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Maybe I let him touch me too many times and his hold is strong. Or maybe it’s our bond. Ever since I was a little girl, Nine was always there for me. Even when I was convinced that he abandoned me like everyone else I’ve ever known, he was only doing it because it helped me survive the Fae Queen. Nine might have disappeared from my life these last six years, but I got to live because he worked with Rys to shield me.
He worked with the Light Fae who was responsible for my sister’s death—and who thinks that I should date him anyway.
Jesus Christ, my life is screwed up.
When Nine’s with me, though, it doesn’t seem so bad. I should want him to go, to leave me alone. But, touch or no touch, I really want him to stay.
He does. I don’t send him away, and he stays until just before the sun comes up.
And that’s when I do something I’m not so proud of.
Right before he enters the portal, I call out after him.
“Why do you always have to leave?” I demand. I’m whining, but I just don’t care. “If you’re supposed to keep me safe, why can’t you stay? Find a way.”
“That’s just the touch talking. You don’t really want me here.” He believes that. He honestly does. And the worst part? There’s a good chance he’s right. “The sun will be here soon. I have to go back.”
“Then take me with you.”
Nine frowns. “You know I can’t do that. I might as well hand you over to Melisandre myself.”
I cross my arms over my chest. “You know what? I don’t think you want to. Faerie’s huge. I remember you telling me it’s unmappable, but it’s freaking huge. You could hide me there. I know you could.”
“I won’t risk it. Now, stay here. I’ll be back for you as soon as the shadows fall.” He hesitates a second before he adds, “If you need me before then, find the darkest shadow you can and call my name. I’ll come.”
“I won’t need you.”
“Even so, I’ll return tonight. If you insist on staying here until we find you somewhere safe, I’ll bring you some rowan. For now, turn your clothes inside out. It’s a small help, but it might be enough until I come back.”
Because it’s an old habit, I tuck Nine’s instructions in the back of my head, then mutter under my breath. “I’d rather go with you.”
He heard me. I figured he would.
“No,” Nine says forcefully. “You wouldn’t.”
And, before I can counter with another childish retort, he slips into the portal and disappears.
I wait to see if he’ll come back. Don’t know why he would—he never did, no matter how many times I pleaded with him as a kid—but I guess, despite growing up, I still have that innocent hope when it comes to Nine.
But he doesn’t and, feeling lost, alone, and rejected, the quiet Wilkes House seems almost oppressively so in Nine’s absence. The air shifts as soon as he’s gone. The fact that my first instinct is to command him to come back after it’s clear he won’t on his own is a huge problem.
And I don’t even have Carolina coming over shortly to serve as the distraction I so desperately need.
I can’t stay here. Maybe I really am nuts, but I swear I can still taste the way his scent, his magic lingers in the cool air. No matter how many shadows I wrap myself up in, it doesn’t help. I can’t follow him, either, and it frightens me that I… I think I would if I could.
Yeah, no. I can’t stay here.
Even though I still haven’t gone to sleep yet, I scoop up the baseball cap and the sunglasses Carolina brought for me, then slip out the backdoor just as the sun is coming up.
15
So, I go to the movies.
Hey. It seemed like a good idea at the time.
I’d forgotten all about the indie movie theatre tucked on the border of Acorn Falls. It’s not so far from the Wilkes House. I’m maybe walking for about an hour when I stumble upon it and see that they’re running a special.
Four movies for the price of one. If I buy a ticket, I can sit inside and watch a movie marathon. It sounded perfect. I don’t blow through much of Lina’s cash, I’ve finally got the chance to get out of the house I’ve been hiding in these last few days, and what’s the chance of anyone recognizing me in the darkness?
