The Deck of Omens (The Devouring Gray #2) - Christine Lynn Herman Page 0,53

turned to see him just a few feet away, looking puzzled. “You two coming or what? We have a game to play.”

“Just need to get a refill,” May said, shaking her head and heading toward the cooler. Whatever had just happened between her and Harper had passed, but Harper knew something had shifted between them.

She stared at the stump, at Isaac, who was swaying softly, at Justin’s earnest face as he waited for her answer.

Saying yes was a bad idea. She nodded anyway.

The drinking game was called Monster in the Gray. Nails lined the edge of a tree stump in an uneven circle, their tips driven into the wood. The object of the game, Justin explained, was to take a hammer, throw it up in the air, catch it, and drive the nail deeper into the tree. If you didn’t touch the nail, you drank.

“Well, that seems like a great way to send your friends to the hospital,” Violet said, eyeing the stump with concern.

“I can’t believe you made a big deal out of the sword and then wanted us to play this,” said Harper.

“Isaac,” May stage-whispered. “I think they’re scared.”

Isaac’s grin was too wide. “I think they are.” He grabbed the hammer, tossed it, caught it, and drove the nearest nail deep into the splintered wood in one quick, fluid motion. May and Justin nodded appreciatively. Even Harper had to admit that she was begrudgingly impressed.

“See?” he said, handing it to Violet. “You’re the founders, guarding the town border, and if you drive all the nails in?—”

“The Beast doesn’t get out, yeah, yeah, I get it.” Violet hefted the tool, looking anxious. “I’m not sure how to do this?—”

“Here.” Isaac reached over and adjusted Violet’s fingers, shifting her grip. “So you don’t hurt yourself.” His hands lingered over hers, and Harper wondered if it was the alcohol or something entirely different that made them both pull away from each other a bit too slowly.

“Thanks,” Violet said softly.

Harper glanced around at Justin and May to see that both of them were watching this, too, May still sober enough to look bored by it, Justin too drunk to pretend his focus was anywhere else.

“Okay,” Violet said, tossing the hammer up in the air. She caught it, but her swing went wild, completely missing the nail, and her laughter washed the moment away.

The game went on and on. Harper tried it and realized her hand-eye coordination from sword training had made her very good at it, while Violet remained singularly terrible. They passed the hammer around, talking and laughing, until the bonfire was down to the embers and the sky above them was black. Harper stuck to her single cup of liquor. Everyone else had indulged far more, and it showed.

Still, she was having far more fun than she’d anticipated. It was her first party and it wasn’t so bad, not when it meant she could forget for ten seconds that her dad had tried to kill her and there was an unstoppable corruption slowly infecting the entire town. Her foreboding from earlier had worn off?—even Isaac seemed to be sobering up a little. Maybe this would be all right.

“How does it still taste so terrible?” Violet grumbled from beside her, shaking her cup accusatorially. They were sitting on the logs in front of the remnants of fire to combat the chilly fall air.

“I’m not sure,” May said thoughtfully from the log next to her. “I think my taste buds have gone numb.”

“Hey!” Isaac called out from the edge of the clearing. “Can somebody tell me which way the house is? I need water.”

“Oh my god,” May said, shaking her head. “How are you lost? It’s literally right there.”

“And I am literally wasted, thank you very much.”

“All right, all right, I’ll help you.” She got up, and Violet followed her out of the clearing, saying something to May about finding a bathroom.

Which left Harper and Justin alone, a situation Harper had deliberately been trying to avoid. Harper set her now-empty cup on the ground, her heartbeat accelerating, and when she looked back up again, Justin had gotten up from his seat across the clearing.

“Hey,” he said, gesturing at the log beside her. “Can I?”

She nodded. “I’m sorry nobody came to your party.”

“That’s not true.” Justin’s voice was quiet and earnest as he sat down. “You came.”

Harper snorted. “Out of obligation.”

But Justin was already shaking his head. “You never do anything you don’t want to do.” He set his drink down on the