Chapter 6

SIX

MONROE

"I know she did this."

"Who?" Dawson's brow furrowed. "Did you see them?"

We both stared at our tent . . . or what used to look like our tent before it was completely covered in toilet paper.We'd been mummified. I crossed my arms over my chest and stifled a growl. As if to punctuate my words, a light breeze drifted through the festival grounds and pieces of toilet paper drifted in the wind.

"That. Greasy. Little. Fish."

I couldn't tell him how I knew it was her. I just knew. This had sass, vengeance, and spitefulness written all over it. I'd planned on enjoying the festivities tonight and talking with the people of our community. But no , there would be no candied apples, or games, or fun for me.

Dawson looked at me sideways and pursed his lips. "How do you know she's greasy? Did you touch her?"

"I absolutely did not touch her!" How could he even think I would? Chip was just plain difficult, in all ways. Stubborn should've been her middle name. "All fish are greasy!"

Dawson tapped his chin and looked to the sky like he was deep in thought. "I think they're more slimy than?—"

"Fine. That slimy little fish." I threw my arms up to pull my blazer tight across my back.I ripped it from my body and crumbled it up in a little ball, then threw it on the ground. "I can't think in this thing."

"Yes, the coat is what made this whole situation impossible." Dawson rolled his eyes at me and sighed.

I picked it up so I wasn't littering, then tossed it to the ground next to our tent and put my hands on my hips. I was a jeans and T-shirt kind of guy, not a suit and tie. The jacket was for Dawson's benefit, and now I was going to have to clean this mess up. "No, but it makes it harder to clean all this crap up."

"My, my, what do we have here?" Josiah Vauntero strolled up beside us and visibly fought not to laugh at our tent. "Either you two lost the mummy race miserably or someone started mischief night early."

Josiah was always the life of the party and more fun-loving than most vampires I knew. As a member of the Vauntero family, he took his role very seriously and participated in many of the events in the community. Tonight, judging by his outfit, he was supposed to judge the mummy race. He wore white cargo pants and a white turtleneck T-shirt. Toilet paper was draped around his head and under his chin, then wrapped around his body and down his legs. A long piece of the toilet paper dragged on the ground behind him, and his lips were colored with black lipstick. His vivid sapphire eyes stood out amidst the toilet paper, and only some of his inky hair was covered. Those classic Vauntero looks were a telling sign of royalty on the Island.

"Underwater urchin, that's what she is." I ground my teeth together. "One of those prickly things with the needle things sticking out in all different directions. That's what she is. Just sitting there waiting to stab someone."

"Well, that's a bit dramatic, don't you think?" Dawson motioned toward the tent. "She didn't stab anyone. It's just a little toilet paper. It's a harmless prank. We don't even know if it was her."

Josiah looked from me to Dawson. "Who are we talking about?"

"Chip Carden," I growled.

A burst of laughter shot from Josiah and he clapped his hands. "You think a siren did this?"

"I don't know how to explain it." It wasn't crazy and I did know how to explain it, but I didn't want to. I didn't need more opinions about how she was right and I was wrong. "I know it was her."

"Well, what'd you do to piss her off?" Josiah wiped at his eyes.

" Me ?" I pressed my hand to my chest. "Why do we assume I did something?"

He pointed his painted fingernails toward our booth. "You don't get mummified for no reason."

"Chip and I are disagreeing on some basic, decent behavior and respect. As in, I have it, and she does not."

"In all fairness, you did lose it in the ocean," Dawson said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Not helping," I hissed at him.

Josiah still chuckled as he shook his head. "I'd hate to be you."

"And why is that?"

"Because pissing off a siren is like waving a red flag in front of a bull." He patted me on the shoulder. "And Chip, well, let's just say she never gives up. She's like a bull with extra batteries."

Dawson started to chuckle. "Only you would pick a fight with a siren princess, Monroe."

"Again, it's not my fault she's awful." I pinched the bridge of my nose, "Once I get my watch back, I don't care if I never see her again. She started this fight, and she's gonna lose."

Kristie hurried up to us. "What is going on here?"

"Stupid sirens," I grumbled as I ripped toilet paper down and gathered it in my arms.

"Never mind that." She grabbed the paper from my hand and threw it on the ground. "I was talking to the baker at his stand, and he said he'll give us a discount on a cake if we book with him tonight."

I frowned down at her. "Book with him for what?"

"Our wedding cake, silly." She smacked my arm playfully.

Josiah raised his eyebrows at me. "I didn't realize you guys set a date yet?"

I groaned. "We haven't."

"Ohhh, well, in that case . . ." Josiah stood there for one moment of awkward silence longer. He pursed his lips and hissed in a breath. "I think I'm gonna go."

"Oh, you don't have to." Kristie beamed up at him. "I'd love your advice on wedding decor."

He cleared his throat. "Umm, my first advice is to set a date."He gave me a mock salute and hurried away.

Kristie waved his words away and turned to bat her eyelashes up at me. "I don't know why people are so weird about all this. You'd think they never saw two people getting married before. It happens all the time."

"It's awkward because you're planning things without the groom or a date." I tried to make my words softer to not hurt her feelings.

"Oh, please! Brides plan everything without the groom all the time." She looked past me to another tent with more desserts lined up on the tables. She pointed past me. "Look, I bet I could get an even better deal if I tell them what the baker promised me."

"You're going to play them off each other?"

She nodded. "Of course. Everyone does it this way."

Dawson coughed into his hand. "No, they really don't."

"Oh, what do you know? It's not like you've been married."

He nodded. "Of course you're right, Kristie."

She tugged on my arm. "Come on, let's see how many offers we can get tonight. We might be able to get the whole thing planned in no time."

I turned toward Dawson, pleading with my eyes for him to help me.

He quickly stepped closer to us. "Actually, I could really use his help to clean this up."

" Fine ." She groaned and took a step back. "I don't really need his help anyways."

Before I could say anything else, she turned and hurried away to talk to another vendor. I ran my hand through my hair and tugged at the strands. "Thanks for that."

"Eh, we're family. Your bullshit seems to be my bullshit." He pulled his wand from the inside pocket of his jacket.

"And your bullshit is my bullshit." I turned toward the tent and started to pull the toilet paper down once more. But no matter how much I pulled, more always seemed to be there."And this is bullshit."

" This is your bullshit, for the record. I don't really have bullshit." He flicked his wand and glittering magic flew from the tip and surrounded the tent like a tornado. The toilet paper flew off in long streams and wrapped around itself like a paper tornado. Dawson flicked his wand once more and the paper folded into a neat pile between the two of us.

I looked down at it, then back up at him. "Why didn't you do that in the first place?"

He shrugged. "I thought it was pretty entertaining."

I didn't know what was worse . . . having a fish for an enemy or how my own cousin found this whole thing enjoyable. "I will feed you to that fish, Dawson. This is war."