I immediately avert my eyes, feeling like I shouldn’t be seeing this.
“I came back to life,” Max says. “Surprise.”
Her hand falls away and she turns, walking to the filing cabinets, leaning against them, shaking her head. She wraps her arms around her chest like she’s cold. “I don’t…I don’t get it. I don’t believe it. Are you a ghost? Is this a joke?”
“It’s not a joke,” I tell her, even though it might not be my place to speak up. “And he’s not a ghost.” Well, not really. “We came all this way to see you.”
She frowns at me. “I’m sorry, your name is Ada?”
“The one and only.”
“Your name sounds familiar.”
“You’ve met my sister,” I tell her. “Perry. She and her husband were in New Orleans. With Max. You know, when your mind got jellied by that voodoo cult. Before Max died. Oh, and he died because of them too. They’re the reason he went to New York and sacrificed himself. So you probably don’t like them very much. But don’t worry, I’m different.” I finish my rambling with a big smile.
She raises her brows at me, and then looks back at Max. “What…what happened? How is this possible? You did die, didn’t you?”
Hmmm. For some reason, I expected more of a “oh my god, you’re alive, I love you,” scene followed by some savage making out. Not that it wouldn’t kill me to see it. But Rose is really keeping her distance. She must be shell-shocked. Or maybe that ring on her finger is majorly complicating things.
Then again, Max is also holding back. I also expected some dramatic proclamations of love on his behalf.
“I did die,” he says carefully. “For three years. I was dead as anything. Then Ada was able to pull me out of the Veil.”
“You were in the Veil?” she asks.
He nods. “Didn’t quite make it to where I was supposed to go. Or, perhaps I did.”
She gasps. “Were you in Hell?”
He shrugs. “Wasn’t so bad.”
I roll my eyes. My god, his machoism knows no bounds.
“So then you’re…” she says to me, trailing off.
“A demon slayer. Yeah. Max says I’m pretty good.”
She looks back to him. “Are you training her?”
Okay, this is bordering on small talk now.
“So, Rose,” I speak up, and Max gives me a look to shut up, but of course I go on ignoring him. “I have to ask you, I noticed that engagement ring on your finger. How serious are you about him, really? Be honest.”
“Ada,” Max says sharply. If looks could kill. I just hope he can control his brain because I don’t want him to Darth Vader me right now.
“It’s fine,” Rose says, though clearly it’s not fine to Max. She gives him an uncomfortable look. “Remember David?”
From the tightness in Max’s jaw, yeah, he remembers whoever David is.
“I’m sorry,” she says to him softly. “When…when I’d heard you’d died, I…my world came to a stop, Max. I didn’t know what to do, who to turn to. David was there.”
Oh. I fucking hate this David.
Think I hate Rose too.
I watch Max, expecting to see him crumble.
But he remains stoic, standing up straight, staring at her steadily. His face impassive.
“You know, we had been apart for so long and…”
“Rose,” Max says hoarsely. He clears his throat. “It’s fine. I expected it. When I saw you got engaged, I knew it was to him. Would have happened whether I was alive or dead.”
“That’s an awful way of putting it.”
“But it’s true,” he says. “I’m happy for you. Really.”
I can’t tell if that’s true or not.
“You came all the way here,” Rose says quietly. “Just to see me?”
“Just to say goodbye in person,” he says.
“Goodbye?” she asks.
“Goodbye?” I repeat.
He doesn’t look at me. He gives Rose a faint smile. “I didn’t want to do all of this on Facebook. Figured a road trip was in order.”
I try to help him out. “We came here because he needs his stuff.”
She looks at me. “His stuff?”
“Yes. His stuff. Like his passport and his birth certificate and all the other stuff he left at your house.”
Rose gives me a strange look, brings her attention back to Max, who is staring at a blank spot in front of him. “What stuff? Max, you moved out, like, six months before you went to New York. You know that.”
What the fuck? We came all the way here for that shit and it was never here to begin with? Why the fuck are we here then?
I’m staring at Max, incredulous, but he’s not meeting my eyes.
Rose turns to face me. “Ada, do mind giving me and Max a little privacy?”
I look to Max for the cue, not wanting to leave him.
He gives me a small smile, nods. “I’ll see you out there, Ada.”
“Okay,” I say slowly, going for the door.
I pull it open just as Rose calls after me, “Thank you for watching out for him.”
Something inside my chest churns and churns, a sickly feeling.
“Of course.”
I step out into the bar. Get two feet and then the door is shut behind me. I stop, watching it for a moment, wondering how far away I should go. I don’t know if I trust Rose with Max’s heart and psyche, but I don’t think she’s inherently harmful.
That said, as much as I know Max can handle himself, there’s something about tonight that makes me want to be there for him. Not just emotionally, but physically, as if he might fade away in plain sight.
I sigh, feeling jittery, and make my way to the bar, keeping my eye on the door to the office.
The bartender asks me what I want to drink, and I get an old-fashioned just because I need something strong and I like the special cherries they come with. And just like the other place, this bartender doesn’t ID me either. Maybe I’ve aged up these last few weeks.
He slides me the drink and
