House Of Gods 9 - Samantha Snow Page 0,5

she could barely breathe. “Yes,” she stammered. “We did. We still do.”

He looked at her awkwardly, and she felt as though she was both going to scream and throw up at the same time.

“Hey, who’s ready for a shot?” Jerrik said in the doorway flamboyantly.

He knew how unbearable this would be for Brenna, and he knew that she would need his help, so he had followed her to the bedroom and stood at the door, waiting for the moment she would need him. And that moment was now. Colby was there to help her too.

Both men came into the room and boisterously changed the subject. Colby had another fresh bottle of whiskey in his hand and four shot glasses balancing on his fingers. They sat around the small table in Brandt’s bedroom and poured whiskey into glasses as soon as they were emptied. Brandt laughed at the stories the men told and enjoyed the friendliness of the strangers who he knew nothing about, even though they weren’t actually strangers at all. He felt bad occasionally when he glanced at Brenna, but then either Jerrik or Colby quickly diverted attention again. By the time they were done, they had spent hours in frivolous conversations about meaningless things. Colby helped Brandt to his bed, and Brandt promptly started to snore as soon as his head hit the pillow. Brenna had been keeping up with the boy’s shots, not because she was having fun, but because she was trying to drown out her insurmountable sorrow and numb all of her thoughts of despair. She tried to stand up at the table, but the rush of alcohol to her head when she did, sent her falling backward without care. Jerrik grabbed her and scooped her up off the floor with her feet dangling over the side of his arms. He walked out of the room with her, and Colby closed the bedroom door behind them as they left. The hallway spun in her vision as her head bobbed against his chest.

“Where are we going?” she asked him in a tremendous slur.

“I’m taking you to my room for tonight,” Jerrik answered.

Even her drunk eyes managed to widen at his words.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “I’m not trying to seduce you; honestly, you should already know that by now. I’m trying to make sure you’re okay.”

Brenna heard what he said, but the words all seemed to swim together in her head. She closed her eyes and rested against his chest as they went down the hall. Jerrik got a few curious stares in the living room, but none asked him what he was up to. They all knew Brenna was in a bad spot and that Jerrik was trying to help. Colby parted ways and went to sit down in the living room with the others, as Jerrik continued on down the hallway toward his bedroom.

He walked inside his room, set Brenna on his bed, and then laid down on the other side of his mattress to try to get some sleep. He had figured she was drunk enough to just pass out and get rest, but instead, he heard her muffled cries and saw the back of her shoulders shake. He reached over and pulled her across the bed and onto his chest and rubbed her head until she fell asleep.

The morning was such a curious thing. It was a mix of hangovers, hope, and helplessness. Brenna spent most of the morning hiding in Jerrik’s room; she couldn’t bear to see Brandt with the vacant look of unfamiliarity he gave her. So instead, she stayed in bed, getting up only to pee and then returning to the false comfort of the blankets. Edwin and Abigail had gone out into the city to do a double-check of how things were going with the mortals and also to bring back decent lattes. Many of them had drunk too much the night before and were quietly nursing hangovers. Kemma and Baldur were sitting by the oversized windows together; Kemma was holding Tannin in her lap as the two adults spoke in low voices about something

“What do you suppose they’re up to?” Leif asked Erik.

“Who knows,” Erik replied.

“Hey, I’m sorry about Brynlee.” Leif was dead awful at sympathy, but he felt like he needed to say some sort of condolence.

Fortunately, Lopt joined them for coffee before things got too weird.

“How is Tara doing with the death of her sister?” Leif asked in an attempt to get someone else to talk