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Calliope Burns was fine.
Really, she was.
She was no longer trying to convince the world she was over everything that happened in Savannah, she simply lived .
Life goes on, it becomes her new mantra. Not to say she didn’t have the memories, it was more in the sense of it became easier to brush it off when people asked about it.
There was no weight over her shoulder when she shrugged, telling Talia she was fine. She moved on. One can get so used to bearing weight they can’t feel it anymore, and six months might seem like a lot for outsiders, but six months when you’re in love it’s a different time frame altogether.
A year after Savannah, there was still prickling under her skin when Apollo would make mention of anything similar to “bloodsucker”. Hey, a bad breakup didn’t change her morals, and she was a changed girl, no scratch that; Calliope Burns was a changed woman . And being the changed woman that she was, she felt she could educate her brother collectedly and calmly, with no lingering feelings involved. She just really hated that word and bigotry. Cal found that she really hated bigotry.
She was still daddy’s girl, Jack said while rubbing her hair affectionately, her academy acceptance letter firmly in her hands. He was proud of everything she had accomplished and overcome, he says. She knows he feels glad to put all of it past them, she now believed she could.
Theo calls her, a month after she settles in the dorm that will be her home for the next three years.
“Hey, I found a box on top of the closet…” The way he said it implied he knew what was in it. She hadn’t touched that in a while, she almost forgot it was there.
It was nothing much, a cardboard box filled with things she held on to, things she couldn’t or simply didn’t wish to return. But she knew the contents by heart:
Letters from Juliette, the notes they usually exchanged, the little gifts the shorter one would present to her out of the blue, her cardigan, a couple of sketches of herself, of them. A pressed flower wilting away inside her copy of Romeo and Juliet. The promise ring Juliette left on top of her nightstand and the knick-knacks she kept for no reason in particular. Perhaps she kept it as evidence, tangible proof of a time that sounded too magical, too out of ordinary to be true. Proof that one day, she had been with the most beautiful girl in the world.
Or maybe she kept it to remember, maybe one day she could show her kids, she would tell them, voice filled with nostalgia, all about how the kindest person she ever met wasn’t human. And there Juliette would be, bright smile immortalized in bad polaroids.
She didn’t want to throw them away, worried she would forget. That memory would fade over more extensively, more than no longer remembering the exact shade of her eyes, were they blue or grey? Fade like their picture pinned on Juliette’s dorm room or disappear like Juliette’s number when Cal lost her phone in a hunt last fall.
“I could send it over the mail” He offers ever so gently, so understanding. She wavers, hand shaking on the phone; she had no use for those.
“Nevermind, I should probably throw that away,” Cal tells him, feeling that perhaps she should have thrown that away a while ago. Let all the tangible evidence go until she doesn’t have to make an effort not to think of her. Was that a defined period of time for mourning your first love? Maybe a year and 8 whole months were enough.
She turns the phone off, and struts to her next class instead of collapsing on the floor.
Life was changing and it was changing fast. The days blurred one after the other, one after the other in a continuous loop of moving on.
Calliope’s academy schedule was busy but she was on top of all her classes. Weaponry, combat, strategy, chasing, history… you name it, she had it covered.
“That’s almost a pound up. You’re building that muscle, kid” The academy fitness coach praises her. Maintaining your body healthy was also a skill that a hunter needed.
“Yeah, I keep asking her where she gets her juice, but she ain’t sharing” Tess grumbles, knowing she’s gotta do their laundry this week. She lost their bet.
“This” Cal says flexing her impressive arms, “It’s all hard work, baby.” As she walks out of the room with her friend and also roommate in her heels. They’ve made amends, a couple of months into their freshman year. “You should give it a try”
“I can lift more weight than you” Tess sasses back at her, adjusting weight plates on the bar. They preferred getting their workouts done in the morning, before classes.
“Yeah, you can also drink more than me” She pokes at her friend’s side. “Maybe you should spend less time sleeping around and more time actually sleeping. That would do wonders for your gains”
“As if you can talk”
They both had their fair share of flings, it was a running joke in their class that between the two of them, they had probably slept with every available girl in the academy and the bar in town they went to on weeknights. That’s absurd , of course.
For one, there were actually some straight girls in school, and two she was not that promiscuous. Tess was though.
Calliope was just playing the field, trying out new flavors, with no feelings involved.
She still had some standards and as amazing as her body was, sometimes people did turn her down. Tess on the other hand was a real ladykiller. Cal wondered if it was her pretty face or her street style, maybe not having a messy break-up with her first love did wonders for one’s confidence.
