“That sounds reassuring.” He laughed and set his drink down, his sarcasm coming through loud and clear. “And what exactly does that entail?” He didn’t give me time to respond. “Do those plans involve wishing it into existence?”
The liquor burned my lungs as it went down the wrong tube. I coughed and wheezed, “What?”
Kaiden leaned forward on his elbows, resting his forearms on one another. “You spending more time on the couch than job hunting? Refusing help from dad? The tight as hell vent cover that just fell out of the wall? The way you’re acting now? I remember where you used to hide it. Spill it.”
So much for thinking I was covering well. “I’m not sure how you will react.”
“If you’re using the wishing stone after all this time, it must be serious.”
I winced. All I could picture was his precious little face morphing into a monstrous creature as he gripped the bars of his prison and cried. I didn’t want to put him through that again, but I knew he was the only true support I had. The only one who was there; the only one who’d believe me.
I lowered my voice and made sure others couldn’t hear me. “It’s happening again.”
Kaiden didn’t move. I wasn’t certain if he was waiting for more information or if he was frozen with fear.
“I haven’t thought about it in a long time. Suddenly, I’m having nightmares. I can’t sleep. I can hear him calling to me.” He’s altering my reality and appearing in mirrors. I shook my head. I couldn’t tell him that. Yet. “The necklace was a last-ditch effort after getting fired. I found it in my bedroom floor at Sunday dinner.”
“Are you…?” His brows lifted higher and higher with every beat of the pause.
“No!” My voice went up several octaves, and the neighboring tables looked over at us. “I’m not. I took a test,” I whispered. “That’s why I’m so confused by all this.”
“You’re positive you’re not?”
“I take every precaution and preventative. You know this.” I rubbed my temples. “I know you don’t remember much—”
“Oh, I remember everything.” Kaiden took a quick swig of his drink. I wondered if it was his attempt to wash it all away. “But I try not to.”
I held my face between my fingers as I watched my baby brother relive his nightmare. All these years living with bated breath, waiting for the continuation. It broke my heart all over again.
“You made me believe you’d forgotten.”
“That was for both of our benefits. Mostly yours, though. What kind of brother would I be if I reminded you one day an evil, magical king would emerge from the shadows and force you to give up your firstborn child?”
“Oooh, I’d read that,” the waitress commented as she set down our appetizer and two glasses of water. When we didn’t respond, she pointed awkwardly between our drinks and asked, “Another round?”
“Keep ‘em coming.”
“You got it.”
I frowned as she rushed off to refill one of my two current coping mechanisms and stabbed at the platter of loaded fries in the center of the table. Fork filled and hanging off the tines, I shoved all of it into my mouth and almost couldn’t close it to chew.
Kaiden used his own fork to point at me. “Keep that up, and maybe he’ll send you home.”
I made a face and stuck out my tongue. Mashed-up food coated it and almost fell onto the table.
“Nasty.” After a bite, he said thoughtfully, “I bet it’s just a reminder. Yeah, that’s all. He’s reminding you that he hasn’t forgotten the promise you made.”
“Like I could forget something like that.”
I hadn’t thought of that. It definitely could be, but my brain immediately went worst case scenario. Why wouldn’t it? It wasn’t like he offered to send postcards, emails, or texts to remind me of our upcoming appointment. No, why do something so normal when you could slip through someone’s mirror and terrify them.
“What now?”
“Get drunk and distract myself with the first dick that walks through my door?”
Kaiden’s nose wrinkled in disgust. “Eww. Remind me to stay out of your place.”
I sneered and tossed a fry coated in rubbery cheese at him. His head darted to the side, jaw open, and he caught the tip of it between his lips. It hung from the corner of his mouth like a cigarette. “Family is always exempt. Sicko.”
