The Serpentine Butterfly

by Addison Moore

  Skyla dips her knees a moment. “Yes! Where’s the honeymoon? Somewhere tropical, I hope.”

  Coop and Laken exchange happy drugged glances that scream let’s get the hell out of here and into the nearest bed.

  Laken shrugs at Skyla. “I thought Logan told you. We’re staying here for our honeymoon.”

  “Oh”—Skyla tries to wave it off as if it were no big deal—“Paragon is a great place to honeymoon. Gage and I didn’t go far either. We just stayed on Host.”

  Just stayed on Host.

  Gage glances my way, and an uncomfortable moment drifts between us.

  Lex gives my side a pinch. “Logan here took Skyla to Rome.” She swoons a little when she says it. “Where do you think we’ll go, Logy-Poo? Venice? Milan? Ooh! I know! Tuscany! We should totally go to Tuscany. I hear they have amazing wine. And I’ll let you take me to Paris for our first anniversary.”

  Skyla scoffs. “Wow, Bakova, you really are shit-faced. If I were you, Miller, I’d take her home while she can still stagger. She’ll be one hefty carcass to lug when she passes out. Notice how I said when and not if.”

  There’s the Skyla I know and love.

  Lexy growls like a lioness about to take down her prey, but before she can pounce, Michelle holds her back.

  “Who you calling hefty?” Lexy laughs a loud drunk chortle that sounds demented more than it does vindictive. “Honey, you give new meaning to the word hefty. The next time Logan needs to take out the trash, he might just call you to line his can.” She snaps her fingers and swivels her head over her neck. Lining my can? It sounds sexual in nature, and I’m positive that’s not the kill shot Lexy was gunning for.

  “At least I’m not caught in some delusion about a honeymoon that will never take place! Maybe Miller here will take you to Tuscany, and you can both drink your body weight in wine. While you’re at it, take Bishop with you and drown her in a vat of fermented grapes! And have someone ship me a bottle from that batch. Bishop Reserve sounds like it will be spectacular—after all, any year is a great year to lock Chloe in a bottle.”

  “You just don’t give up, do you, Messenger?” Michelle gets in her face. “Lexy has been kind enough to distract Logan from the heartbreak you caused, and yet, all you can do is ridicule her, hoping to end their relationship. Don’t you think Logan needs someone, too?” She gets in a little too close, and I pull her back. “You can’t guilt him into being alone forever, Messenger!” she shouts as Lex plucks her away. “Chloe was right. All you ever think about is yourself!”

  They drift onto the dance floor and start moving their bodies to the rhythm as if nothing at all just happened.

  “Did I hear my name?” Chloe pops up like an apparition with Gage’s no good brother dutifully by her side.

  “Congratulations,” Wes says to both Laken and Coop. He looks to Coop. “If it’s not me, I’m glad it’s you.” He puts his hand out, and Coop eyes it a moment before shaking it. “Laken.” He gives a partial bow. “I’m happy for you.”

  Chloe burps out a laugh. “No, you’re not. You’re cantankerously angry with her is what you are.”

  Wes glares at the mother of his child. I can’t blame him. I’d glare at Chloe, too, if I had to be glued to the hip with her for any length of time.

  “So, where is the honeymoon?” Chloe inches her head forward, feigning interest. “I heard you mention Paragon. Pitching a tent on Rockaway, I assume? It’s a fan favorite of Gage and Skyla. They have a hut I’m sure they’ll happily let you borrow,” she sneers at Skyla as if that little grass love shack should have been hers to share with Gage.

  “No, actually, we’ll be living it up in style right here at White Horse.” Laken bites down on her lip a moment as she looks to Skyla. “Logan was kind enough to gift it to us for two weeks, and we couldn’t say no.”

  “White Horse?” Skyla nods, forcing a smile, but I can tell she didn’t mean for it to come out as a question.

  Wesley’s chest pumps with a silent laugh. “Let me guess. You’re still trying to exorcise Chloe from those walls.” He shakes his head a moment. “Can’t say I blame you. Exchanging bad love for good seems like the only way to make this place holy again.”

  “That’s what I’m hoping.”

  Chloe’s mouth falls open.

