“Weren’t you supposed to go to your boss’ house tonight?” I croak.
He lets out a sigh that’s half-regret, half-annoyed. “I couldn’t go without you. Not without raising eyebrows.”
“Couldn’t you just tell him my mother was sick?”
“I did, but then he excused me from the dinner altogether, saying I should be by your side. So I came.”
He leans in for another kiss, his tongue pushing into my mouth, but my brows furrow. Is he saying he only came to see me because his boss told him to?
E’s voice thunders from upstairs, bringing the kiss to a sudden stop.
“Hey, Max. Can you bring up some tea?” he shouts.
I blush all over. “Err— Sure thing. I’ll be up in a minute,” I answer in a high-pitched tone.
Lachlan’s gaze flicks to the staircase. “There’s a man here?”
“He’s my…cousin,” I lie. “He dropped by unannounced to check on Mabel.”
Lachlan walks past me and wraps a hand around the railing. “But you guys aren’t actually related, right? Can I meet him?”
I catch the worry in his tone, but the subtext—you’re adopted, so it’s not really your family—still stings.
“Erm— He’s very shy.”
His eyes narrow. “Maxine, I’m about to become part of your family. I want to meet him.”
He climbs the first step, but I grab his arm. I don’t know what I’ll do if he insists on meeting my ghost. It’s not like E could shake his hand.
“He’s a real pain in the arse. I don’t want to invite him to the wedding, and if he meets you, it’ll be that much harder to keep him out of the loop.Please.”
The corners of Lachlan’s mouth turn down. “I’m a little jealous he gets to spend time with you when I’ve barely seen you all week.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
I rise onto my toes and kiss him hard before grabbing his hand and leading him back to the kitchen. I pour two cups of tea for Lachlan and myself, then prepare a tray with two more to take upstairs, clinging to the lie that Mabel is in her bedroom, chatting with my cousin. The tray trembles in my hands as I climb the stairs and head into Mabel’s room.
I slam it down on her bedside table. The empty bed glares back at me in a silent accusation. It was stupid of me to invite Lachlan inside. Reckless.
“What are you doing? You can’t do that,” I clip in a whisper-shout.
“Did you see his face? I just wanted to have a little fun.”
“Fun?” My temper spikes, and the lights above my head flicker. “This isn’tfun. If I hear another sound out of you, you’ll be sorry.”
I move to leave, not waiting for an answer, but my gaze catches on a picture on the bookshelf. I’ve seen it a hundred times—one of the only remaining photos of my mother, taken years before I was born. She might have been around twenty then, though for a Fae, it’s hard to tell. Aunt Kerri is in it, too, with a stranger’s arms wrapped around both of them.
The woman in the middle suddenly rings a bell. I spin the frame around and slide out the tiny hooks holding the back in place. Inside, there are at least three other pictures from the same night—at Devi’s. The stools have changed since then, but I recognize the cupboards.
Sierra, Kerrigan, and Lillivere. 2001
I gasp, the photo trembling in my grip. This wasafterI was born.
“Who are they?” E asks.
I growl under my breath, too angry with him to answer, yet shaking with nerves. I need to go through every single one of Mabel’s books, get into the attic, and call Nick. I might be on the cusp of remembering exactly what happened that horrible night in the cabin, and my brother might be able to fill in the holes in my memory.
I leave the photo and open frame on the bed and hurry back down two floors to the kitchen.
