“Hyacinth, are you in there?” Trina asks. “Can I come in?”
“Is… is he…”
“Yes, Shane’s gone to work. It’s just us.”
I open the door, and Trina opens up her arms to me. I give her a quick hug, but I don’t linger, pushing her back so I can look into her eyes.
“Tell me straight, Trina,” I say. “Is this shit true?”
“Hyacinth,” she says gently. “Let’s go and sit down. You’ll feel better after something to eat. It doesn’t look like you slept well, either—”
“Don’t patronize me,” I say in a steady voice. “I want to know the truth.”
“No one is patronizing you,” Sadie says from further up the hall. “It’s just a simple fact that the hallway is anuncomfortable place for any discussion—and for a difficult one, it really helps to have donuts and coffee.”
My stomach growls right then, so loudly that the noise seems to echo through the hall. Despite the tension, all of us break into giggles.
“Okay, you got me,” I say. “Let’s go eat.”
I follow Trina up the hall as Sadie leads us to the living room, where she’s already set up three cups of coffee around a massive box of donuts. I grab a massive strawberry iced ring and curl up in the armchair as I bite into it.
For a few moments, we just eat, and it isn’t until the silence starts to drag out that I realize the other two are waiting for me to speak.
“If you’re waiting for me to talk,” I mumble through a mouthful of strawberry glaze, “you’ll be waiting a while, because I don’t know what to say.”
Sadie sighs and looks at the floor. Trina fiddles with her fingers as she tries to catch my eye.
“Did you tell him this?” I ask suddenly. “Did Shane come up with this crazy idea from you guys?”
“No,” Sadie answers, shaking her head. “I mean, we didn’t speak to him directly. He would have gotten it from Rhys and Owen.”
“He said he spoke to them,” I say. “But I just wanted to make sure it wasn’t you, too.”
“Hyacinth,” Sadie says with a sigh. “You’re avoiding the real issue.”
“Oh, really?” I say, my voice rising. “Would that be the kidnapping, the loss of my freedom—not to mention my house—or the batshit-crazy world I’ve suddenly been dropped into?”
“Or the suffering of the pack?” Sadie asks. “They are real people, Hyacinth, and they are hurting.”
I shake my head, not knowing how to respond.
“Besides, that’s not what I’m referring to,” Sadie says impatiently. “The issue is with you, personally.”
“Sadie,” Trina says softly. “Be careful.”
“Yeah,” I reply, challenging her. “Are you saying this is my own personal problem, when I’m the one who got kidnapped?”
“Hyacinth.” Sadie looks right at me, and her eyes seem to turn to liquid gold. There is an aura of power about her, but it doesn’t intimidate me. Instead, it seems to awaken something deep inside me that rises to meet her energy head-on.
“Hyacinth, tell me exactly why you are so defensive about this topic?” Sadie asks.
I want to dance around and draw it out, pretending I don’t know what she’s talking about, but the directness of her gaze and the steady flow of her energy won’t let me.
If I continue to deflect, then I’ll look like a coward.
“Hyacinth,” Trina presses, “you can tell us.”
As I look at my friend, I realize they already know what my problem is, because they’ve been in the same position.
