“What?” She sits up a little taller. “You don’t have to do that. This isn’t your problem.”
“Yes, it is,” Cliff says firmly. “What affects my matesismy problem.” He looks at her with those dark, steady eyes, and his voice doesn't change in volume or temperature, but something underneath it does. Something that makes the words land harder than they would if he'd shouted them. "You're not doing this alone. You're not going to an unknown pharmacy or back to the Morder.”
“We’ve got it,” Raff says simply.
Elowen opens her mouth, and I can see the argument forming behind her eyes before it reaches her lips. The look of a woman who has been handling everything herself for so long that the offer of help feels like a threat to her independence.
"No," she starts. “I can’t ask you two to?—”
"I'm not asking you to hand it over," Cliff says, cutting her off before she can get any real momentum. "I'm telling you that you have four people sitting in this room who are very good at finding things out, and who have absolutely no intention of letting you keep bleeding yourself dry alone." He holds her gaze. "You’re not alone anymore, omega.”
Elowen stares at him for a moment. Then she looks at Raff, who raises both eyebrows at her like the answer is obvious. Then she looks at Adam, who is studying the business card on the coffee table with his jaw set and his fingers laced together between his knees.
Then she looks atme.
I shrug one shoulder. "My social calendar is pretty full, but I can move some things around to help."
The corner of her mouth lifts.
"Besides,"Raff says, reaching over and plucking the business card off the table, holding it up between two tattooed fingers and examining it with casual interest. "It’s harder to ignore two massive alphas, then one little omega." He looks at Cliff over the top of the card. "Montclare Family Pharmacy."
Cliff nods once, then he looks at Adam. "Didn't you say you needed a refill on something?"
Adam blinks, then nods once. “Yeah.” He looks at Elowen. “And I’ve been meaning to find a new pharmacy.”
Elowen looks around the room at all of us. Her mouth opens, then closes, like she’s struggling to find the right words.
“I..uh…” she sniffles once. “Thank you.”
Later that Night
Raff
The last pangoes into the drying rack and I drop the dish towel over my shoulder, bracing both hands on the edge of the sink.
The kitchen smells like garlic and dish soap.
Somewhere upstairs, the pipes groan softly as Adam's shower runs, and from down the hall comes the occasional soft thud of drawers opening and closing as Elowen unpacks what little she brought from her apartment.
Cliff leans against the counter with his arms crossed, looking into the middle distance the way he does when he's turning something over.
Perrin is wiping down the stovetop with the focused energy of someone who needs something to do with his hands.
"She's been carrying that alone for three years," I say, because someone has to say it out loud.
"I know." Cliff's jaw shifts. "All while trying to hide what she really is."
Perrin sets the cloth down and turns around, leaning his hip against the counter. "That notebook." He shakes his head slowly. "She had so much in there."
"Yeah." I dry my hands on the dish towel. "And whoever she's looking for has had three years to disappear. They’re probably long gone, if not dead.”
Nobody says anything to that for a moment.
"We’ll still see what we can find," Cliff says eventually. "We’ll start with that pharmacy and go from there.” He pushes off the counter. "But that's tomorrow." He looks between me and Perrin. "Tonight I'm more concerned about Elowen."
"What about her?" I ask, though I already have a feeling I know where this is going.
"She shouldn't be alone tonight." He says it simply, like it's already decided. "She held it together all day, but that doesn't mean she's okay.” He looks at me.
