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“I don’t want to be doing admirably,” she replies, her voice almost breaking. “I’m tired. I didn’t sign up for this. I want…I want to worry about other things people my age worry about, not whether I’m possessed and what that’s doing to my body. I don’t want to have to think about my mom’s estate or if I get to keep the royalties from her work. I don’t want to worry about not having parents.”
Her breath catches again before she speaks.
“But I don’t have a choice in that. I don’t have a choice in any of that,” she says, her voice hardening. “I have a choice in this. I want to stay here.”
“You’re not safe,” Malon tells her.
She shakes her head. “I’m not safe anywhere,” she replies. “I want to sleep in my own bed. Just for one night. I miss my bed so much.”
She’s right, of course. This all must make her feel so powerless. I want to tell her that everything is going to be okay, but truthfully, I have no idea. I don’t know if anything is going to be okay. I know that stability is important and I also know that the last few weeks have to have been incredibly traumatic for her.
It’s just one night.
We can defend her.
If Malon is to be believed, and she seems to completely believe him, then he’s here to help out. We should take advantage of it.
She should take advantage of it.
“We can’t stay here long,” I say.
“Tonight?” she asks softly.
“Yeah.”
“Are you sure, doc?” Malon asks. That sounds like a genuine question. If I didn’t know better, I would think he was scared.
I don’t even know where Misha and Luke are. I expect they’ll find somewhere nice to stay, but it’s not her house. I don’t know what normal looks like for Trine now, but I don’t think it’s going to be bouncing between hotels and trying to outrun demons is ideal.
We need to give her a little time to wrap her head around all this. Even if it’s just one night in her own bed, when she can play at pretending that none of this is real.
That she doesn’t have to worry about any of this.
“Yes,” I say, looking at him, daring him to challenge me. “I’m sure.”
Malon’s gaze flits between the two of us, but he says nothing to me. “Okay,” he says finally, looking up at Trine. “Whatever you think is best.”
She smiles at him, her features softening. “I want to stay here.”
“Then we’ll stay here,” I say, getting to my feet so I can wrap my arms around her.
I don’t care that Malon is right there, watching us. I want to make her feel better. I need to do something for her, even if that’s just hugging her close and letting her lay her head against my chest. She looks up at me, her brown eyes shining with tears. “Thank you,” she says.
“You don’t have anything to thank me for. We’ll do what you want. Always,” I say, pulling her even closer to me. I can feel her smiling against my chest and my heart beats so fast and loud against her I’m certain she can hear it.
TRINE
After I’ve had a shower, washed and blow-dried my hair, done my skincare routine and settled into my pajamas, I feel more like myself.
There’s something about showering in my apartment, even though the water pressure kind of sucks and it doesn’t get as hot as I want it to. The issues with it feel so familiar that they’re grounding.
Unfortunately, when I get out of the bathroom, I realize that space is kind of limited. I don’t really want to kick Mal and Rei out of my place, considering that I’m only staying here because they’ve said it’s okay. If something were to happen, I wouldn’t want to be defenseless.
I might be able to take care of myself, but I don’t want to put Bryony in danger, so I’m going to have to figure out a way to accommodate both of them.
They’re still in the living room, talking quietly. They don’t sound like they’re being exactly friendly toward each other, but at least it doesn’t seem like they’re arguing. So that’s nice, I guess.
I pad quietly toward the living room. Dee Dee sees me, jumps off the sofa, and walks up to me, rubbing his body against my leg. I lean down to stroke the top of his head. “I missed you too, buddy,” I say.