  “Come on, Chloe.” Wes gives her a nudge toward the front lawn. “It’s time to head down to the bat cave for the night.

  Skyla steps in, her lids hanging low with sorrow. “I see you’re cleaning the house of all its mortal sorrows.”

  “If that’s not enough, I’ll bulldoze it and start all over,” I offer. “Hell, I’ll sell the land and find another lot to build you a palace on.”

  “Isn’t that romantic, Gage?” Chloe coos as Wes tries to pry her into the crowd. “Doesn’t it just appall you?”

  “That’s not what I meant.” I cut Gage a quick look, but judging by the scowl on his face, he’s not getting it.

  “No.” Skyla takes a step back before glowering at Chloe. “And it is romantic for Coop and Laken. They’re the perfect couple to remove the scourge you’ve left on the place. Come on, Gage, we’d better get to bed ourselves.” Her lips curve toward Chloe. “Isn’t it romantic? Doesn’t it just appall you that I’m the one that’s with the man you truly desire? That he will never be yours, never love you?”

  Chloe bares her teeth, her body inches ever so close to Skyla.

  Coop nudges me from the side. “So, when do we step in?”

  Chloe and Skyla begin growling and snapping at one another, whispering their I-hate-yous as efficiently as casting a spell. I’ve never seen Skyla lash out at so many people in so little time. It’s safe to say she’s wearing her hormones on her sleeve.

  Laken lets out a nervous giggle. “God, it’s like watching a pair of Weeble Wobbles go at it.”

  “Let’s hope they don’t fall down.” They do look a bit comical for lack of a better word, with their distended bellies, their bodies locked in the epitome of a genteel motherhood while they war it out with their hearts.

  The Interlopers come into view just as Chloe’s hair jumps to the sky, projecting off her scalp as if it’s trying to hang on for dear life.

  “What the?” Laken leans in.

  Skyla’s hair does the same rendition of hairy scary, and it’s odd seeing them both with their ’dos out to there like tumbleweeds, creating a perfect globe of tresses that stretches to the stars. Chloe’s feet levitate off the ground as she pulls Skyla up with the command of her fingertips.

  “Chloe, knock this shit off!” Wes barks, wrapping his arms around her legs before she floats off like a balloon, but it’s too late. Killion and Moser are already taking notes, snapping pics on their phones as proof. Soon, Chloe and Skyla will be wanted for questioning, and I can’t have Skyla incarcerated by the feds, not now, not ever, so I do the only thing I can.

  I turn and spot Dudley, the perfect victim-slash-volunteer and hold a hand out to him just like he taught me that day in front of the Haunted Speculum. His eyes widen because he knows what’s coming. He cocks his head, looking at Skyla, and then he gets it. He holds his hand out, and a bolt of lightning passes through him to me. An electrical current jets through my limbs, spearing me with an exquisite pain, sharp as a blade. My skin, my every last cell illuminates a demanding electric blue. Gasps fill the crowd. I hear Skyla scream my name as my body, my soul, they all drift back to paradise. Perhaps where I belong. Perhaps where I should remain for time immemorial.

  * * *

  Candace kicks me right back out on my shiny white ass, and I drift back to Dudley’s where I spend the next few weeks while Coop and his new bride cleanse White Horse with the fire of their love. The dross of Chloe has been officially removed. I hope they used condoms. Or in the least held very sanitary love making practices. They spent two weeks exploring every inch of White Horse while exploring each other. I’ve hired a maid service to come out, twice now, to scrub it down from the rafters to the baseboards. As much I
appreciate Coop, I don’t care to have his bodily fluids spread far and wide over every square foot of my home.

  “So, what’s on the agenda tonight?” Michelle and Lexy have been impatient with my lack of desire to do anything with them.

  “Nothing much. Skyla and Gage are taking me out to dinner.”

  “Out to dinner?” Lexy’s mouth squares with rage. “It’s your birthday. We should go old school and take a drive down to the Cape.”

  “I’m totally bummed you nixed our campout.” Michelle glances to Liam. “Your brother used to throw himself the best birthday parties.”

  “Sounds pathetic.” He offers me a beer, and I wave it off.

