Page 72 of Sorrow & Strangers

She holds out her pinky to me. “Man-eating spiders, never flies.”

I link my pinky to hers and shake our hands.

Alice hisses again, and I laugh. “Okay, I’m going up to sit with Rafe.”

Alice stabs the slab of meat, places it on a plate, and hands it to me. “Take this to Rafe. He can eat it when he wakes up. I have some tartare recipes to work on.”

“How domestic of you,” I tease, picking up the plate. Alice throws a towel at me, and I chuckle as I go back upstairs.

Rafe is still asleep, but he winces as I come through the door. I put the plate down and lean over him, checking his runes and trying to figure out where he is hurting. He shifts restlessly again, and I brush his hair back to soothe him, pausing when I feel the small nubs on the top of his head. His body tenses, and he flinches when my fingers come into contact with them. I nick his thumb and use his blood to draw another rune on his forehead. It makes him look demonic or like some sort of cult leader, but it seems to ease his discomfort.

Once I am sure he is sleeping deeply, I move to the armchair in the corner of the room and curl up in it with Demonology for Beginners. Every so often I get up to stretch and check on Rafe, monitoring his runes and wiping sweat from his brow. He makes soft noises as he sleeps, sometimes snores, sometimes growls, but when he yelps in pain, I put my book aside and hurry to his side. I don’t find anything until I check his hands and notice blood oozing from his palm. His claws have grown and sharpened, slicing deep furrows into his skin.

“Ow,” Rafe groans as I use the antiseptic to clean the cuts. I glance at him to find that his eyes are barely open.

“Hi. I’m sorry. I know it stings, but I need to keep it clean.”

“They hurt,” he says, holding up his other hand. I am actually really happy that he can feel the pain. That hand had been nearly severed in his fall but is now mostly healed, the nerves attached and working once more.

“It’s your claws.”

“Stupid claws,” Rafe growls.

“It’s just new, Rafey.”

“Cut them off.”

“Rafe . . .” I start to protest, but he’s already drifted back into unconsciousness.

I smear some of the paste Alice made this morning on his palms. Rolling two pairs of socks, I tuck a set into each of his hands to keep his claws from digging into his flesh, before returning to my armchair and picking up my book.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Summer

“Did he eat anything?” Alice asks, coming into the room.

I shake my head. “He’s sleeping again.”

Alice settles onto the bed next to him and pulls out her phone. She taps on the screen, and a video starts to play. It’s an instructional cooking video, and she is completely focused as she watches it.

“Whoa. Is that how I look at textbooks?”

“Hm?” Alice asks absently, not looking away from the video. I grin and go back to my reading.

When the video ends, Alice walks to the dresser and starts looking through the neatly stacked pile of books I got from the library.

“Demonology for Dummies: You’ve Met a Demon, Now What?” she says, holding up one of the books and looking at me with amusement sparking in her eyes. That book wouldn’t have been my first choice, but there weren’t enough resources in the library for me to be picky. Alice flips it open to the first page, and to my surprise, she starts reading.

Alice reads silently for about an hour before breaking the silence. It is the longest I have ever seen her concentrate on something that isn’t on a screen. She snaps the book closed and looks up at me. “Did you find anything on his uncle?”

“In these? No.” I sigh. “But I am going to start training with the headmaster.” I frown. “He said that it’s important because I’m⁠—”

“Light fae?” Alice asks, and I blink in surprise. I don’t remember mentioning it to her, but I very well may have. I had mentioned it to Rafe. Maybe he said something? “You talk in your sleep. It’s especially bad when you’re having a nightmare,” Alice explains, seeing my confusion.

I nod. “Apparently. I don’t really know what light fae means, though.”

“We’ll work it out. Together,” she says with a smile.