De'Vas Chronicles Book 3: Chapter 4 -rework-

The slumber party was in full swing, and Faylen was surprised by how much Lilly’s weekly get-together for the girls had grown. A dozen girls had shown up this week and Faylen watched them from her spot on the couch.

 Naomi was standing beside Coral as they chatted with Haylee and her sisters. The ice salamander and fire dragon were no doubt giving makeup or fashion advice to the trio of otterkin sisters.

 Just past them, a nervous Mei waited her turn to throw darts. The dark-haired rabbitkin anxiously watched Silver take her turn with the darts. She and Silver had teamed up against Celeste and Faylen’s sister, Luna. Silver and Celeste had started trash-talking each other after the first throw.

 Faylen’s wolf ears twitched as she heard popping coming from the kitchen. It seemed Lilly and Jacklyn, Bo’s girlfriend, were making more popcorn.

 She watched everyone with a faint smile on her face before she took a sip of her fruity mixed drink. She then checked her phone for the third time within the last half hour, even going into her messages and typing out one to Ash before pausing and deleting it.

 Naomi had talked her into going to the slumber party with the hope that it would keep her from worrying about Ash. The girls had done their best to drag her into the slumber party activities. They had succeeded in distracting her for a bit before her mind would go back to worrying about Ash.

 Faylen recalled what Lilly had told her and Naomi about what had happened in District 44. Ash had made a reckless gamble and intentionally brought his elemental out to fight the deranged djinn. A shiver ran down her back as she thought about what would have happened had the elemental attacked Ash instead of the djinn.

 She started typing on her phone again but felt something hit her head. She watched as a piece of popcorn fell into her lap. Looking up she saw Lilly holding a bowl of popcorn, Jacklyn beside her.

 “Like I told Jacklyn, Ash and Bo are fine,” Lilly said as she plopped down on the couch beside her.

 Jacklyn took a seat on Faylen’s other side. She gave Faylen an understanding look before reaching past her and grabbing a handful of popcorn from Lilly’s bowl.

 “I’m worried too, but Bo will call if there’s trouble,” Jacklyn said as she threw some popcorn in her mouth. “He better or I’ll kick his green ass!”

 Lilly gave a nod of agreement.

 “It’s a shame Ella couldn’t come,” Lilly said with a devious smile. “Then we could have both of Ash’s girlfriends and both of Bo’s in the same room at the same time.”

 Ella was the desert elf bodyguard of Selena, the boss of District 208. She had recovered in District 114 when the djinns had tried to kill Selena, and during her stay, had befriended Bo. There was chemistry between them, but Bo insisted they were just friends.

 Jacklyn laughed.

 “I’m not dense or in denial, like my boyfriend. I know full well Ella’s intentions. She recognizes me as the Alpha,” Jacklyn said proudly. “She has my blessing.”

 “Oh? Do you know when she’s thinking of making a move?” Lilly asked.

 Faylen gave the dryad a smirk.

 “Is this genuine curiosity, Lilly? Or do you have bets already going on Bo and Ella?” Faylen asked.

 Lilly didn’t respond. Instead, she just smiled as she grabbed another handful of popcorn.

 Jacklyn let out a huff.

 “How many bets like that do you even have running?” she asked the dryad.

 Lilly swallowed her mouthful of popcorn.

 “What? Can’t a girl have a side hustle?”

 Faylen shook her head at Lilly before looking back at her phone. She hoped Ash was safe.

 “She stressing about Ash?” Silver asked as she walked over. The game of darts was done and the winners, Celeste and Luna, were celebrating. Mei was trying to nonchalantly work a dart out of the wall from a missed throw.

 “Yes,” Lilly answered.

 Silver gave Faylen a reassuring smile.

 “This is just the first lead I was able to find on the list. Destry has been dead for months. I doubt the goblin is even still there,” Silver said. “At best, I’m hoping they might find something that will give us a new lead.”

 The list was what Silver called a massive collection of information that followed reagents bought by WillCo from De’Vas. It was an extensive list and one Silver had been shifting through looking for clues to a theory of hers; WillCo shared a connection with members of the Council.

 “They’re probably done and Bo’s dragged Ash to have a beer or get pizza,” Jacklyn said.

 Silver clicked her tongue. “It’s always a safe bet that Bo will think with his stomach.”

 A smile crept on Faylen’s face. Silver and Jacklyn were right. The boys were most likely fine and just having some fun like she was at the slumber party. Well, like she should be.

 “Okay,” Faylen said as she slipped her phone back into her pocket. “Let’s have some fun.”

 Silver turned and looked towards Celeste.

 “Hey, Celeste! Rematch! Faylen is going to stop being a stick in the mud!”

 Faylen laughed as she stood up and followed Silver towards the dart board.