  “It’s only pathetic when you realize I didn’t have a set of living parents to set one up for me.” I give him a satisfied smile. “Besides, girls in bikinis all night long? It was a work of genius.”

  “There you go.” He nods his beer toward me before downing it.

  The doorbell rings, and Dudley stalks past us.

  “Don’t any of you bother to rise. I’ll see who it is. After all, I live to serve you, feed you, offer you room and board, all free of charge, of course. There’s nothing more satisfying than having those you hardly care for suckling off your energy and resources.”

  Liam grunts, “What the hell is he grumbling about?”

  “Who knows, who cares?” I glance back to find a familiar good-looking couple chatting it up with my supervising spirit, so I hop to my feet as both Skyla and Gage wish me a happy birthday.

  “It is now. Where to?”

  Lex steps in, as her arms find their way around my waist. “We were all just headed to the Cape for old times’ sake. You guys up for a little night surfing? Michelle and I will bring the real fun.”

  “And what’s that?” Skyla isn’t amused, but damn, is she ever beautiful. With each passing day, her lips grow fuller, her body illuminates like porcelain lit from within, and her eyes shine like a sea of blue topaz, wildly beautiful, exotic, expensive as hell. The price for Skyla has always been very high, but I’d pay with my life each and every day. She’s worth it. Gage and I always swore we’d never war over a girl, but Skyla is worth that, too.

  It takes less than a minute for everyone to agree that Lex and Michelle have had a stroke of genius, and before I know it, I’m seated next to Skyla as Gage drives us down to the Cape in what’s turning out to be a long caravan. He tossed our surfboards and a couple of wet suits into the back, so we’re set to go.

  “What’s up?” Gage glances over his shoulder at Ellis in his monster truck, the headlamps blinding him. “You’ve been pretty quiet as of late.”

  I have been pretty quiet as of late. I’ve been hunting down traitors like it’s my new favorite hobby and have only managed to nab a couple more. Meanwhile, Wes has recruited a new batch by the dozens. Shutting down his little conspirator club is like trying to catch water through a sieve.

  I take a breath, avoiding Skyla’s pending gaze, her newly oversized boobs. I realize I’m not supposed to notice those things, that it borders on complete disrespect, but her skin glows like lit paper, and her tits have been rippling with every bump in the road, bursting through the top of her dress as if trying to find a way out of the contraption. It’s getting harder to sit here by the minute.

  “I’ve been laying low,” I finally speak up as we take the turn past Pike’s Reef, following Liam’s taillights like a beacon. “You know, after the incident.” The incident being the fact I morphed into an electrical wire in front of God and the government to distract the feds from Skyla. And now I have them sniffing around the bowling alley, the Gas Lab, the fucking morgue, asking questions about me because all of a sudden dead Logan Oliver is a person of electrical interest.

  “Got it.” Gage grimaces as Liam’s truck hits the brakes a little hard, and his face glows red as a flame.

  “So, what’s new with you? The same could be said. You’ve been a little quiet yourself.”

  “Nothing new. Demetri and I are still doing the father-son tango. Meanwhile, back at the demented ranch, Wesley swears his dolomites are ready to spring into action.”

  “He has the ability to regenerate them?” Skyla jumps at the thought.

  “Not quite, but he’s ready to convince the world.”

  “And the Videns?” I ask simply out of curiosity. I’m not sure what role they play in anything other than the fact they seem to like Gage, a lot.

  “They say they’re sticking with the Barricade. I’ve talked to Coach Morgan, and he’s determined to stay with a winner—the winner being Wes and his minions. He’s holding sacrifice rites almost every other night now.” He looks to me, cold and unfeeling, before shedding a frown. “You able to keep up with that shit list?”

  I give a dry huff of a laugh. “So, you’re up to date on that, huh?”

  Skyla tenses. I know for a fact she’s not the one who told him.

  “I figure they’re disappearing. It’s a mighty big coincidence that I give you a list, and the people on it evaporate into thin air. So, where are you housing them? The basement at Dudley’s? White Horse?”

  Skyla gives a hard sigh. Her hand flattens over her belly. It’s so huge it almost touches the dashboard. “The Haunted Speculum. Don’t breathe a word.”