Tess was the popular girl, she had always been slightly more so than Cal. Better with people, better at mingling and pretending she was an ordinary girl. Tess was better at faking smiles, better with words, and surer of herself, it’s what drew Cal in at first.
That’s why Calliope was so surprised when Tess could not gain the attention of their Chasing and tracking 202 class.
Her name was Grace, and Cal got it . She really did, Grace was beautiful and so good at explaining the subject when she was tutoring their small group of friends. Her brown eyes sparkled as she spoke with passion, confident in her knowledge. Cal would go so far as to think she was better at the subject than the teacher.
He is sensible and so incredible
and all my single friends are jealous
He says everything I need to hear
and it’s like I couldn’t ask for anything better
Calliope watched from the hall, as Grace turned down yet another invitation by Tess to come for a drink. The graceful woman smiled politely, muttering about how much work she needed to get done, and walked away, her blue hair tied in a ponytail swayed side to side as she moved, head held high. Cal sighed, she was definitely something.
The hunter decides to ask her out after a field trip, Grace had taken them for a trial in the woods. Her expertise shines with every step, Cal thinks she is incredible as she watches the pale hands slide over equipment. So, she approaches. Grace doesn’t seem to catch what she means, so she decides to be a little more forward.
With understanding in her eyes, Grace tells her that she is not the one-night stand kind and bids them all goodbye. And Calliope respects her for it, setting her boundaries and everything. Hell, it makes her even more attractive.
Tess teases her for it but is encouraging. And Cal thinks it’s about time she puts herself out there, for real.
Three months later, Cal asks her out. Grace agrees, but only after Calliope is done with the class. Calliope finds it endearing. When she finally takes the TA out, Grace directs her to her car and holds the door open for her. She had missed this kind of gentleness, she missed- never mind that.
Calliope smiles, she feels great next to Grace, who has a penchant for saying all the right things. When they say goodbye later, they both lean in for a lazy goodnight kiss, Grace ushers her in and says she will call tomorrow and she does.
Grace is a breath of fresh air, it’s easy to fall for her, easier than… she cannot go there, so she doesn’t.
Through the next term, it becomes obvious something was happening between them. Her classmates tease her for it, and Cal thinks maybe they’re all a little jealous. Why wouldn’t they be? Grace is so incredible, and Tess is definitely jealous but supportive.
They have a lot in common, Grace and her, more than…
They bicker over breakfast at the cafeteria and train combat together in school evenings. Grace is always honest and encouraging even when Cal tells her she won’t be a guild hunter when she graduates. The woman nods and reassures her.
“Just go with your heart on this one, you could always change your mind later. Who says their way is the only right way?”
Later, when Grace pulls her to lay across her chest, covering their bodies with the sheets, Calliope feels perfectly fine.
He respects my space
and never makes me wait
and he calls exactly when he says he will
Your body replaces all of its cells in seven years, Calliope comes across this fact scrolling through social media sprawled in her dorm room bed. Tess is out and Grace is on a field trip, her girlfriend updated her through text every morning and every night like clockwork. Exactly like she said she would.
Her heart doesn’t race when her phone lights up with Grace’s calls and texts but Cal finds it refreshing. Ju- well her past girlfriend had had a hard time keeping up with her, especially in the last few months of their relationship. Canceling plans, running around, pulling away.
Her current girlfriend is predictable and methodical. Cal swears it’s because she’s a Virgo, Grace huffs and says she doesn’t believe in astrology. Like that’s not such a Virgo thing to say.
Your body replaces all of its cells every seven years, Cal doesn’t check the source, she feels like it sounds solid. (it’s not)
Seven years and she’s halfway there, of having a body Juliette had never touched. She ignores how fundamentally wrong it feels and embraces it. One does not forget one’s first love with a cha-cha and a shake, but Cal feels she is almost there. It sounds true. (it’s not)
She loves Grace. (She does).
He’s close to my mother
Talks business with my father
He’s charming and endearing
and I’m comfortable
Her mother loves Grace. Really.
Talia treats her like a child of her own, Cal knows they text each other regularly. She was afraid of introducing her new girl to her family, especially after the last one, who could blame her?
But 20 min into dinner, Talia and Grace were chatting like friends, changing anecdotes about Cal and their shared love for horror movies. It’s all very genuine.
