we all went skinny dipping and she agreed to climb a tree naked he'd turn bright red. Pretty sure she was his first crush."

Gabby considered the cards he'd left her, asking if she'd forgive him. "What else?"

"What else? Are you writing a book on her?" Sofia grumbled. "Lets see... she loved horses I remember that and had a pet cat at home- wait had. Got hit by a car while she was here one year. That really sucked. She was super picky about pizza toppings, loved anything cake- pancakes included- kinda know-it-all and hated my dad's dogs."

A know-it-all who had a pet cat and didn't care for dogs. Sounded an awful lot like another werewolf she knew. Gabby propped her chin on her palm. Lily and Mariah seemed worlds apart, however. What had happened to her to make her change so much? What had Sheira done to her?

"Oh and her name really wasn't Lily. That was just what Luke called her- a nickname or something. Luke, Lola and Lily. Her real name was-"

"Mariah." Gabby mouthed as Sofia said it.

"How about you, Izzy? What are you really doing here? I know Lola said some crap about being a friend of a friends daughter but I know all of Luke's friends because he doesn't have any. Plus you are just sitting there with a miserable look on your face."

Gabby couldn't help but snort after being called out. Sofia was surprisingly observant even if she didn't know Luke could use magic, but she liked the sentiment of giving him shit even in his absence. "Fine fine. I was following a friend. We both got in some trouble at school and work and I thought we were on the same page about what to do after leaving. Lola gave us a job because Lily used to babysit him and basically begged her to take us in."

"So you know Lily?"

"Not as well as I thought I did..."

Sofia smirked. "What does Lily even do now? I haven't heard from her in years."