She untied the cover-up and opened it. “I don’t want to blind the entire city.”

  Sam whistled. “Damn, look at you.”

  She tried to close the wrap, but he snaked his hands underneath it and slid them up her sides.

  “Stop.” Her cheeks warmed. “I look like a skeleton.”

  “You do not. You’ve actually put on a few pounds, I think.”

  “The only time in the history of the world it’s been a good thing for a man to say that to a woman.”

  He continued feeling her up. If he didn’t stop, they would end up in the back of the van.

  “I think you’re beautiful,” he murmured. “I always have.”

  “You don’t look so bad yourself. I was hoping for a Speedo, though.” She reached around and groped his ass.

  “That’ll have to wait until I’m drunk.”

  “Don’t get too drunk. You’re supposed to make a good impression, remember?” She let go of him and tied her cover-up.

  “That’ll make a hell of an impression.”

  She was trying to be a good sport. She had her hair pulled up so she wouldn’t sweat to death, her various layers of protection on so she wouldn’t bake, and Cindy had dragged her to the salon. She now had shiny black-lacquered nails. Cindy had also talked her into being waxed: legs, armpits, bikini line. She almost felt pretty.

  Sam, June, Cindy, and Natalie all rode in the van. The interior already smelled like sunscreen. Cindy wore a bright red one-piece and a flowery sarong, her cleavage absolutely mesmerizing. June sat in the front seat with Cindy behind her and tried not to stare at her boobs in the side mirror.

  “I’m working on my tan today,” Cindy announced as they drove. “I’ve had so little time, since I’ve been helping you guys. I actually have free time again. I don’t know what to do with it.”

  The day was sunny and hot and the sky clear. They’d brought two full cases of water with them, a cooler with food June could eat, and several battery-operated fans for their tents.

  “I don’t even know what people do on a beach,” June said. “Make sandcastles? Bury each other?”

  Sam was driving. She kept getting distracted by the muscles in his arms, all sleek and shiny with lotion.

  “We can go swimming,” Cindy said. “Or we can rent some skates. They have a path right by the water. There’s this cool bridge too. It goes over the highway.”

  “Skates,” June said. “Do I look like I’d function well with wheels on my feet?”

  Sam chuckled. “Don’t worry. You’ll find something to do.”

  June was doubtful but tried not to be a wet blanket. After all, today they got to do something other than worrying, hiding, or plotting to take down a terrorist.

  Jason would probably love the beach. Diego, too, maybe. He wasn’t outdoorsy, either, but he took trips to the coast with his friends every summer. Her heart sank. Were they tucked away in some dark, windowless, reeking room somewhere? Were they being fed only potato chips and root beer? She’d brought the picture with her. She couldn’t bear to leave it at the house, to not have it next to her while she slept.

  They drove the freeway next to the lake, the sun glinting on the water, the road packed with cars. Hopefully they weren’t all going to the beach.

  “Your tent is set up for you, Sam,” Natalie said from the backseat. “I just got a text.”

  “Good,” Sam said. “I’m going to be a little too busy to take care of it.”

  “Aaron is just arriving,” Natalie said. “He’ll meet you at the beach house.”

  Sam had gotten a lot of concessions for their gathering. Part of it was his political smoothness and an exchange of promises and cash, and part of it was him bringing up over and over how the city had disparaged him, how he’d been slighted and maligned and they owed him this.

  The beach was closed to the public today, and anyone attending the party was on a list and couldn’t enter the area without being checked-in. The beach usually closed at seven PM, but they were given permission to camp overnight. Some caveats were involved, however: anyone leaving the beach after seven would not be allowed to return; no fires were allowed and only tents could be used; no vehicles were allowed on the beach; no alcohol or drugs were permitted; if things got rowdy, the police had the authority to shut the whole thing down. Additionally, in the morning, they had to clean the beach and return it to its pre-party state. Sam and Aaron already had a volunteer group prepared to do this.