Her father soon takes a liking to her girlfriend, Cal watches as they discuss Grace's latest hunting trip. The two of them get lost in the specifics of it all, they’re very similar, her father and Grace, from their hunting style to their protectiveness of Cal. That’s why they get along so well.
Jack’s eyes twinkle when looks at his daughter across the table, the girl lets his obvious affection mend her. She smiles and leans into Grace, it feels so normal, so good, like a dream you didn’t know you had until you were right in the middle of it. She wasn’t sure how this happened, but she embraced this life, this moment. Calliope felt like she was finally finding her feet.
And when she receives the e-mail for her high school reunion she sends it directly to the trash.
Life changed, for the better.
Grace has an apartment in the town near the academy and on the weekends they can stay together, having a sample of what moving in will be like after Calliope graduates. They haven’t spoken in any final terms but it’s on both of their minds, it feels like the next logical step.
Cal can see it, very easily, things between them just flow like that. She still has tests to do, hoping to up her Blade status to Pauldron or Helmet, which meant she could get better paid on contracted hunts or be a teacher. Both options seem reasonable and safe, but she’s keeping her options open to anything.
She is constantly busy these days, life is rolling down the tracks and gaining momentum. Cal likes it.
She is a TA too, for the supernatural types class. She liked the class just fine as it focused more on monster types and behavior and less on killing. Calliope was still very vocal on the “not all monsters are threats” opinion, even a few of her classmates agreed.
One Wednesday, Calliope wakes up to the news that classes were canceled due to a staff meeting. Now, she could stay and sleep in as Tess was but she was determined to maintain her routine.
So, she gets up, texts Grace good morning like she always does, and ties her shoelaces extra tight like she always does. Coming down the stairs, she stretches by the rails like she always does and puts on her headphones for her run.
Then she does something she never does, she switches her usual playlist from a random recommended one and presses play, then she’s off and running.
The playlist is odd, containing a few songs she already liked and knew with new ones she never heard. It’s cheerful, even the love songs on it are more on the happy side. She thinks about her girlfriend when ‘happy together’ comes on, her feet hitting the pavement with a minor skip. ‘Collide’ by Howie Day doesn’t make her change her pace or think too much, it’s kind of an ok song.
She runs on the empty sidewalk, making her usual way across the coffee shop. A couple is sitting on the tables outside eating donuts, Cal shakes her head, it’s way too early for that.
She welcomes the change of pace to Lady gaga as she makes her way to the park which is mostly empty, save for a woman in a blue sweater drawing the fountain in a large sketchbook. Cal wonders what makes someone get out of the house so early to draw, but she figures if she could go out for a run then she shouldn’t be judgy of other’s people hobbies.
Heartbeat by Carrie Underwood is kinda nice to hear, if not too country for her taste, while Cal makes her way across the park and rolls her eyes at a couple of teenagers kissing while sitting under a tree. How cliche.
Her feet keep hitting the pavement, breath controlled every step.
It’s Taylor Swift that makes her halt.
She doesn’t recognize the song at first, not being a fan of the woman. Well, not like…
The lyrics do something to her, so she focuses actually listening to it. She never quite understood this song.
It’s Taylor Swift’s 'that’s the way I loved you' that makes life halt. Momentum suddenly lost.
It pierces through whatever walls she had put up to make her not feel.
But I miss, screaming and fighting
and kissing in the rain it’s 2 A.M.
and I’m cursing your name
Oh, she finally gets this song.
So in love that you act insane
and that’s the way I loved you
Just like that, She remembers everything. She remembers running away, holding the vampire's hands, high on adrenaline and love. Flying to Paris without her parents knowing, chasing a creepy old Legacy conquest that almost took her girl from her. Kissing her tears away in the middle of a dirty river. Standing beside her at the clinic, realizing she’s made the right choice. Giving her the promise ring with a real bloodstone because teenage Cal was a loser who thought that was the epitome of romance. Standing between her and a deadly weapon, like a knight in shining armor then watching her leave and doing nothing like a coward.
Breaking down and coming undone
She does just that while giving in to her trembling knees and aching chest, loses the battle with gravity, and lets her proud shoulders sag until she’s sitting on the curb. Calliope crumbles, right there, in public like she never allowed herself to do before, she’s past the point of caring about what people might think.
At first, she sobs and drops her face between her knees until she’s staring directly at broken asphalt. She can’t run from herself, can’t hide inside her own mind
Because suddenly, that’s her and… Juliette. The name hurts even in the confines of her imagination. She and Juliette sitting outside that coffee shop, and that’s Juliette drawing on her notebook in the sweater that feels so soft against Cal’s cheek. That’s her and Jules under the tree, they were also cliche, Cal laughs over her tears.
