War isn't over • LM / SS

Chapter 14 - keep your enemies close

"until I switched to the other side,
to the other side,
it's no surprise i turned you in,
cause us traitors never win."

word count: 5.6k

It was at times like this that Blair Lawless genuinely regretted two things. The first was that she had such a bad memory that she had to write everything down in her calendar with glitter pens. The second was that Liberty and Nathan didn't know when to keep their mouths closed, taking every obtainable chance to embarrass their older sister.

She woke up this morning in a considerably good mood. Turns out that getting a full night's sleep was a massive game-changer! So, being the lovely person that she was, she thought she would treat her kids to a milkshake at the local diner. Their overdraft could stretch a tiny bit.

It should have immediately sent alarm bells off when neither Liberty nor Nathan had asked what happened on her date last night. Of course, easily deceived Blair hadn't thought too much about it, ordering two oreo milkshakes for her siblings.

Max had been trying to keep himself busy and away from his thoughts, picking up a couple of extra shifts at work, taking their orders and kicking the machine into shape. He looked up when someone tapped his shoulder, laughing to himself when Emery Davis— more commonly known as his boss and their local druid— took a seat opposite her bubbly friend.

"Heya, honey! How're things going?" Emery leaned against the marble countertop, waving a customer over to another colleague. Her diner was quiet, down an abandoned road and into a small part of Beacon Hills. She occasionally got a handful of people who were simply passing through, stopping at the chic diner for one of the best breakfasts they would ever have in their lives if she did say so herself.

Then she had her regulars, who were almost always supernaturals. Witches, wendigos, werewolves, sprites, druids, basically any creature that existed found their way to Emery Davis' diner. She liked to consider herself as a sanctuary for them, a place they could go where they wouldn't be targeted. Everyone knew that she didn't allow hunters into her place of work— a few Argents were exceptions, the ones who followed the new code, like the blunt redhead who was friends with the Pierce's.

"She had a date yesterday!" Nathan exclaimed, not making much of an effort to keep his voice quiet. He nodded along with Emery's expression, agreeing that it was crazy Blair hadn't told anyone. He only knew the woman through his sisters, but she was kind and made a cracking batch of cookies, so was classed as an angel in his eyes. "It was with a deputy. And he stayed over last night, too."

Max quietly lowered the music from the small radio, interest after peaking into the conversation. He had been taught not to eavesdrop but it would be insane to not listen in. He was invested at this point. Liberty watched him out of the corner of her eye, stifling a laugh.

"Sorry, did you want to drink that milkshake or wear it?" Blair hissed, feeling the heat rush to her cheeks. She should have known it was too good to be true.

Emery let out a high-pitched squeal, grabbing Blair's hand in her own. Sometimes she knew that this was the only reason she had built a diner, simply to hear all of the gossip in the town. At least she was self-aware! "Oh my god! Why didn't you tell me? Is he cute?" she gasped, holding a finger up as she tried to think. "Young. Early twenties? Black Americano. Parsnip."

Liberty snorted, choking on her milkshake, coughing up a lung as Nathan whacked her across the back. "Stop, I'm gonna piss myself. Parsnip!" she guffawed as she wiped the split milkshake off her dark tank top. "Here," she finally calmed down, passing Emery the phone, a picture of Jordan on the screen, one she had scoured the sheriff's station staff list to get a hold of. "Parrish."