  When they arrived, June groaned inwardly. People were everywhere, teeming on the long wide stretch of golden sand. The lot was filled with cars, but Sam had a reserved spot close to the beach entrance.

  Sam killed the engine. “We can drag all the stuff to our tent first. Then we can head to the bar and have a drink. What do you say?”

  June perked. “They have a bar?”

  “In the beach house, yes.”

  Maybe she could choke down a few drinks and loosen up a little, if her stomach didn’t rebel.

  “Just take the things we need right now,” Sam said. “I’ll send someone out to get the big cooler and the sleeping bags later.”

  “I’ll make sure someone grabs it.” Natalie opened her door.

  June tried not to roll her eyes. Yes, Jeeves, send the servants to fetch my things.

  As soon as they started pulling their bags out of the back, they had attention. People in the parking lot wandered over to greet Sam. She tugged the brim of her hat down over her glasses.

  “It’s gonna be like that all day,” Cindy said. “Don’t worry. We’ll have fun together. I won’t let you sit around alone.”

  Getting from the car to the beach proved a task. People kept stopping Sam. Natalie carried his things.

  When they finally started across the beach, the progression got even slower. People swarmed around them. Sam needed bodyguards. Judging by his enthusiastic reaction, though, he ate it up.

  “Can we just go to our tent?” June asked Cindy. “If he has to stop and say hello to everyone on this beach, it’s going to be midnight before we get there.”

  “Good idea,” Cindy said. “We’re chopped liver, anyway.”

  Natalie stayed with Sam, as was her punishment for being his assistant, and June and Cindy walked off.

  The beach was nice, actually—long and curving, with several piers jutting from one end and a big hook on the other, curling out into the lake. Out on the hook, a forest of volleyball nets were already strung up. The skating path Cindy mentioned snaked through the sand, an asphalt line following the water’s edge out to the hook. The bridge arched over the highway that ran parallel to the beach.

  The centerpiece was the beach house, blue-and-white, in the shape of a giant cruise ship. On the lower level were kiosks to rent bikes and skates. On top was a bar. The place was swarming with people.

  Sam’s tent had been erected out past the volleyball posts, near the hook. Cindy, Natalie, and a few others would be out there with them, a little city surrounding their emperor. Sam’s tan-and-green dome tent was no bigger than the others.

  “You can leave your bag.” Cindy stepped over to another tent and began unzipping it. “No one’s going to bother our stuff. Don’t worry.”

  June unzipped Sam’s tent and ducked inside. Since she was short, she could stand upright, though her head brushed the canvas ceiling. That was a new experience, being able to touch a ceiling. The tent was plenty big enough to hold both her and Sam and all their crap comfortably.

  She set her bag and a small cooler with water in it on the floor. She knelt, took a bottle out, and unzipped her bag, though she wasn’t sure what she was looking for. She rooted around inside. Clothes, sunscreen, tampons—because God knew her body would probably choose the beach to give her a surprise—and some bags of freeze dried fruit, in case she couldn’t digest anything else. Her phone so she could call her mother. She pulled out the picture of Jason and Diego.

  Their solemn expressions twisted her heart. Micha appeared in her mind, wasting away in his bed. What right did she have to be here? How could she have fun while they were all prisoners?

  “Hey!” Cindy slapped the side of the tent. “You ready? Let’s hit the beach house.”

  June tucked the picture back into her bag. “Yeah, coming.”

  Cindy had ditched her sarong, and June struggled even harder not to stare. Her booty was as big as her boobs. She wore a sun hat and sunglasses, and they covered more than her suit did. June remained huddled in her cover-up.

  They got quite a few looks as they walked, but most of them were not for June. She should drag Cindy around with her like a busty shield from now on.

  “I really need a drink,” Cindy said as they trudged through the sand toward the beach house. “Like, really-really.”

  “So do I.”

  They ascended the stairs to the top. The bar was a concrete patio populated with tables and chairs, most of which were occupied. The scent of grilling food hung on the air, and for once, it made June’s stomach growl instead of turn.

