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We were just a few short yards away from the dock when William asked, “Do you think he’s telling the truth?”
“Indeed.” I scanned the island’s gray sand beach as I rowed, noting just a few stragglers watching us from a distance as we maneuvered the wooden oars in and out of the water. “Family is everything to him.”
“Is that it then?” He sounded defeated, but I wasn’t ready to give up yet.
“Far from it. I’ll find my way to the human realm, one way or another.”
6
NEVER
“Ow.” The pull of my bandaged wound stung as I pried my eyes open and tried to untangle myself from my blanket.
An eerie yellow glow bounced across the room, snagging my attention despite my difficulties.Why is it light in here?The thought had no more crossed my mind before the light flickered out, and I paused in my battle with the blanket.
“Hello, weirdness.” I was pretty sure there wasn’t anyone in the room with me because there wasn’t really anywhere for anyone to hide in my crappy little bedroom, but still. The light could have come from the street, maybe. If someone decided to shine a powerful flashlight up into my window.
It wasn’t a horrible theory, except the light hadn’t been shining from the window. Or from the ceiling or the lamp on the nightstand. It was more like it’d been shining from... well... me.
I finally yanked the blanket free, preemptively cursing the pain that would inevitably slice through my back with the effort. Only it didn’t. It still hurt, a lot, but that sharp, searing pain that had plagued me the day before now felt dull and not quite so hot.
That or I wasn’t completely awake yet.
Only one way to be sure. Carefully, oh-so-carefully, I pulled myself up into a sitting position. I had to suck in a breath and brace myself against the added discomfort that came with the movement. It was taxing but completely manageable.
Letting my head hang for a beat as I gathered myself for the monumental task of swinging my legs over the edge, standing, and making my way to the bathroom, I caught the last hint of light fading from the amulet around my neck. I remembered clinging to it, feeling that desperate need to keep it safe from the wicked thing that had taken over my brother’s body. I did not, however, remember slipping the chain over my head.
Maybe the weirdest thing was how it felt like it belonged there. Like I’d been wearing it my whole life.
“No, actually, that sounds about right,” I whispered into the darkness. The thing was glitchy as fuck, so yeah, why wouldn’t it feel at home resting against my chest? Broken, glitchy, unreliable; those were the things I attracted in life.
I pulled in another steadying breath, pressed my hands into the mattress, and did my damnedest to spin around without twisting at the waist. It was mostly a success. Even standing was a fraction as painful as it should have been. I was three steps shy of the door when it swung open with a very stern looking Lily silhouetted in the light from the hallway.
“You couldn’t just ask for help, could you?” she asked, scowling down at me.
“You’d think, after all the years we spent together, you would already know the answer to that question,” I fired back. I squared my shoulders. “And I don’t need help going to the bathroom. It’s like twenty feet away.”
She just continued staring me down. If her plan was to block my path through the door, that might create some difficulty. I felt better than I had any right to feel, but I wasn’t in the mood to scuffle with her over something this stupid. A fact I wasn’t particularly fond of admitting to myself.
The day before, when I’d been hell-bent on following my brother, I’d had adrenaline on my side. That was not currently the case.
“Fine,” I said, conceding defeat. “Would you mind helping me to the bathroom? Please?”
Her mouth quirked, lips pursing just enough to let me know she wasn’t impressed. Then she stepped aside and motioned me through. “Between the doorway and this narrow ass hallway, I’m sure you can make it the rest of the way just fine.”
Ooo, she cusses?That was new.
And she’s mad at me.That wasn’t new, but whenever she’d been mad at me before, she’d just grumbled her displeasure, curled up on the couch, and pretended she could hear me for a few hours.
“Did I do something wrong?” I asked.
Her eyes drifted shut, and she shook her head. When she opened them, there was no missing the worry in them. “I care about Matty too, but you can’t go off half-cocked after him. The demon’s shadow might not be as strong as the demon. That doesn’t mean it’s not still incredibly dangerous. Especially for you.”
“Why especially for me?” I asked, sounding surprisingly less breathless than I felt as I shuffled down the hall using the wall for support.
She didn’t answer. When I craned my neck to look back over my shoulder, she was leaned against the frame of my bedroom door with her arms crossed over her chest.
“Chatty as ever, I see,” I mumbled. “At least my pajamas look cute on you.”
