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“We need to talk.”
Patience rolled her eyes as she set down her phone. Alex saw the text and snorted. “Wow. Not ominous at all. Should I see if I can borrow some blankets to make a good fort for watching sad movies in?”
“Shut up,” Patience said without heat. “For all I know, Bella wants to talk to me about breaking up with Tamara to be exclusive ourselves. Could be the other way too, she and Tamara want to ditch me, in which case, yes, the blanket fort of sad movies would be lovely. Could be that Bella’s finally willing to explain why she and Tamara left Britain to come here and it’s a heavy subject full of abusive fathers and murdered moms. I’m not gonna get worked up until I hear them out. Could be that I’m right about Tamara having a background in hunting and they want to have the ‘the world’s not what you think it is’ conversation, in which case, the conversation’s gonna be a lot easier than they think it is.”
“Right. Blanket fort it is.” Alex tossed Patience her coat. “I don’t even get what you see in Bella. Tamara’s awesome, although I agree there’s some heavy damage in her past, but Bella? That girl is bad news.”
“But she’s hilarious, she’s fun, and have you read any of her scripts? She writes the most brilliant heists!” Patience pulled her coat on and headed out, popping her head back in to add, “If I’m not back in two hours and don’t text that I’m okay, assume that Bella finally snapped and what she really meant by ‘we need to talk’ is ‘it’s time to murder you’!” She easily ducked the pillow Alex threw at her and headed to Bella’s apartment.
Tamara was already there, pacing the living room like a caged tiger. Bella was polishing her knife collection when Patience let herself in. “Okay, I was joking when I told Alex you were going to murder me, but now I’m not so sure. At least I know the knives are clean and I don’t have to worry about infection on top of massive blood loss?”
“Hush, I’m just nervous and this is my happy place,” Bella scoffed. “So… first off, Tamara nearly took my head off when she saw the text, so let me clarify: if we break up today, it will be your choice, not mine. I’m hoping you’ll stay, but I can totally understand why you’d leave.”
Patience took a seat. “So… I know. Demons and vampires and ghouls and werewolves, all real. Ghosts really do haunt places because of unfinished business. Some people have powers that most people don’t believe in. Me, for one, I get visions of the future. And there are people who dedicate their lives to hunting those things and making the world safe for everyone else, or who work to support them, like my grandmother. I don’t know if you’ve heard of Missouri Moseley, but she was well-known as a genuine psychic who helped out hunters when they came through the area.”
“Well… that makes the first part easy,” Tamara said. “You’re Missouri Moseley’s granddaughter? That explains a lot, really. Last time I went to see her, she told me that I would need to have patience after my Isaac died but that I would find… oh, *no*.” Tamara groaned. “She did not make a pun on your name. I refuse to believe that.”
“Believe it,” Patience muttered. “She does it all the time. Who’s Isaac?”
“Isaac was my hunting partner… and husband,” Tamara said. “He was killed in front of me, possessed by a demon that forced him to drink an entire jug of bleach. I was lucky to survive, although I didn’t see it at the time, and ended up being killed by demons a couple years later, during the Apocalypse.” Tamara held up her hands. “I know, I look amazing for a dead woman. I don’t know how or why, but one minute I was being ripped apart by hellhounds, and the next, I was eighteen and meeting my freshman dorm roommate here at OU.”
“Which was me,” Bella added. “I have a similar story. When I was a little girl, I made a deal with a demon. The demon ripped my abusive father apart and got my mother a huge settlement, and I got ten years before the demon came back for me. Or as it turned out, sent hellhounds. I spent those years becoming the best thief the world had ever seen – if I was bound for hell, I might as well enjoy my ten years, right? But then instead of going to hell, I went to university. I thought the universe was just trying to be funny, but I’ve genuinely enjoyed my time here, and you and Tamara are only part of why. A big part, sure, but only part.”
Patience looked between them. As far as she could tell, they were completely serious. It wasn’t the strangest story she’d ever heard, and Tamara had mentioned knowing her grandmother. It would be easy enough… and her phone was ringing in gospel. “Hello, Grandma.”
“Hello, dear. Your young ladies have finally come clean about their true histories?”
“Guess so.” Patience grinned. Of course Grandma knew. “So… despite them not actually being my age but quite a bit older, you still approve?”
“Honey, you’re happy. I can see the future and know if I need to get out the wooden whacking spoon. Besides, it’s a bit ambiguous, since neither of them are trying to resume their old lives. They’ve got a bit more life experience than you, but they’re still figuring out their place in their second chance lives, so the three of you have that in common. Your father will probably refuse to speak to you if you ever tell him the truth, but as he’s already refusing to speak to you because he doesn’t approve of you being in a relationship with a woman, let alone two… no big loss there, is it?”
“Yeah, that’s true. Thanks, Grandma. I love you.”
“Love you too, dear. Be sure to remind them I have the wooden whacking spoon and I’m not afraid to use it!”
Patience laughed as she hung up and passed along the message. Bella and Tamara took it quite well. “So… not breaking up?” Bella asked.
“Not breaking up. Let me text Alex to tell her no blanket fort or homicide investigation needed, and then we can swap some war stories?”