They were the cheesiest teenagers, their relationship was a rollercoaster. A little toxic at the end, Calliope is finally mature enough to tell, but heavens if it wasn’t the best ride she’s ever been in. She cries for what they had and mourns what they could have been.
After a while, the sobs subside, and sits there quietly weeping. More tired than any run could ever make her.
It’s a rollercoaster kind of rush
and I never knew I could feel that much
And it’s a good thing she lost all her contacts because she was actually feeling insane enough she might try calling the Legacy. She would.
Calliope Burns loved Juliette in an insane kind of way, it sounded a lot more romantic when they were young. But she was a changed woman, she couldn’t act as a lovesick teenager, besides, what would she even say?
I’m sorry.
Calliope could recognize she was in the wrong too. She had been driving Juliette away for months in the end, she was just so jealous of how Jules looked so put together while she was spiraling in doubt about her future. She was jealous of Juliette’s stupid prissy friends in her stupid law school that was too far away and forced them to do long distance. She was insecure about their differences, about that vampire that Cal knew was just a friend to Jules, about how close they were - her hormone-riddled teen brain had her convinced they were going behind her back.
Calliope and Juliette fell apart the same way they started, with a bang. It’s the only way they knew how to run. Slamming doors raised voices, and pointing fingers, and it was such a damn tragedy. In the end, it almost felt like they were doing the right thing, high school sweethearts don’t last.
We grew old, we grew apart. It’s for the best, she told everyone who asked.
And she refused to acknowledge the truth for a long time. But now it’s all she can think about as her mind spins with all the memories she thought she had forgotten- wishes she had forgotten as if they weren’t seared behind her eyelids every time she tried to sleep. She didn’t meet Juliette in her dreams anymore. Don’t worry about that, Juliette had said clenching her jaw, I’ll make it go away.
It didn’t stop her from dreaming about the vampire.
And that’s the way I loved you
Her stomach twists and turns, turmoil washes over her. She feels bad for herself, for Grace, she knows she’ll never love anyone else like that, and it’s not fair. Not because she couldn’t handle the heartbreak but because her heart would never be that whole again to give to another.
She is genuine about Grace, she knows that she loved the woman. Just not like that, not in the same devastating, undeniable way she loved Juliette. Cal loved Juliette in a way that is impossible to erase or forget.
She lifts her head up and takes a long shuddering breath, watching the birds fly on the bronze-colored horizon. Wipes her eyes with the back of her hands, knowing it won’t make her look any better.
The notion feels impossible, that someday the Juliette-shaped hole in her life would disappear or shrink enough for her to stop comparing everyone to her vampire lover. And maybe that is a good thing, she couldn’t handle another heartbreak like this.
Eventually, She gets up as though she hadn’t cried like a goddamn baby in the middle of the street, picks up her pride from the pavement along with her broken heart, and goes back to her dorm.
But life doesn’t pick up from where it left off.
The dam broke and there was no going back, in every corner, in every turn there was another chance she would spiral down memory lane.
She can’t help but wonder where she is, how she is doing; if Juliette’s features changed with time as hers had, or if she remained untouched, as small as she looked that day in her room when she removed her promise ring and walked away. And Cal watched, too hurt to call her back, to ask forgiveness one more time. Juliette would forgive her, she too loved Cal in a way that made forgiveness always a possibility- that didn’t make it hurt any less.
When Grace and she had their usual Saturday night marathon, she wonders if Juliette watched warrior nun at all. She would like it. Maybe she’s too far gone down the rabbit hole, but Cal finds Ava and Jules are a lot alike.
She finds herself reading the newest vampire romance novel on her kindle and wanting to hear Juliette’s opinion. It’s awful, as she expected but it is a reprieve from her busy life. Juliette probably had a busy life too…
Maybe her literally tastes had changed into something more adult, like Virginia Wolf or sappy Victorian romances. She thinks Jules might have grown up to be that kind of woman.
Deciding to no longer wonder, she picks up her phone and searches for the Fairmont on social media. It comes up empty.
She tries insta, twitter, tiktok and even facebook to no luck. In a stroke of mental clarity, she looks up Benjamin Wheeler, and she finds him fast enough. It seems as though Ben is still as addicted to social media as a man than he was as a boy. She catches up to Ben’s life and rolls his feed until she finds what she was looking for.
