My phone buzzes in my pocket. “Emily, I don’t have anything new to tell you.”
“Nothing on our end either,” she replies, sighing.
I hate to say it—it hurts to even think it—but I don’t believe we will find her. She could be anywhere. The only certainty I cling to is that she isn’t dead.
“Shadow, are you still there?”
“Yeah, I’m here.”
“Do you think… is she… Did she?—”
“She’s not dead.”
“Okay,” she whispers before sniffling. “Ihaveto find her. She’s my best friend,” she croaks.
“I thought I was your best friend,” I deliver in a monotone voice.
“You are… but she has a personality.”
I emit a breathy laugh. “True.”
“Did you just laugh at me?”
I smile, a genuine smile. I have been doing that a lot more lately, as well as laughing, since I met Jessica. “I did.”
“She changed you, too. Didn’t she?”
She has. I saw the changes in Charlie and Ean before they even knew it. Liam’s magic has strengthened, as has Sodie’s. I’m not sure how or when she did it. I am not even sure she knows she did it. Charlie and Ean’s magic were always there, just dormant. So were Emily’s and Elijah’s. Somehow, she awakened them all.
As for me, she realigned my soul and gave me a piece of myself back. There is so much more to Jessica than even I can understand, which is why I am driving myself crazy looking for her. If anyone knows half of what she can do, they will kill her or, worse, keep her prisoner and use her as their own personal weapon.
My phone beeps, indicating another call. “She did, Em, which is why I am doing everything in my power to find her. I have to go. Someone is calling.”
“Okay. You’ll call me if you find anything?”
“You will be the second one I call, after Anders.”
“Okay. I love you.”
“I love you, too. And Em? Get some rest. Okay?”
“Okay.” She disconnects the call.
I never said those words to Emily before. I thought them, but I never felt them, until now. Emily has been my best friend sincewe were kids. Even when I lost who I was, she never stopped being my friend.
“Strap?” I answer the second call.
“Shadow, you still looking for that girl?”
My heart races. “Yes. You find something?”
“Not sure if it’s who you’re looking for, but a young woman washed up on shore near Pier 22. Almost fits your description, except she has long hair.”
Long hair? “Did you notify anyone?”
“No. I told the boys to hold off until I spoke to you.”
“Continue to hold. I’ll be there shortly.” I end the call, immediately send a text to Anders, and slip into the shadows. It must be her. I know it, like a pulsing feeling in my chest, like a second heartbeat.
