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“He’s been signed into a facility,” she said. “They’ll help him. He got it into his head that Emma was sending him secret messages. He thought she wanted to see fire and that she would understand exactly what he was trying to say. Crazy, right?”
“Scary.” She looked miserable. “It’s not your fault.”
“He wasn’t a bad person,” she said. “He had a tough time, and I thought if I kept being nice to him that he’d get past it.” She sighed. “I think I made it worse. Emma thinks I was protecting him, and I suppose she was right. I thought eventually he would learn.”
“But he didn’t, and it sounds like he needed medical help. You couldn’t have stopped this, Chloe.”
“Emma’s the one who’s been suffering the whole time. Even I didn’t know how hard it was on her. Do you know what kills me most?”
I shook my head.
“If it wasn’t for Halloween triggering his trauma, he might have kept on as he was, low-key bothering her in a way she couldn’t prove. If he hadn’t lost it, who knows how long he would have kept up harassing her. I see it now for what it was. Little things all of the time. Following her, pestering her, calling her, not taking no for an answer. Things that sounded harmless unless you were in her shoes and experiencing it constantly, every day. Her dad used to tell her she must be leading him on. Imagine how that hurt her, how alone she felt. And people kept encouraging him, telling him to be persistent. Telling her to give him a chance. Even I said that before.” She looked sickened. “How could I do that to her?”
“You didn’t know the extent of it.”
“I should have known! That’s why she acts the way she does, so people would tell him she wasn’t worth it. How screwed up is that? I feel so wretched. I should have seen it. I should have done something.”
“Chloe, this is ridiculous. You weren’t the one stalking Emma. You’re not responsible for his actions. It sounds like an awful situation all round, but the fact you feel sorry means you care about her, right?”
“I wish I had been a better friend. Or… I don’t know. Maybe I should have called him out instead of walking on eggshells around him.” Her fingers tightened around her cup. “I heard that Adam’s mam is pressing charges against his dad. She already got a restraining order against him. Adam going over the edge was her breaking point. At least something good came out of this. Adam’s getting help, and his dad can’t touch him.”
“I’m glad it’s over now.”
“Yeah.” She shot me a quizzical look. “Is everything over for you, or…?”
“Maybe.” Maybe not.
“Strange things happen around you and Dorian.”
“A bit.” I braced myself. “Too weird for you?”
“Nah. I can handle weird.” She smiled at me. “Whatever’s going on, it worked out in the end.”
I gazed at her, fighting a strange need to cry. “Thanks, Chloe.”
“Well, we are friends now.”
I had to look away until the tears stopped threatening to fall. No matter what happened to me, I had no regrets.
Afterwards, I met up with Dorian to keep him company while he walked the dogs.
“How are you feeling?” he asked, manoeuvring the dog leads away from me.
“Cold.” I leaned against him. “But you’re warm. Any news?”
“Pavel left. The rest of his family are getting ready to leave.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It could have been a lot worse.”
I hoped his family didn’t hate me. “How is everyone anyway? Still creeped out by Vira and me?”
“You get to the point, don’t you? It’s dying down. You should come over this week, test the waters. I’m getting sick of entertaining Victor all by myself.”
I laughed at that. “Maybe. It’s toasty around you two.”
He looked me over. “Take your medication again, okay? Vira was right about at least some things, so keep taking your medication until we figure out another solution. Can you do that, please?”
I nodded. “I’ll take the pills, don’t worry. Do you think she was right about the pack drawing attention from the harbingers?”
He frowned. “I don’t know, but we’ll deal with anything that comes.”
I reached for his hand and knew I couldn’t tell him the truth.
I had been taking my pills. I hadn’t stopped for a while. But whatever I had done while he was gone had broken through the protection they gave me. It didn’t matter whether I took my pills or not, I had no control over my power. I would have to admit the truth eventually, but for a while, I wanted the people I loved to have a little bit of peace.
