The house emptied slowly.
Cel left first, Noah materializing at the door like she'd been waiting in the shadows the whole time, which she probably had. The bodyguard's amber eyes swept the room once, cataloging exits and threats and the six women scattered around my mother's living room, and then she placed herself between Cel and the rest of the world like a human shield. Cel hugged my mother at the door. A real hug, not the stiff aristocratic embrace she'd been trained to deliver. My mother held her for a long time, one hand stroking the back of Cel's silver hair, and murmured something too quiet for me to catch.
Cel's eyes were wet when she pulled back.
"Monday," she said to me. "Coffee. Don't forget."
"I won't."
"You always forget."
"I won't this time."