  The patio looked out over the beach, giving them an idea of how many people were already there. How many were Paranormal Alliance members and how many were SNC members? June had never been in the same place with so many paranormal people before. She wanted to run screaming as she imagined how many were telepaths.

  June hung back while Cindy fought her way up to the bar to get them drinks. She returned with two obnoxiously huge pink drinks in hurricane glasses with umbrellas and fruit spilling over the rims.

  “That’s not a drink,” June said. “It’s a dessert.”

  Cindy handed one over. “I got double shots of rum. And I asked—only natural fruit juices, so you can drink it.”

  June carried her ridiculous drink as she followed Cindy around, seeking out a place to sit. They found a small open table near the railing and sat down across from each other.

  “Sam and Aaron will end up here,” Cindy said. “We’ll run into them.”

  June slumped in her chair and eyed her drink. Cindy started sucking hers up through her straw.

  “I feel so awkward,” June confessed. “With all these people. I’ve never been around so many paranormal people before.”

  Cindy paused sucking. “A lot of them I don’t recognize. I bet they’re with Aaron’s group. At least everyone’s being friendly.”

  “Well, isn’t this whole thing about Kumbaya and brotherhood and whatnot?”

  Cindy snorted.

  “This is not a world I ever pictured myself in.” June stirred her straw around in her drink. “Everything I knew about Sam until now was just a concept. This has been a little hard to swallow.”

  Cindy eyed her over her glasses, sucking on her straw.

  June took a sip and winced. The drink was much stronger than she expected. “I guess what I’m saying is, I’m seeing who he really is now.”

  “You don’t like it?”

  “It’s different from my life, that’s all. Look at me. I don’t fit in here.”

  Cindy folded her arms on the table. “Are you still worrying about this? Sam is a dynamo and a politician, yes, but he’s not conventional. He never has been. I think that’s what makes him so charismatic. He goes against the grain. That makes him attractive to a lot of people.”

  “Yeah, but I can’t see him getting covered in tattoos and shooting whiskey in a dive bar. Or wearing leather and riding a motorcycle.”

  “Sam would totally ride a motorcycle.”

  June plucked the pink umbrella out of her drink. “We’re two very different people. I’m wondering how it’s supposed to work outside the context of everything we’ve been through. What about when life goes back to normal?”

  “What if it never does?”

  June twirled the umbrella between her fingers. “I don’t know what he sees in me. He’s shockingly the nicest, most attentive guy I’ve ever been with. I didn’t expect that coming from him.”

  “Why not?”

  She shrugged. “He just doesn’t seem the most affectionate person. On the surface, anyway.”

  “Let me tell you something.” Cindy tapped the table. “It doesn’t surprise me at all. Sam has always had women chasing him. He’s passionate. He cares about things. I can see that translating into a relationship, and the bedroom.” She smirked. “He’s good at what he does. And I’ve been with a lot of guys, so believe me, I can compare.”

  June started to take a sip of her drink and paused. “Wait, what? How do you know that?”

  “Know how he is in bed?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, there was this one time….”

  June stared at her.

  “It wasn’t like that.” Cindy held up her hands. “He was just helping me.”

  “What?”

  “My power, you know. Sometimes it can overwhelm me. Especially when I suppress it the way I do. It can cause damage. He saved my life, literally.”

  “You possessed his cock?” She didn’t mean to speak so loudly.

  “No! I didn’t put any sort of spell on him. But when that power gets turned inward, it can rip you apart. He kept me from suffering, from dying maybe. Remember on the patio of Kevin’s bar, I told you Sam is like my best friend, that he saved my life? That’s what happened. It was a crazy situation, but I was suffering when I came to him, really suffering. I didn’t know where else to turn. Everyone else would have made me feel bad about it or been scared of me.”

  June continued staring at her. “He had sex with you to save your life.”

  “Yes, but it wasn’t that crude. He was caring and kind, and he made sure I didn’t hate myself after. He loves his people; he really does. I honestly think I would have either gone crazy that night or killed myself. He was there for me. He was accommodating.”

