Maybe I need this app too.
“That looks… awful.” Red laughs, moving the screen closer to me so I can see better.
She’s kept trying to involve me ever since I went silent. With her touch, actions, and words. Fuck, I don’t deserve her.
“What are those black things?” She tilts the tablet, like that’ll help us figure it out. “Like… frog spawn? Why wouldanyone want that intea?” She turns her face, looking up at me, her smile so fucking bright, so addictive.
“I dunno about frog spawn, baby,” I murmur, voice a little hoarse. But her eyes light up, and that’s enough to keep me going. “But y’know some people eat snails?”
“What?” she gasps, staring at me with those wide, pretty eyes. “People eatsnails?”
“Yeah, Red.Frenchpeople.” And I tip my chin at the big Frenchman behind us.
Her gaze snaps to Julien. “Youeatsnails?” Her voice sounds shocked, but there’s a teasing edge.
Julien sighs, settling against the back of the sofa. “Not me, in particular, mon âme. But itisFrench cuisine.”
She digests his words, nodding thoughtfully, then turns back to the screen murmuring, “Definitely need to go to France and see that.”
She has no idea how happy she’s just made big guy. Julien loves his home country, even if it holds some shitty memories.
She scrolls for a bit longer through food and drink, then swipes back to the home page. After a pause, she taps onTravel. A 3D globe blooms across the screen, rotating slowly, and Red goes still with uncertainty.
Zeek immediately jumps in. “Click anywhere,” he offers gently. “It’ll show you the country, the districts, cultural highlights...”
But she doesn’t move. Her fingers hover, frozen. I glance at Zeek warily, he does the same, until slowly, she swipes across the globe. A glowing arrow appears, marking our current location: England,and she taps it.
The screen floods with images: district names, cities, key attractions—the Entertainment District.
Another taps and neon colours wash over her face, reflecting in her wide eyes. I feel her heart pulse harder, like it’sbeating inside my own chest. She pulls the tablet closer, staring intently as the images emerge one by one—and there it is.
The Inferno.
Before the attack. A towering building with scarlet neon letters burning bright against the night sky.She makes a sound, soft and barely there.I don’t think she even realises, but we all hear it.
Wefeelit.
A hot poker straight through the fucking heart.
She said she’d stay with us, but the way she’s looking at it now…
I glance at Kane. He’s more attuned to her emotions now than any of us, and I realise we’re all doing the same thing—watching him. His dark gaze meets each of ours, one by one.
And the look on his face… I close my eyes. Sink deeper into her.
I’ll never force her to stay. None of us would. Well, maybe Kane… But we wouldn’t let him. We’d never take her choice. But the thought of her—
“Where’s the place with the large, hot baths,” she murmurs suddenly, swiping back until the globe reappears.
Zeek frowns slightly, then leans in and spins the globe to Japan and taps.
Sun-soaked shrines, vibrant blossom trees, huge snow-capped peaks, and steaming onsens spill across the screen.
“Oh,” she breathes, consuming it all.
Fuck, the way she looks right now, I’ll never get over it. The curiosity and awe, the quiet joy blooming behind her glittering eyes.
She scrolls, taking her time, stopping on one particular image and expanding it to fill the screen. It’s an onsen surrounded by and nestled high in the mountains dusted withsnow, the water a deep blue with clouds of steam hovering the still surface, one red monkey sits on the rocky edge.
