He said, simply, “Ye need tae rest, Torin.”
This was the last thing I heard afore my head sank down tae the table and I fell asleep.
34
LEXI
2004 - LAUREL RIDGE
Three weeks.
That’s how long it had been.
No Torin.
A sort of languor had settled over my life. I had gotten better in a few days, I had grown stronger in a week, I had been hopeful for a few days, but then he didn’t show, so I mourned deeply day three through… the sixteenth day, crying and carrying on, but keeping it quiet. I didn’t want Jen or Cooper to realize I was devastated, crying in the shower in the morning, having to sit and stare into space.Where was he?
Cooper knew Torin wasn’t returning. Jen figured I had only known him for a short time, she knew it mattered to me, but assumed the mattering couldn’t go on for too long. So I hid my grief.Was he okay?
Why didn’t he return?
I figured: he had found Max, he had learned how to control the machine, he was living in the past, he was likely working to solve the issues with Max’s kingdom.
I looked down on the small gold locket I was wearing around my neck, with the letter ‘R’ on it. I had bought a thicker, longerchain so I could wear it every day. And now I was twisting it, fidgeting with it.
Did this locket mean I was a royal?
That Max’s kingdom… was mine too?
I shook my head. This was not…helpful.I couldn’t think beyond the fact that I had met a man I rather liked and now he was gone. The rest of it all seemed so untrue. Hazy. I would remember the days on Torin’s horse, and it would all seem dreamlike, my brain arguing with my mind, it couldn’t possibly be true. But then my dreams were vivid, the nightmares — chased, left alone, ill, scared, frantic were so real I woke with a scream, a hammering heartbeat.
One night on the intercom, the security guard said, “Marcus here, you cool?”
“Yes, sorry?—”
My phone rang, I picked up and Cooper, breathless, sounded like he had been running. “Lexi, you okay?”
“Another nightmare, you heard me all the way in the back-shack?”
“I heard you scream. I ran up to the porch.” He said to the security guard, “She’s fine, nightmare.” He returned to the phone and asked, “You need me to come in?”
“No it’s okay, I can’t believe you heard me with the house and windows all locked down.”
“I did, it was faint, but I did.”
“Can you not hang up, stay on the line for a bit, until I fall asleep?”
“Yeah, sure, I’m letting Dude into the house, he wants to see you, don’t freak out?—”
“You got the alarm code?”
“Yeah, hold on.”
I could hear him punching numbers into my new keypad, then the new door opening.
I said, “I hate that door.”
“I know, but it keeps you safe.” He added, “I’ll be out here on the porch.”