Calliope recognizes her as soon as she sees her, memory did do her justice. She didn’t look much different except maybe for the sharper cheekbones, she could still pass for a high school student if it weren’t for the expensive-looking burgundy suit she wore, the crisp white shirt underneath with 3 buttons open couldn’t hide how her body changed, acquiring the proportions of a woman. It’s a photo of Ben at his wedding, his husband standing to his right, both with megawatt smiles. Juliette to his left, her nose scrunched up in mirth, her arm around another woman’s waist, the grip of Jules’ hand is possessive. Cal can tell, she’s been there.
It doesn’t take long for the hunter to understand, she reads the comments to find Ben’s husband, David, teasing the two women about when it would be their turn. She isn’t jealous, which is indeed shocking news.
Nothing was the same anymore.
She is happy for Jules and the dark-haired beauty beside her in a classy burgundy dress, she was the kind of woman that would catch Cal’s eye, well if she wasn’t standing right next to Juliette that is. Her dark brown eyes look soft and her skin is paler than Jules, they fit beautifully together. Whoever that woman is, she hopes she treats Jules well.
Cal hopes she knows to cherish the legacy and hopes they live a long happy life together. Jules deserves it.
The photo is old, about 5 months, for all Cal knows they could be married by now. It stung a little, she guesses it could have been sweet if she was the one after all.
So when Cal scrolls down the comments to find Jules’ user, private account of course, and sends a follow request, she doesn’t hope for more. And when Juliette doesn’t accept right away, Cal doesn’t think much of it.
He can’t see the smile I’m faking
and my heart’s not breaking
Her answer comes a few days later, she is making dinner at Grace’s small apartment while her girlfriend is studying some terrain maps on the kitchen/living room table. Cal’s phone lits up with a notification that Grace’s sharp eyes can’t help but notice.
The older hunter unblocks Cal’s phone and checks the name on the account who had just accepted her request and followed back. Of course, Grace knew all about Juliette Fairmont.
She asks Calliope about it, who is maybe a little too defensive on the subject. She also has been stressed from finals and the whole breaking down thing, cut her some slack.
“You were going through my phone?” Cal is kind of annoyed, and she does not appreciate the tone her girlfriend used as if she was some kind of cheater. So that’s how Juliette felt? Karma is a bitch after all.
She would never cheat on anyone, besides there’s no way in hell or heaven she and Jules could go back. If there was, she would drop everything else in a minute, like a hot potato. Forget about these past years and claim the ending Cal and Jules deserved it. The thought scares her, so she gulps it down.
The argument escalates, Grace is good at reading people, she was a chaser. Her tenacity is what made her so good at her job and she knows she’s onto something, Cal is feeling just a tad guilty.
“I just don’t understand why reach out to that monster freak all of a sudden?” Grace’s body is stiff as she steps into the kitchen.
Cal turns the stove off and turns her back to the other woman “Her name is Juliette.” She says in a small voice. Grace knew how Cal felt about derogatory names for supernatural beings.
“The hell would I care about some bloodsucker’s name-”
That has Calliope properly mad, she turns around to face the other woman and blurts it out, yelling. “That bloodsucker was “ She chokes, it’s been a while since she told anyone this particular truth, and it feels both wrong and right to say it “and still is, the love of my life.”
They both freeze, Grace looks panicked but Cal just feels relief. “So I would appreciate some respect.”
They don’t break up right away, as much as they try to talk it out their demise is inevitable.
Two months later, Calliope is getting all her things from Grace’s place and moving all the way across the country to her parents.
She comes back home with her helmet insignia in her jacket pocket and her diploma. More certain and steady on her feet, older and wiser, heart not breaking, not this time. She stays with them until she finds a place of her own.
Calliope finds the box Theo never threw away on her moving out, she gives herself a moment to linger. Holds their photos across her chest and reads their letters, she cries one last time and then she moves on. And she keeps moving.
Life goes on like a rollercoaster, sometimes you’re upside down sometimes you’re standing upright. All there’s left for Calliope to do is enjoy the ride.
Two years later she is having breakfast before work at her favorite dinner, a couple blocks away from the office.
Calliope enjoyed it a lot more than she thought she would, staying in the same city permanently. Having a place that didn’t feel temporary, and finding a home in her small apartment with mismatched furniture. Hanging posters on the wall, having an annual gym membership, and neighbors that remembered her name.
