Page 24 of Sorrow & Strangers

We enter the house, and Alice pulls me to a stop, assessing me. I can tell she’s pleased that I have put on a little weight. I’m still not eating much, but I am making a conscious effort now. She wraps me in another hug and slides her hands down my back. It could be confused with an act of comfort, but I know she’s checking to see if she can still feel my ribs. Her lips are tipped into a slight smile when she pulls back, proving my hypothesis that she’s pleased.

“I missed you.”

“I missed you so much,” I reply, my voice breaking.

Alice takes my hand again and tugs me into the kitchen. She turns on the coffee maker. “How was it?” she asks, buzzing around the room. I think she is trying to keep herself busy so she doesn’t start crying again. I can feel the lingering vulnerability roiling inside ‌her, and I know she hates it.

“It was . . .” I pause, trying to think of the word. Was it an enjoyable time? Perhaps, but not in the traditional sense. “Needed.” I settle on the truth. My truth.

“How is his family?”

“Healing.”

“How was his mom?” Alice asks, knowing how apprehensive I was about seeing Farrah again. “I know you were avoiding her.”

“She’s thin and was very happy to see me,” I say, and look down at my fingers, pulling the sleeve of my hoodie down a bit more. “She’s eating more now.”

I feel Alice’s eyes on me. “Like you?” she asks, and I can hear the hopefulness in her voice.

I nod and sit at the table as Alice pours two cups of coffee, adding syrup and cream to mine.

“Want to eat junk and watch trash TV with me?” she asks, a little uncertain.

“Please,” I say fervently and take the cup.

Alice smiles brightly, and we move to the couch, cuddling together under a blanket. Alice puts her trashy show on, the one Connor loved, and we settle in.

“What food do you want?” Alice asks, pulling out her phone.

“Pizza,” I say with no hesitation. Alice exhales in relief before putting in the order.

We sit in silence until Alice shifts closer to me and says, “Missed you.”

“I missed you too.” I exhale. “Sorry that I couldn’t come back sooner.”

Alice considers for a moment and then nods. “You needed it.”

“Yes, but I need you too.”

Alice picks at the blanket and glances at me. “Promise?” she asks, the uncertainty in her voice breaking my heart all over again.

“I promise.”

We sit on the couch, barely speaking. I manage to eat a slice and a half of pizza when it arrives, which Alice is more than ecstatic about. Neither ‌of us makes any move to head upstairs to bed, and eventually we drift off.

Chapter Fifteen

The Stranger

Her nightmare shatters around me in painful fractures as I step into it. “You’re back.”

Summer stays in the chair, blood running down her cheek, choosing to remain in the nightmare. I struggle not to roll my eyes. She still insists on this misery, on this torture. She is choosing this, a sort of self-­punishment and repentance for some perceived evil. I wave my hand, and the bonds keeping her to the chair vanish, but she doesn’t move.

A shiver of foreboding runs down my spine. Something is different.

Reaching out, I brush her cheek lightly with my fingers, healing her. The force of her power hits me in the chest without warning. My body slams into the wall of her dream, and I force my fingers to grip the edges of it, keeping me from being thrown completely out.

Welcome home, little fae. Knew you were in there.