  “I won’t,” he assures.

  We get to the Cape, and to my slightly amused surprise, there are bodies upon bodies here to greet me. A giant banner staked in the sand reads Happy Birthda, Logan!

  Someone forgot the Y in birthday.

  Giselle comes up and swings around me like a pole while gifting me a hug.

  “Do you like the sign? I painted it myself!”

  “Of course.” I wince. “It’s great.” Only it won’t strengthen her argument on why she should test out of high school early.

  “Let’s do this.” Ellis high-fives me while running toward the waterline with his board in hand.

  “I’ll be right down.” I head back to grab my wetsuit and stumble upon Gage with his mouth over Skyla’s right tit, her dress downturned just enough to expose the girls.

  They’re glowing and white and huge as twin moons, and I force my feet to pivot the hell out of there.

  “Fuck.” I hear Gage grumble. “All’s clear. Sorry, dude.” He tosses me my board as if nothing happened, and Skyla is already gone.

  We suit up and hit the water, but that image of his mouth where mine once was has stained my brain, and not in a good way. I should forget about it. I wish I could.

  We hit the sapphire water, cold as fucking ice, and Gage and I surf our asses off. Even Dudley has gotten into the spirit and showed up unannounced with a board in hand. He’s taking those waves like a master, riding them without wiping out once. All of the girls are riveted by his otherworldly moves, his undeniably impressive abs. Asshole.

  Dudley outperforms us wave after wave. There’s a nice swell out here that’s pretty consistent. The set breaks about thirty yards out, each one topping out at about six feet. There’s something nice about the carrying on of tradition—this one in particular. Even Liam is giving it a go. And who knows how long it’s been since he’s seen the water. Brody and Ellis whoop it up another fifty feet out. Both Gage and I are keeping an eye on Ellis in the event he’s too stoned to make it back to shore.

  We relax on our boards, just sitting out here in the warm bath of God’s tears thinking about nothing and everything.

  Dudley pops up with a roar and paddles up beside us. “Birthday, huh?” He falls back on his elbows, his chest expanding with his every next breath, and both Gage and I groan.

  “Put it away.” Gage splashes him in the face. “The girls aren’t around. No need to impress.”

  “This is my natural state, Mr. Oliver. If I impress you, it’s no fault of my own. What’s with the puss? Afraid Skyla will abandon your brooding ways for someone as heaven sent as myself?”

  “Skyla’s not leaving Gage.” I paddle up a few feet to get square between them.


  “That’s right. You keep trying to ensnare her, don’t you?” Dudley huffs a silent laugh before closing his eyes as if he were sunbathing.

  “I don’t need to try. We had our shot. We were married. I died. The end.” There’s a little bite of the salty truth. What better way to commemorate the day I entered this planet than to douse it with the unfriendly facts of my death?

  Gage clears his throat. “Don’t act like you don’t know there’s a to-be-continued clause in there.”

  “There’s not. I read the fine print.” Not really, but both Skyla and I are determined to have him stay.

  “Candace isn’t keeping me around.”

  “No, but Demetri is willing. Have you talked to him about his promise yet? Or have you let my corpse rot for nothing?”

  Not that it was doing much better in Ezrina’s keeping solution, but it was a hell of a lot more comforting knowing I had a body lying around in the event I actually needed it one day—like a pair of sturdy running shoes you keep on the side just in case.

  “Not yet.”

  “What the hell are you waiting for?” My voice echoes over the rippling waters.

  Dudley gives my board a swift shove. “Perhaps he’s waiting for you to die properly. You’re the epitome of a man who can’t seem to do anything right—death included.”

  “Ouch,” Gage says it for me.

  “Oh, I’m quite sorry,” Dudley muses, shaking out his hair like the giant dog he is. “Did I hurt your feelings? You half-breeds seem to be full of those hard-to-control foibles. Go on now and weep.” He gives my board another kick. “It’s your party. You can cry if you want to.”

  “What the hell has gotten into you?” I paddle back to get a good look at the demented Sector. “You’re my supervising spirit. That means you get a free ride on my dead coattails, and, as a bonus, you get to do my bidding.”

  “Free ride on your what?” He looks perplexed.

  “It means—”