Devil's Dance Floor

Blue had another package for Monmouth, a box this time, because Persephone had sent two pies, Calla had made an elaborate and enormous bacon sub, and Blue had tossed a salad in for good measure. She refused to believe it was because Gansey was still in town.

She took it in late afternoon, trying to dodge at least some of the sun's unforgiving rays.

It was more than a disappointment to find neither Gansey nor Adam's car out front of Monmouth. Instead, she found Ronan's BMW.

Resigned, thinking of the last time, she opened the outer door with her elbow and some decent maneuvering. By the time she'd made her way up the inner steps, the sun was setting and her arms were aching from the box.

She kicked the door lightly three times in lieu of knocking. "Ronan, open the door, my arms are full!" she called.

After a long, stressful moment, the door opened to reveal Ronan, glowering and…muddy.

"What were you doing?" she asked in surprise, nearly dropping the box. "Here, this is for you guys."

He stepped back and gestured her forth. Sighing, she went in as if entering Monmouth was a problem.

"You know, we didn't poison the food," she said conversationally, finding the only clear place to set the food out was on Gansey's new pool table—Orla had snapped that she needed the box back.

"Why do you keep bringing food over here?" Ronan asked—well, demanded.

"Because we're running out of places to put everything and I guess Persephone wants to find out your favorite pie flavor, because she asks if you've eaten any of them." And it was a constant surprise that she was paying attention to anyone, let alone the raven boys, and let alone the one Calla despised.

Ronan looked at the food with a look on his face that Blue couldn't decipher.

She decided it was disdain and decided to be insulted by it. "Fine. Throw it out, I don't care, but tell—Adam and Gansey part of it is for them." She stomped to the door.

"Adam just left."

The odd tone had her turning slowly. "Okay…?" She studied him. "Did you guys bury another body?"

"Another?" The way he asked seemed to imply she was the one who was missing something, not him.

"The…bird thing. At your…home."

"No, not another bird." He seemed done, until he said, "Are you bringing these over because they're all worried about-"

"Yes," Blue interrupted rather loudly. "Everyone is very upset and baking distracts them. That and their dealings with the devil to get mundane visions about the number eight and who Mr. Dawdes will meet at the supermarket." She inhaled to go on. Apparently, what started as a way to distract them both had set off her temper.

"Is Mr. Gray still at your house?" Ronan asked before she could go on.

The question halted her temper. "Yes. He doesn't have anywhere else to go right now. He has no interest in…taking the Greywaren anymore. Or at least he says he doesn't." She furrowed her brow.

Ronan reached for a cut of the sandwich with a mud-streaked hand.

This was a step toward peace; she saw her opportunity to leave on a high note.

"Enjoy. Tell them I say hi."

"We went to Cabeswater."

Blue hesitated, most of her brain wondering why Ronan was telling her something. "You and Adam?" she asked slowly.

"Yes."

She looked him over.

His black shirt and jeans were streaked with mud, his knees especially caked with it. His hands were sort of clean, but in a way that suggested he'd washed them or at least tried to, hastily. There was a smear along his jaw, a bruise on his neck that disappeared under his shirt, and a split on his lip.

"What happened in Cabeswater? Did you guys…have an accident or something?"

"We didn't have an accident," he replied.

He hadn't said that nothing had happened, though.

"Did something bad happen, then?" she tried.

"No."

Blue wondered how to ask why he'd deigned to tell her these things, then give her short, vague answers.

"Why did you guys go to Cabeswater?" she asked, then, before he could answer or decide not to answer, she asked, "Where's Chainsaw?" Worry creased her forehead. Was that why he was acting so weird?

Ronan angled his head. "In my room. She's tired. Why?"

Crisply, Blue replied, "I like all animals." She found Gansey's desk chair and sat. "Okay," she began, "why did you guys go to Cabeswater? Or why did you want to tell me?"

