Page 170 of Sorrow & Strangers

“We’ve been invited!” Alice squeals.

“Okay, but . . . why would we have been invited?”

“That’s what I’m wondering too,” Rafe says, prying the invite away from Alice. “But also, I’m named on this invite. I don’t go out.”

“Who cares why?” Alice asks, looking between the two of us like we have sprouted multiple heads and she can’t believe how stupid we still are.

“You’re not curious?” I ask. “We’re just random sophomores.”

“Summer, we have been blessed! And! It’s in Paradis! The only island resort in Atlantis!” I just stare at her blankly. Alice blinks at me when I don’t react. “Summer! This is a big fucking deal!”

I exhale. “Okay. I’m excited!” I say, though I’m not sure I’m totally convincing.

After another twenty minutes of screaming and listening to Alice make plans, I retreat to my room to bask in my loneliness. I wear a cape of lies, and this is the consequence.

I have never felt so alone, and it’s all my fault.

Even Connor is completely silent as if he is as disappointed in me as I am.

Chapter Seventy-Four

Summer

Alice still practically vibrates as we walk to the coffee cart. She’s barely stopped since we received the invitation days ago and has been talking about it incessantly. Not that Rafe and I mind. Her joy is infectious.

“Al?” I interrupt her as we approach the coffee cart, and she stops mid-sentence, blinking at me expectantly. “Usual?” I ask, and she nods before delving back into her soliloquy about the event and who could potentially be running it.

“So, I got Rafe a couple of costume options but⁠—”

“I think you’re going to struggle to get him into a costume, Al.” I sigh. “I’m not even sure we’ll get him to the event.”

Alice looks at me mutinously. “There is no way in Hell he is missing this. He thinks Max is strong? Wait until he meets some of the attendees at this party. They are the greatest of the great, Sum. You cannot buy your way into it. Trust me, I’ve tried. You need to be someone of note to the host.”

“But the host is anonymous?” I ask, accepting my coffee cup and taking a sip.

Alice nods. “Completely, which is why it’s wild that we’ve been invited.”

My core twists as I feel a dark fae around me, and I’m forever grateful I’ve managed to tame the reaction enough to just this when I feel them. I glance over Alice’s shoulder, seeing her joining the queue. I think her name is Jessica. She’s a junior, and it surprises me to see that her dyed red hair has been braided over her ears. Usually fae don’t do that. They like to be noticed as their species, but she also looks tired, sad, and her eyes are puffy. Alice is typing on her phone, and she grabs her coffee, but as we turn to walk away, my attention is drawn to Jessica’s hushed words to her friend. There is a distress in her voice that intrigues me.

“He’s missing?” her friend asks. “Damien?” My heart stops, and I pull a still-distracted Alice to a tree, hauling her behind the thick trunk.

“What’s going—” Alice blurts out before I cover her mouth.

I frown and look at the ground, trying to tune in to their voices over the noise of the bustling quad. My fae hearing would be better had I worked on fine-tuning it more, but alas. I lock onto the sound of a soft whimper.

“I don’t know, Carly. He was with me three weeks ago, and he was worried. He told me he heard a rumor that his brother had gone missing,” Jessica says with a soft sniffle, and I close my eyes to hear more clearly. I can feel Alice’s eyes on me, but she doesn’t say anything.

“Where would he have gone?” Carly asks.

“Carly, I just know we were set to get engaged soon, and now he has ghosted me completely.”

“It doesn’t make any sense.”

“He said his brother was in danger, that he hadn’t heard from him or Kia in almost a year, and he had to investigate. I told him it was reckless, that he doesn’t know who T had gotten involved with.”

“T?” her friend asked.

“That’s all I know him as . . .” Her words trail off as she moves farther away, and I curse under my breath.