  Now June’s stomach started to turn, her mouth watering. She wasn’t sure if it was the drink or the conversation.

  “Why do you think it was appropriate to tell me this?” June asked. “That you had sex with my boyfriend?”

  Cindy reared back. “We weren’t in love. We weren’t together. It only happened once.”

  June tried not to picture Cindy and Sam having sex—Cindy with all her boobs and butt, looking a thousand times more appealing than June’s stick figure.

  “You said you couldn’t understand him being this good to you,” Cindy said. “I was trying to explain he’s a very good man to be in a relationship with. I think he’ll surprise you in a lot of ways.”

  “Oh, I’m surprised all right.” She grabbed up her drink.

  Cindy slumped. “Don’t be mad. For goodness’ sake, did you think Sam was a blushing virgin? And besides, you’ve been with Micha the past few months. How do you think he feels about that?”

  June sipped her drink, her outrage retreating slightly. Cindy had a point.

  “Give yourself some credit,” Cindy said. “You think Sam is smart and wonderful and attentive. So if he picked you, you must be a catch. You think a guy like him would pick a loser?”

  June was silent.

  “Take that hat off and let people see you’re Sam Haain’s girlfriend.” Cindy reached over and whipped June’s hat off.

  “Hey!” June grabbed at it. “I turn to ashes in the sun!”

  Cindy held it out of her reach. “You’re covered head-to-toe in lotion. Quit being a crybaby. Take that wrap off, too, and show off your tattoos.”

  “Listen, bitch.” June stood, trying to grab her hat again. “Not all of us have huge titties to flash around like some kind of—”

  A commotion rose behind them. June looked over her shoulder. Surely, people weren’t fighting already; the party hadn’t even officially started.

  But it wasn’t a fight. Sam had arrived, Aaron at his side. Natalie bustled along behind them.

  “Oh, good,” Cindy said. “Now we can get our cabana.”

  “What?” June snatched at her hat again.

  Cindy jerked it out of her reach. “Sam is renting one of the private cabanas up here. Much easier for him to hold court in.”

  Sam and Aaron made their way through the crowd. Aaron wore khaki shorts and a pink-and-blue Hawaiian print shirt, sunglasses, and leather sandals. He was suave and stylish, gold watch glinting in the sun. He actually made Sam look kind of frumpy.

  Cindy waved to them. Sam brightened and walked over, people trailing behind him.

  “There you are,” he said. “Let me just talk to a few people, and we’ll go to the cabana.”

  Cindy saluted him. June angrily sipped her drink.

  Sam eyed the glass. “That looks refreshing.”

  “It’s fucking terrible.”

  After he left, June set her drink down. “I’m gonna go find the restroom. I’ll be right back.” She didn’t have to go, but she wanted to get away from all these people for a few minutes.

  She started across the patio, weaving through the crowd. Midway, someone hooked an arm around her waist and stopped her.

  “Come say hello to everyone.” Sam tugged at her.

  She cringed. “I don’t think it’s me they care about….”

  “I don’t think they realize who you are.”

  Despite her reluctance, she let him pull her across the patio and into the thick of the crowd. All eyes were instantly on her, like a specimen in a Petri dish.

  “I know there’s been a lot of speculation,” Sam said over the chatter, which immediately ceased. “So I’m going to put the rumors to rest right now. June Coffin is my girlfriend.”

  June froze, holding her breath.

  Sam smiled down at her. “We’ve been through a lot together. I don’t know what I would have done without her. I’m glad she decided to stick around now that it’s over.”

  She smiled faintly.

  “I’m hoping if I become your new mayor she’ll continue to stick around. God knows this city could use something a little less bland to look at.”

  Laughter erupted.

  She became the center of polite attention. People complimented her tattoos, and before she knew it, she was pulling her cover-up off. They asked her questions about them, and her pride swelled as she explained she’d done many of them herself. She even momentarily forgot her ribs were visible, or that she had a scar on her right side.