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Legend and Rune are standing on the other side. Legend is a mask of concern, and Rune radiates uneasiness as he grips a metallic sword in his hand.
“You look like you’re going into battle,” I remark to Rune as I open the door wider and let them in.
Once they’re inside, Legend pulls me in for a hug while Rune locks us in.
“Are you okay?” Legend asks, drawing back.
I nod, tugging at the hem of my shirt, wishing I had changed before they came in. “I’m fine, I guess … Did Jules tell you what happened?”
“A rushed version of it,” Legend says. “But I caught on enough to figure out you told him about the attack.”
I sneak a glance at Rune, camped out near the window, surveying the streets. “It sort of slipped out during an emotional breakdown,” I mutter, turning back to Legend. “I think that stupid faerie magic drink messed with my head.”
“It does that sometimes,” he agrees. “I don’t know how many times I’ve done and said stuff while drunk off magic that I completely and utterly regret.”
“You and every creature out there,” Rune grumbles, inserting his sword into a leather holster fastened around his waist.
Legend’s smile doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “See, you’re not alone in this.” He lowers his voice. “Do you want to talk about what happened? Because, while I got the gist of what’s going on, Jules’ hurried version left me with a lot of questions.”
“I’ll tell you. But, can I shower and change first? I feel yucky and gross.” Not to mention entirely uncomfortable wearing nothing but a T-shirt, even if the fabric smells lovely.
“Of course.” Legend nods at a shut door. “Your bag’s already in the bathroom.”
“How did you get it in there …?” I put my hands up in front of me. “Never mind. You used your little magic transport-my-bag-wherever-you-want-it-to-go trick, didn’t you?”
Pride shines in his eyes. “You have no idea just how many tricks I have up my sleeve.”
“Now you’ve got me really curious.”
“If you’re lucky, maybe one day I’ll show you.”
“So cocky here.”
His chuckling carries across the room as I slip into the bathroom and close the door. The seclusion hits me instantaneously, and I crumble to the floor. Everything—the last handful of days—crash over me all at once. Tears flow as I hug my legs to my chest, crying out every ounce of agony, from forgetting my life, to horrible foster families I lived with, to that goddamn tragic day in the alley. All the pain pours out of me and drowns my face in tears. Pain I wasn’t even aware I was carrying.
How have I lived the last decade with so much aguish crushing against my chest? How did I breathe?
I really don’t know the answer. All I know is that I never want to go back to that place of darkness and despair ever again.
CHAPTER20
After showering, I get dressed in a pair of black shorts and a grey top. Then I lock myself in the bathroom with Legend so we can have some privacy while I give him a recap of what happened to Jules and me. I tell him how I broke down and sobbed my heart and broken soul out to Jules. And how Jules figured out that his cousin might have been one of the werewolves who attacked me that day.
“I’m so proud of you, Lake.” Legend brings me in for a hug. “I know that had to be hard to tell him.”
“I didn’t really mean to tell him.” I slump my weight against him, too emotionally drained to hold myself up. “I was drunk and sort of just lost it.”
“But you’re glad you did, right? You feel a bit better?”
“I do, which is so strange. I mean, I told you and it never made me feel any better.”
“You never told me. I only knew because I was there that day when I …”
“You saved me.”
“I didn’t want to put it that way and seem like a cocky hero, but okay, if you insist.”
I jokingly pinch his side. “What is it with you and being here? Your already swelled ego has been rapidly inflating from the moment we tumbled through the portal.”
