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“Yeah, probably.” Sienna scooted over and slung an arm around her friend in a companionable, hopefully comforting, hug. “Let’s be honest, we both knew he was the weak one, right? So take notes. If he doesn’t learn this year, then next year, he gets a choice—the cancellation fee comes out of his paycheck, or you get the hotel and a peaceful night’s sleep.”
Sherri leaned her head on Sienna’s shoulder. “Oh, I’m taking so many notes.” She laughed again, briefly, and this time the sound was more genuine. “I do feel bad for the guy you finally choose. Unless he’s some kind of god, he’s so screwed. And that’s not even factoring in your sisters.”
Sienna attempted a laugh, because she knew it was expected, even as her heart clenched. For most of her life she’d believed that if she ever got to meet the mysterious, anguished man in her recurring visions, he’d either kill her or become someone crucial to her. She never saw visions of her own future, or things she could prove directly impacted her future, but that one had always been different. So she’d always wondered if it was an exception. And she certainly couldn’t say she was in love with Fenn after such little contact with him … but something inside of her felt invested. More than made sense.
Sherri sat up and turned a frown on her. “Hey, you okay?”
Sienna blinked, swallowing hard. “Um, why?” Okay, not the best deflection.
Sherri’s frown deepened. “’Cause you seem off and that laugh was all wrong. I’m sorry, I needed to rant and I wasn’t paying attention. What’s going on? Did you see something upsetting?”
Crap.She didn’t usually make a habit of hiding things from Sherri, but Fenn and the whole actual-Death thing? Yeah. She was keeping that to herself … especially if he really had bailed already. So she scrambled for something else she could say that Sherri would accept and blurted, “You were right about Mr. Thursday. Way more of a creep than his picture showed.”
Sherri’s eyes widened. “Did he try anything? Do we need to call the police?”
Sienna barked out an awkward laugh. “Gods, no. The police were already called.” Speaking of … shouldn’t they have come looking for her? Or maybe they didn’t care?
“I’m sorry,what?”
Sienna took a moment to finish her own coffee, the sweet chocolaty taste offering a momentary comfort. “He totally lied on his profile,” she said. “But the worst part was that like right after I got up to leave … he had some kind of heart attack, I guess.” Sherri’s eyes nearly bulged out of her head. Sienna stood and indicated for Sherri’s cup, suddenly unable to sit still. With both in hand, she headed toward the garbage in the kitchen. “It was like five kinds of cliché and yes, I feel like an ass for talking bad about him, but he did what he did. Not that I’m saying he deserved to die or anything.”
“Ohmygod,” Sherri gasped. “Hedied? Right there in the restaurant?”
Sienna dropped the cups, then snatched up her older one and drained the remaining contents down the sink before adding it to the garbage she needed to get to emptying. “Yeah.” She did feel bad about that, though she mostly felt guilty for using the story as a conversational distraction.
“That’s horrible. My gosh, Sienna, that’s the kind of thing people need therapy for. How are you so casual? It’s okay to be freaked out.” Sherri sounded a little freaked out.
Sienna bit her lip for a moment. Her friend meant well and she had basically just dumped a rather dramatic story on her. She clenched her hands at her sides, trying to work out her response, and nearly screamed when what felt like a larger hand curled around hers. The unexpected touch came with a presence pressed up behind her and a murmured voice in her ear.
“There was nothing you could have done.”
Her breath caught in her throat. She didn’t dare move. A solid five seconds passed before she was brave enough to whisper, “Fenn?”
Soft, faintly cooler lips pressed briefly against the skin beneath her ear as the hand over hers gave a squeeze. “Right here.”
He’s invisible!That was both awesome and somewhat intimidating, but nevertheless it sent a thrill spiraling through her and Sienna relaxed. She gave a faint nod, since she couldn’t catch his hand to hold it or squeeze it back, and forced herself to turn back toward Sherri. “Sorry,” she said. “I shouldn’t have just blurted that. I just … didn’t know how to tell you.”
Sherri stood and stepped up to her, pulling Sienna’s hands into hers. “I’m worried about you,” she said. “It’s bad enough you have to see God only knows what in your visions, but to see something like that in person? That’s traumatic, Sienna.”
She probably had a valid point. Still, Sienna shrugged. “I know this’ll sound callous, but the truth is … it’s not like I haven’t seen kind of a lot of death.” She barely managed not to giggle at her very dumb double-meaning. “I went through a phase when violent visions were all I had, and a lot of those ended in death.” A lot of them had involved smoky, ambiguous figures on the peripheral that she only now realized had likely been the very same man lurking invisibly in her kitchen. And thinking it that way made her wonder what kind of very indecent things he could get away with with that trick.What is wrong with me?
Sherri let out a sad sigh, pulling Sienna’s focus forward for at least another moment. “I never considered that. I feel like a terrible friend for not being more involved with your visions somehow. Maybe I should’ve been asking questions or—”
“Gods, no!” Sienna held tightly to Sherri’s hands. “Listen to me, Sher. It’s beensucha relief to have a normal person in my life who still accepts me, craziness and all. My sisters ask enough questions about things I’ve seen. And yeah, you’re totally right, I probably need a crap-ton of therapy. But most people would commit me before they’d believe I can actually see glimpses of the future. So I deal, and I have my sisters and you to help keep me grounded. You’re definitely helping, okay?”
Several seconds passed before Sherri dragged in a breath and nodded, as if talking herself into accepting Sienna’s words. “All right, if you’re sure. But are you okay traveling alone? Even if you’ve seen things like that before, it could still just be too raw…”
A whole new type of guilt surged up inside Sienna and she nearly declared that she would not, in fact, be traveling alone. She opened her mouth, even, to say so before her brain engaged and she stuttered inelegantly. Finally, she collected herself enough to laugh and say, “Shit. I really do need to finish packing and get on the road, don’t I? Yeah, I’ll totally be fine. I’ll crank up my music and pump myself so full of caffeine the car won’t even need fuel.”
Sherri laughed and stepped back. “Well, I can’t argue with you when you’re that determined. So I should get home and finish my own preparations. Thanks for letting me vent.”
Sienna followed her to the door. “What’re friends for?”
They hugged in the doorway and Sherri walked herself to the curb, where her sensible SUV was parked. Sienna waved one more time after her friend was tucked inside, then backed into her entryway and shut the door. She let out a breath as the deadbolt flipped and turned, telling herself not to betoohopeful.
He could still have disappeared.
He hadn’t.