She eats quietly watching people move around the sidewalk, the dinner was in front of a big corporate center that housed many companies like law firms, marketing agencies, and fancy real estate.
Calliope was used to the coming and going of those corporate people in the dinner, always rushing out of their cars or cabs, looking busy and overworked while screaming at their phones or typing furiously on their tablets. It’s like no one of them ever had time to sit and actually enjoy a meal. And they say her job is stressful, I mean look at those suit types, they’re walking ulcers.
Her phone vibrates with a call coming in. Speaking of the devil.
“Burns” She picks up.
“We’ve found a body in the woods, local sheriff suspects of Mae attack. I’ll send you the details over text” The voice is mechanical as they end the call, she waves the waitress down and asks for the coffee in a to-go cup. She has work to do.
She needed to take a proper look at the body before it could be sent to the coroner’s office, and the FBI needed her to be fast, as per usual. Calliope is reading the details of the text message as she bolts out of the dinner, she pushes the doors open and turns sharply in the direction of her car only to be stopped.
it’s a beautiful accident.
The hunter collides with someone, all of her coffee spilling onto the person’s vest, while Cal can only watch helplessly. The stranger, one of those suit types, yelps, pushing the garment away from her body.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…” Calliope says as she lifts her eyes up to meet blue. Light blue, not grey, her brain remarks and her heart speeds in her chest “Hey…”
“Hi,” The woman says back, not as sheepish as she had the first time they stumbled onto each other like this. Her eyes drift down to Cal’s chest and she smirks smugly as her ears catch the growing rhythm. Her voice was a bit deeper than before, her hair a little shorter, lighter too, but it was her. And Cal was trying to take it all in, to analyze every detail and commit them to memory, she wants to say something but she was feeling a bit tongue-tied.
“You… look beautiful, Calliope” She breathes out in a low tone with the same earnest, open look as the first time. Definitely her, and not a figment of Cal’s imagination, more real than she’s ever been. And Cal swears if she opened her mouth to speak without thinking she would say something equally sappy.
She snorts a laugh, jerking out of her stupor, because of course that’s the first thing Juliette Fairmont would say to her after so long.
“You don’t look half bad yourself”
Cal feels glad she opted not to wear her trench coat today because Juliette’s eyes are all over her like a warm caress, it makes her straighten her spine and draw her shoulders back. She revels in the way Juliette’s eyes linger, the corners of her pretty mouth quirking up stubbornly as the vampire fights off a blush. Some things don’t change.
She takes in Juliette’s dress pants and navy blue vest as subtly as she can, was office attire always this attractive or did Cal just have a soft spot for that vampire?
Juliette undoes her vest, showing the light pink shirt underneath just slightly stained. Cal grimaces.
“I’m sorry about that”
“It’s not like it burned me” Juliette shrugs, her eyes sticking to Calliope’s frame and face, it’s subtle this time. it’s not the same thirsty look sixteen-year-old Juliette had when she was eyeing her up across the room, but she still felt as powerful and desired as she did back then. “Not that I would mind a Burn”
Cal is very amused. Fairmont was a lot more eloquent now, that’s for sure.
Juliette, ever the gentlewoman, insists to buy her another cup of coffee, but Cal is in a hurry. Murder to solve and all that.
“Raincheck then?” Juliette asks. “I’ll stay in town for a few days” The legacy pulls a business card from her wallet and presses it ever so gently on Calliope’s hand, fingers grazing hers, their hands lingering.
“Maybe I can show you around…” Cal pauses dragging her finger across Jules’ hand and tilting her head, aware she is laying it on thick. They both are. The card is old-fashioned, sleek, and elegant, it reeks of old money. Just like Juliette. “Attorney Fairmont, huh?”
Calliope is more of a modern woman, she asks for the attorney to open her phone camera and scan the code she has on her phone. Juliette looks surprised as the contact shows up.
“Send me the dry cleaning bill”
“See if I don’t, Miss special consultant. Or is it Missus now?” Juliette throws the vest over her shoulder in a casual gesture, but Calliope knows her too well to fall for it.
Cal smiles cheekily, some things don’t really change. Her phone rings again.
“Ask me that later?” Calliope suggests, walking backward, holding eye contact. She doesn’t wait for a reply, she walks back to her car with an extra sway of her hips, flicking her braids away from her face as she opens the door of the car and sends Juliette a loaded look. The vampire stays there, rooted to the spot, Cal stares at her slow blinking eyes from the rearview mirror until she physically can not.
Maybe their tragedy would get a happy epilogue after all.