“Thanks,” I said, smiling.
“It was a week ago, right?” she asked.
I nodded, even though technically it was two weeks. I kind of enjoyed watching the discomfort on their faces as they tried to figure out if I overheard them talking about the girl they all thought was still my best friend.
“Well, it was great seeing you guys tonight,” I said, taking Sam’s hand and stepping away as they made room for us to get by. But then I turned back to them and leaned in. “I better go find Kimber. Since she just got out of rehab, I better keep an eye on her around that huge fountain of spiked punch!”
The mouth of the girl I used to cheer with dropped open and I pivoted away. On our way out the door Sam laughed. I grinned. “Ten to one they’re now trying to figure out where this new scar on my face came from.”
“Hey.” He caught my hand and pulled me around. “You’re not self-conscious about that anymore, are you?”
I tilted my head to the side. “No. I don’t care what people think about me anymore. As long as you’re in my corner, everyone else can just go to rehab.”
He grinned and lifted my hand with my new rings, kissing the place where they wrapped around my finger.
“Seriously? This is a public place. You’re grossing everyone else out,” said a sarcastic and familiar voice from behind. I looked around Sam and saw Riley lounging against the deck railing.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
He shrugged. “It’s a party. I like parties.”
“Well, stay away from the orange fountain inside. It’ll put a hole in your esophagus.” I warned him.
“Sounds delish,” he replied and pushed away from the railing and went inside. I watched him through the glass doors as he went and filled up a cup with the spiked brew. Then he took a drink of it. He made a face as it went down, looked at his glass, shrugged, and added some more. Then he wandered off to the other side of the room where all the food was.
“What do you say me and you hit the dance floor?” Sam whispered in my ear. I spun to look at the crowd of dancing bodies.
“You don’t like to dance and I’m not so good at it.”
“But I like to touch you and I don’t care if you step on my feet.”
Riley stuck his head between us. “What are we talking about?” His breath reeked of punch and there was a cookie in his hand.
“Dancing,” I replied.
“The ladies love to dance,” he said, taking another drink.
“I don’t know how you can stand that stuff.”
“It’s a man’s drink.” He glanced at Sam. “You drinking soda?”
Sam scowled. Why did Riley insist on pushing his buttons?
“So has there been any sign of you know who at your place?” I asked, drawing his attention away from Sam.
“That’s actually why I’m here. Word on the street is your boy got himself banished,” he said, shoving the whole cookie into his mouth.
“Banished?”
“Yep. Pissed off the big guy down there.”
“You mean Lucifer?” Sam asked.
Riley nodded. “Every time someone mentions his name they practically pee their pants.”
“Where did he send him?” I asked. There was a sinking feeling in my stomach that I already knew the answer.
“Earth,” he said grimly, glancing at me.
“That explains the gym and the body,” Sam said darkly.
“Yeah.” I tried not to let it scare me that it was Halloween, a day on which Beelzebub had a history of trying to kidnap me, and we now knew he was here somewhere and not down in hell. “And maybe the other bodies from the news.” Sam turned thoughtful and there was a little bit of relief on his face. I hated to think of anyone suffering the wrath of Beelzebub, but I also didn’t want Sam to think he was killing innocent people.
“Look, you need to keep your eyes open. He’s probably closer than you think.” Riley directed his warning toward Sam, and I rolled my eyes at his machismo. Did he not think I could handle this? He drained the cup in his hand and looked off to the side. “I’ll leave you two to your dancing.”
Sam stepped out of his path, but I caught the sleeve of his shirt. “Wait. What happened to you liking a party?”
He shrugged.
There seemed to be a little bit of loneliness around him and I wasn’t sure why. I didn’t like to think of him leaving here and going back down to hell. It was awful there. I’d done nothing but avoid it for weeks. But the only reason I was able to do that was because of Riley. Maybe he did have some kind of ulterior motive for being down there. Maybe he did like the power and the control. Even still, he was here, giving us updates, watching out for us. I did believe he’d looked for the Soul Graveyard and even though he hadn’t found it yet, I knew he would be there when we did.
Shouldn’t I be there for him now?
“Dance with me,” I told him. His eyes snapped to my face. Then he glanced at Sam, who looked like he swallowed an entire mouthful of spiked punch, and grinned.
“Are you a good dancer? I got a rep to protect.”
“I’m lousy,” I admitted.
He pursed his lips as if to consider his reputation. “It is your birthday, so I guess I can make the sacrifice.”
“Gee, thanks,” I muttered.
“My gift to you,” he said generously.
Sam snorted.
“Actually, I did get you something,” Riley said, reaching into his pocket. Sam crossed his arms over his chest.
“You did?” Curiosity had me leaning forward.
He grinned and pulled out a silver fork and handed it to me. “I figured with Beetlejuice running around and all you might need some protection, and since this is your weapon of choice…” His voice trailed away and he held out the fork, handle first.
I laughed and took the utensil, holding it up to look at it. “It’s the nicest fork I’ve ever seen.”
He shrugged. “I stole it off the buffet table. Kimber’s loaded.”
Sam was looking between the two of us like we’d just beamed down from Mars. “A fork?” he asked.
I nodded. “When you were in hell I used one to kill a demon so I carried it around in my pocket in case I needed it again.”
He looked horrified and I realized this wouldn’t be funny to him. The fact that I was using forks to fight off demons while he was trapped in hell… I cleared my throat and slid the fork into the back pocket of my jeans. “I’ll just put this away,” I said. Then I glanced at Riley. “Thanks.”