Under the Altswood Sky (The Altswood Saga #2)

Chapter 27 - Spring

"Gabriel and Annabelle," I answered. "Dad, I literally have no other friends."

I don't think he continued listening past the first word of that answer.

"Loosh," he said slowly. He tapped the mouse of his computer, then pursed his expression like he had just licked a lemon. "Do we need to have... a talk?"

I pivoted on my heel. "No, we absolutely do not."

"Luca!"

I was already halfway down the staircase. "See you later, father dearest!"

His weary sigh was loud enough to reach me even as I opened the front door, grinning. I didn't bother locking after myself—Bottle Island had returned to its paradise status, with the most serious crime being a cat stuck in a tree.

Life was good.

I was even humming a little as I strolled through the streets of Altswood. I could have started skipping, but that might have been an overkill.

Though tourist season was ending, there were still a few lingering in town. While most visitors had either been deported or left of their own free will when the serial killing business became too real, those reporters that were truly obsessed with Bottle Island still stumbled around the streets, peering through their camera lens as if they would find one last clue that we had all missed.

I rolled my eyes at a nearby man who was scribbling frantically into a notebook. His unfamiliar face stuck out like a sore thumb, but I didn't mind his presence as long as he left me alone.

I circled around him, continuing on my merry way.

Before long, Jules' house came into view, along with his overgrown garden. I waded through the tall grass, almost tripping on a defiant weed.

Just as I was musing that someone really needed to tend to this lawn, Mrs. Sodrepena appeared around the back of the house, dragging a lawn mower behind her.

She waved when she saw me.

"Hi, Mrs. Sodrepena," I called. "Do you need some help?"

"Oh, don't worry about it," she said easily, fixing her wide-brimmed hat. "I'm starting my spring clean routine and it's very precise. You go on in."

I got out of her way, letting Jules' mother perform her special spring clean routine in peace.

"Knock, knock," I called, climbing up the steps to the house.

Gabriel opened the door immediately, leading me to believe that he had been standing behind it for a while, waiting for my arrival.

"Hi," I said simply, amused.

Gabriel beamed. He had only been discharged from the hospital this morning, and yet he was up and about, bouncing through the world with the excitement of a child on Christmas morning.

A very tall and strong child, as proved by when he swung both his arms around me and squeezed me close.

"Careful," I spluttered into his shoulder. "You'll pull your stitches!"

"Don't care," Gabriel said, his voice muffled into my neck. "Hug your boyfriend back."

I snorted, but complied. "We're already labelling it, are we?"

"Please," he said. "The blogs online labelled it for us months ago."

I pulled back, patting his cheek firmly. "I can't date you if you bleed out on Jules' carpet."

Gabriel grinned. "Then it was a good run while I was alive."

"Egg."

"Look who's dating the egg."