 Silver pulled out the dart that Mei was trying to dislodge from the wall, checked the tip, and handed it to Faylen. Celeste and Luna took their spots at the small table that they were using as the marker to throw from.

 “Ready to get your tail kicked, Sis?” Luna asked as she threw her darts.

 She almost made a bullseye with one, if her aim was a little lower.

 “Close, but let me show you how it’s done, little sister,” Faylen said as she took aim.

 “Ash is in District 208, right? I wonder if he’ll visit that unicorn?” Luna said with a chuckle.

 The dart went wide as Faylen recalled Selena kissing Ash, striking the outer edge of the dart board. Faylen turned and scowled at her sister, who just chuckled to herself.

 “Looks like it’s my turn,” Celeste said as she walked up and took a dart.

 Celeste and Luna won again, much to Silver’s irritation. After that, Coral dragged everyone into what she said were ‘proper slumber party activities’ which included makeup and facials.

 Coral and Naomi stood beside a table with mirrors and a variety of makeup laid out.

 “Okay, girls! Just pick out the colors you want, then have a seat. Naomi and I will get you fixed up!” Coral said cheerfully.

 Naomi stood beside the pink-haired dragon with an excited look on her face. Faylen knew she had been looking forward to this activity. Faylen walked up to the table with the rest of the girls and picked up a lipstick that was supposed to be rose red.

 “Which color do you usually pick, Faylen?” Haylee asked as she looked over the eyeliner selection that Coral and Naomi laid out.

 Before Faylen could answer, she saw Haylee’s sisters come up behind her.

 “What she means is, which one would Ash like?” Caylee teased.

 Haylee turned a shade red and Faylen couldn’t help but smile at her. She liked the otterkin. She was a sweet girl with a level head, and she was a hard worker. A few months back she had confronted Haylee about her crush on Ash, which the otterkin admitted to. Faylen gave Haylee her blessing to pursue Ash. Unlike that unicorn that drunkenly kissed her man without so much as a word to her.

 So far, Haylee had only stolen a kiss from Ash. Since she had been training to become stronger, she was smart and understood she needed to be an asset and not a burden before joining their little family. Ash was the District boss. He needed strong and trusted individuals around him.

 “I think this one would bring out your hazel eyes,” Faylen said as she picked up an eyeliner. “Do you care if I help you apply it?”

 “Sure! Thank you, Faylen!” Haylee smiled at her.

 Once the makeup tutorials were done, Lilly herded everyone into the living room for movies. She had even set up a hot chocolate station, which the dryad went right to.

 Faylen watched as Lilly added another scoop of hot chocolate powder to her mug, totaling seven scoops.

 “Lil, don’t you think that’s enough?” Faylen asked the dryad as she scooped out another spoonful.

 “What? Of course not! It’ll just taste like hot water,” Lilly answered as she used the spoon to smush a marshmallow into the mug.

 “That’s going to be like cake batter,” Celeste said from her side.

 Naomi said something that Faylen couldn’t understand since the ice salamander’s mouth was full of marshmallows. Coral somehow understood, because the dragon looked at Naomi and nodded her head in agreement.

 “Oh, please,” Lilly said with a huff. “I’m an alchemist. You don’t think I know how much hot chocolate mix a mug of water can absorb?”

 Lilly had said it confidently, but Faylen wasn’t sure. Especially as she watched the dryad use a spoon to beat an escaping marshmallow back into the mug.

 Once every girl had a cup of hot chocolate and Lilly had her cup of what looked like cake batter, they made their way to the living room. They all drew lots for who picked the first movie and Mei won. She ended up picking a more serious romance movie about a food critic who was being wooed by the chef of the restaurant she was reviewing.

 “You definitely picked a spicy one, Mei,” Jacklyn said with a cough.

 Mei had an embarrassed look on her face. “The book wasn’t this risqué.”

 Faylen took a sip of her mixed drink as they watched the critic and chef do some things in the kitchen that would be a violation of the health code. The critic smiled as she lowered herself out of the frame of the camera in front of the chef.

 “Oh!” Naomi said. “Ash likes it when I do that, though it really stretches my jaw.”

 Faylen turned as soon as she heard what Naomi said and gave a shocked look to the cheery ice salamander. Both Silver and Lilly burst out laughing and Faylen could see Haylee had turned crimson red. Her sisters probably would have been giving her hell right now, but they were busy checking on Mei, who was choking on her drink.

 “Well, I guess he lives up to the Big Boss title,” Celeste said with a chuckle as she sipped her drink. Luna shook her head beside her.

 “Oh? You should tell us more,” Coral said with a smirk as she turned to face Naomi, her pink scaled tail flicking at the ground.

 “Naomi,” Faylen said with a sigh. “Bedroom talk stays between us.”

 Coral looked at Faylen with a pout. “You’re no fun.”