If Blue thought she'd get a normal Ronan response to either of those, she was mistaken. What she did get was a shock akin to being hit very suddenly with a golf club at a batting cage.

Ronan's high, sharp Celtic cheekbones turned very faintly red, but he was pale enough that it was immediately noticeable.

Blue blinked rapidly, sure she'd hallucinated the occurrence.

Finally, Ronan said, "We were avoiding Gansey."

Shame? He should be ashamed.

Her voice was harsh when she said, "I assume you know how miserable he's been for the past week, since his friends have been busy."

Ronan, never one to take a shot without firing back, skinned his upper lip back over his teeth, a sneer worthy of a warrior going to battle. "Well, he's been going to you for company. Tell me why that's a problem."

Flatly, Blue replied, "I've got to work. He's been driving himself crazy with research since…since my mom disappeared—"

"For you."

"For Glendower," she retorted. She understood Gansey was a good person, at least in some things, but she had no delusions. If Maura was with Glendower, they'd find Maura. But only as a side benefit, at least on the guy's part.

"I have to go," she said, getting up quickly. "Calla doesn't like me to be gone for very long, especially not with…you."

Ronan stood up and wiped his hands on his pants. "We were avoiding Gansey," he repeated, stepping toward the door. He held her gaze for a long moment; for some reason, his stare seemed aggressive.

Or intense, she realize, trying to tell me something? "Should I ask why?"

He gave a one shouldered shrug, but his gaze was unwavering.

Adam and Ronan avoiding Gansey together. I don't get it.

"You…found something? Did you find something in Cabeswater?" Her heart tripped. "Did you find a sign of my mom?" she asked breathlessly.

A foreign look flashed across Ronan's face, then was gone. "No," he said quickly. "We didn't find anything."

For a long moment, they stood in silence, looking around at everything but each other.

"Thanks for telling me," Blue mumbled. Awkwardly, she stepped around him to the door.

Wordlessly, Ronan opened it, and, when she started down the steps, he followed her.

Blue tried understanding what Ronan was trying to tell her. He was usually blunt, so this was something important; she understood that. But why hide the important stuff? Because he's Ronan, she thought with a sort of exasperated affection.

She glanced over her shoulder at him, flicking her gaze down to his knees. "Was Adam as muddy as you are?" she asked with a snicker.

One sharp brow lifted as he answered with a flat, "Yes."

She blinked. Let out a breath. "Oh." She remained silent all the way out of Monmouth. She didn't say anything when Ronan beckoned her from over his shoulder while he sauntered to his BMW.

He unlocked the doors and waited until she sat in the passenger seat, and still she remained quiet, even as what sounded like bagpipes began pumping out of the speakers.

Once, she opened her mouth to speak and thought better of it. She tilted her head and tried again, then stopped again. "Huh," she finally said. "Am I wrong-?" she began, looking at him almost pleadingly. Clear this up for me, please.

"No," he said flatly.

"So Adam…" she trailed off, nodded and pursed her lips. "Okay."

He glanced at her quickly, then away, toward the road. "Okay?" he repeated, then went quiet, his face going carefully blank, as if he was angry at himself for speaking.

She felt herself shrug. "Okay."

She saw his chest rise and fall sharply, the skin around his eyes tightening just a little.

"Ronan," she leaned forward in her seat. "It's okay. I know you know that. But maybe it helps that someone else knows it too?"

He didn't grace this with an answer, or even a glare.

She sighed. "I'm trying to figure out why you told me, that's all. Honesty, right? I came over to give you pie." She let out a snorting laugh, shook her head at herself.

Ronan's lips twitched. "Yeah."

"This is probably insensitive, but do you like Gansey?" she asked, thinking that that might explain his dislike of her. Maybe he could tell she had a crush on Gansey, too. The thought made her stomach squirm uncomfortably.

"Not in that way," he answered with finality. As in Let it go, because I'm not going to answer anymore questions in this topic.

