Falling For Best Friends

Art& Family

I tensed as I entered the art gallery on 10th and Giddeon. I hate these types of environments. If it weren’t for Autumn, I would never have entered this building, but she was taking her sweet time, and we had plans. An air of privilege mixed with oblivious intolerance hit me as I walked in. Eyes of all shades darted in my direction, but the moment they met my eyes, they cowered and tried to get as far away from me as possible. I can’t blame them. Even though everything externally looked human, they could sense the monster within me without ever seeing it with their own eyes. Those archaic survival instincts were not going down without a fight.

As I surveyed the crowd in search of Autumn, each stranger I laid eyes on looked away. As I continued my fruitless search, I found myself in front of a painting that looked like a cloud of smoke.

“What do you think,” an unfamiliar voice asks from behind me.

“It looks like a bunch of smoke to me.”

The responding laugh that erupts behind me actually makes my shoulders relax. It's a contagious laugh that causes me to chuckle to myself before I turn around to see who the laugh belongs to. The girl I am faced with is a foot or so shorter than I am, with deep green eyes and long curly hair. If anyone I knew saw how hard I was staring at her, I would definitely be laughed at, but she was the first piece of real art I’d seen since walking into this place.

Of course, Autumn picks this moment to appear, and of course, the words she utters cause a string of profanity to stream through my mind.

"Ah, I see you have met my brother, Ox," she says as she loops her arm through the girl’s arm. “Ox, this is my best friend, Wintyr.”

F**k.

“Ox?” Wintyr asks, and my eyes linger on her lips for a second too long. I have to get it together.

“It’s Maddox,” I said, taking a step back. When had we got this close?

“Wintyr Grace,” she replies. “It’s nice to meet you.”

I nod, because, honestly, I do not trust the words that will come out next. How can even her name be beautiful?

“Don’t mind him, Wintyr,” says Autumn, “he knows nothing about art.”

“I must disagree. Your brother was just telling me how much he liked my smoke,” stated Wintyr, breaking the tension.

Even I could not hold back the laugh that escaped.

Autumn leans in to punch my shoulder, which only makes Wintyr laugh more, and why do I want to hear that laugh over and over again?

“It’s fine,” responded Wintyr. “Art is subjective. To him, it's smoke, and to others, it's the struggle of the mind to elude the grey and walk in either the light or the dark.”

“And this is where the delusion begins,” I replied back. “It's a picture of smoke, yet we have some people who actually will say exactly what you just said.”

An older woman with her glasses pushed down to her nose gave us an unapproving glare. I am well-trained in the art of holding my tongue. Autumn, not so much.

“Excuse me, ma’am. Can we help you?” asked Autumn, looking directly at the lady.

She looked offended that she would be called out, and quickly shuffled away, almost tripping in her Birkenstocks. Instinctively, I grab Autumn by the arm and don’t let go until I can sense her calm down. The last thing we needed was for her beast to rise to the top and slaughter this room full of people. I couldn’t blame her. She had triggers that could be misinterpreted, but it all came from a sense of protecting herself. I hate that I can’t erase those scars that still mar her heart. When she finally calms, I release her, and she turns back to us as if nothing happened.

“Well, things are wrapping up here. We can head out soon. Would you like to join us, Wintyr?”

And just like that, I am back to wanting to wring Aumtum’s neck. She knows very well the dinner we are attending is for family only. If she cares about her friend, she will leave her here and plan to meet again tomorrow.

Wintyr is a smart girl because she declines, and I couldn’t be more thankful.

“Oh no, I do not want to impose. I was planning on ordering in and getting a head start on the reading for my art history class next week.”

“Please, Wintyr? These dinners are so boring. You and I can drink and eat as much as we want, and Maddox here will pay for it all,” she says as she clamps my shoulder, and I swear if I have to drag her out of here, I will.

Wintyr’s eyes look over at me, and I know she can see my own frustration.

“Honestly, Autumn, I don’t think it’s a good idea, maybe next time. It seems like you and your brother already have plans.”

I looked down at my watch. We are already running late, and I honestly did not want to hear the fallout behind that. “We have to go, Autumn.”

“Either Wintyr comes, or I won’t go.” Responded Autumn, folding her arms and tapping her foot.

I don’t have time for this. As much as I don’t want to have this girl around our kind, we need to leave. “I’ll be in the car.”

I hear Autumn’s happy squeal as I turn my back to them. I hope she knows what she is doing. Humans only have one purpose at our family dinner table, and it is not as our esteemed guest.

The ride to Sebastian’s was quiet, thankfully. Autumn always had a rebellious streak, but tonight she was being absolutely childish. She was practically begging for trouble. There was no way in hell Wintyr would be welcomed at our table. I was so upset I felt the steering wheel groan in my rough grasp. My jaw clenched and unclenched, and my foot laid into the gas peddle.

When we arrived at Sebastian's, the valet approached the back passenger side to open the door to help Autumn and Wintyr out. I got out, handed my key over, and did not bother to wait for either of them. Once inside the restaurant, I made my way to the reserved VIP room. Entering the room, I saw the usual suspects. There was a representative from each faction. Veronika James, a small, powerful witch whose age was indiscernible. Next to her was a Spanish guy with light brown eyes and a slim build. He went by the name Javier. He was one of the oldest vampires on the continent. Across from him was Wella. Wella was a pale woman who looked to be in her mid-twenties. She had fiery red hair and big blue eyes. She reminded me of a c*ked out model. She was sitting especially close to Declan Grant, who sat at the head of the table. Sprinkled around the room were a few girls who covered every shade of the skin tone spectrum. Declan always had a harem on deck for whenever he needed to be serviced.

“It’s about time you made it. Where is the one with the mouth? I thought you two came as a matching set.” Said Wella, rolling her eyes. There were few people I hated, but Wella Matthews was near the top of the list. It irked me that Declan made her feel so damn important.

“Nice that you could join us,” said Declan as he stood from his seat at the table and shook my hand. Where’s Autumn?”

“She brought a friend from school. She’s just getting her situated in the main dining area.”

Declan didn’t respond. That was enough response. I had said too much, even with the few words I’d offered. Before the silence could settle in further, Autumn entered the room with an annoyed look. Upon her entrance, Declan nodded to a large man by the door, and he escorted the extra women in the room out. I pull out a seat for Autumn and then take the seat next to her.

We had these meetings once a month, and Autumn hated them. They were for the leaders of factions, but since Autumn and I were the only two of our kind, it didn’t make sense to leave her out of it. Declan was in the same boat as the only one of his kind, but his power made him the obvious choice as the leader of our little council. The witches played nice because Veronika basically raised Declan, and Javier feared Declan. The only creatures who refused the council were the wolves who hated my kind, and demons who were disloyal to a fault.

“Alright,” said Declan. “Talk.”