Are You There, God? It's Me, Caroline...
Caroline closed the door behind her and leaned against it. The afternoon had been... amazing. With her face tipped toward the ceiling she smiled a silly grin. In spite of everything that had happened this week, he'd managed to make her forget. For a shining few hours the blood and horror were simply a bad dream and her life was normal again.
Maggie butted her head against Caroline's hip and she dropped her hand to the dog's head even as tears sprang to her eyes. "I'm a selfish bitch, Mags," she told the dog softly. "He's keeping me sane. Letting him think we have a chance might get him killed." She lowered herself to a squat, wrapping her arms around the golden retriever's neck and burying her face in Maggie's ruff. The dog wagged her tail but whined a little.
There's no way out now. I sold my soul to the devil. Never mind that there'd been no choice -- by now she had the clear understanding that just by bringing her in the way she had, Evangaline Beauchamps Maguire would never have let her simply walk away. So now... how to make the best of it all.
How did you make the best of the fact that you'd just helped murder half a dozen people? And how the hell were they supposed to survive the summons tonight? If Cotton didn't already know that they'd had something to do with killing that thing in Midnight's basement -- and maybe Midnight too, dear God in heaven -- he soon would. Was he going to be there tonight? She couldn't decide if tonight was some kind of Court summons or ... well, worse, a sedition meeting.
Sucking in a deep breath she pulled her face out of the dog's fur, ruffled her ears, and stood upright. Both hands came up to wipe at her cheeks and she squared her shoulders. "All right, girl.... it's time to dress to kill. I think the black pants outfit tonight, don't you?" When in doubt, pull out all the stops and armor up.
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