"How's Matthew?" she asked quickly, looking out the window beside her.

"He's fine."

"Okay, thanks," she mumbled with an eye roll. "You are seriously combative. I just asked after him. I was there trying to find him when Kavinsky was blowing up cars." She sealed her lips together after that. Kavinsky was dead.

"You were." Ronan glanced at her again. "He asked about you. I told him you brought the pie over. He likes the cherry."

The polite conversation had Blue blinking rapidly. "Huh. You don't have to force yourself, like paying back a debt with manners. It's weird."

A smirk curled the edges of his mouth. "You're like Noah."

Offended, Blue drew herself up. "I'm not like anyone but me."

"You were just one day suddenly part of the group and when you aren't tagging along, it feels like a piece of the car is missing and it won't work right until we grab you to come with." His brows lowered. "Shouldn't be like that. You're annoying."

"Likewise," she said, though she was pleased. And concerned. "Did you hit your head when you and Adam were…canoodling?"

A quiet choking sound came from Ronan's throat, though it was clear he was trying to suppress it. "Canoodling?"

Blue took a moment, because it was the first time she had ever heard Ronan sound like he could be any other boy that she had said that to in Henrietta, or Virginia for that matter, and it was just so strange that she hadn't realized how not "any other boy" any of her raven boys were.

"It's a perfectly serviceable word. I wanted to ask," she admitted, "about Adam, but I'm not sure what I should and shouldn't be asking."

"You should say it whatever it is, and I'll answer if I want to," Ronan nearly snapped the words.

Blue sighed. "I guess Adam isn't mad at me anymore, then. I just wanted to ask if he was still mad at me," she corrected.

"I don't know. I didn't ask."

Which was not surprising. He'd probably been otherwise occupied. "Have you told Gansey?" she asked, then shook her head. "No, why haven't you told Gansey?"

He answered this by rolling his shoulders, turning down a dirt road that was definitely not Fox Way.

"Okay. Why are you hiding it from Gansey?"

"It?" he repeated with ice in his tone.

"You and Adam. And where are we going?" she asked, peering out the window.

"Fast. We're going fast." And he pressed down on the gas pedal, lurching the car forward.

Blue's breath came out in a long, slow but steady stream. She hadn't been in a car going this fast—ever. She had heard Gansey mumbling to Adam about Ronan's speeding, and she'd seen the speeding tickets on his bedroom door, but it was nothing to being in the vehicle while he whipped it around the curves and bumps.

She found herself laughing, a grin breaking over her face as she leaned toward the window, nose bumping up on the glass. It slid down with the click and whir of an automatic button; she grinned at Ronan over her shoulder, then leaned her head out the window.

The wind snaked through her hair and stole a couple clips, but most of them stayed in place. She laughed, but the sound was snatched away by the gust. She leaned out further, pressing her lips together with an errant thought of bugs, even as she smiled so hugely she thought her cheeks would split.

Ronan sped up, the engine growling as they flew.

Blue sat back down, her chest heaving as she fought for the breath she hadn't realized she'd lost. "Well," she said at length, "I get the speeding tickets now, anyway."

He shot her a grin so hard and fierce for a moment she thought he was angry; but his eyes, shockingly blue in that moment, were full of something like wild joy, so she grinned back.

When they made it to 300 Fox Way, Blue was disappointed in a small way. She swore to herself it was just the child's longing for a theme park roller coaster that made her enjoy the ride so much.

That's as close as I'm going to get to one for now, anyway. She banished the thoughts and opened her door.

"Thanks for the ride, Ronan," she said sincerely. "And, uh, tell Adam I said hi."

He nodded and flicked the radio dial, turning the music up. "Thanks for the food," he said without looking toward her.

She grinned. "What's your favorite pie?" she asked and laughed, slamming the door.

"Apple," he called out his window.

He laughed at her dropped-jaw expression while he whipped out of the driveway.

He is so weird!