“He cursed Clive’s name. He blamed him for leading them astray.”
“We’ve all cursed Clive,” Booker said.
I felt awkward and out of place. “Did Wesley say anything else?”
Galen’s smile was soft. “He was angry with May for messing with his memory, which was to be expected. She can’t restore it, so he had to have his reunion with Emma all over again. He was crying when I talked to him, but not in a sad way. He’ll get over his anger.”
“They’re at the ranch?” My first impulse was to drive out there to see them. Weariness caught up with me before I could make it a reality. “That’s good. I guess,” I added as an afterthought.
“Your mother wanted to wait for you,” Brody volunteered. He seemed desperate to make me feel better. “She was determined.”
“May pointed out that you could be gone for hours,” Galen added. “She convinced Emma to go to the ranch. She said she would be dropping in tomorrow, after you have your morning coffee. She’s angry that you crossed over when she told you not to.”
I scowled. “Hey, I saved the day.” I poked my chest. “Me.”
Booker cleared his throat pointedly.
“Fine, Lilac saved the day,” I corrected. “It was my idea to bring you guys over, though, so I really did save the day.”
Galen chuckled as he pulled me in for another hug, this one less fervent. “You saved the day.”
“It was a hellscape,” Lilac said. “It was just my milieu. Plus, they might have been terrifying to humans who couldn’t fight them — which is what they were banking on — but I’ve seen way worse monsters.”
“It was good you did what you did,” I told her. “Now we don’t have to worry about Bogdan crossing over to exact his revenge. He’s gone.”
“He was gone a long time ago,” Booker said. “The only one still holding onto his memory was him.”
“Are you ready to go home?” Galen asked. “We could stay here overnight but I figured there were plenty of us to fight off the zombies. I think we’d all rather sleep in our own beds.”
“You’ve got that right,” Aurora said. “Although … .” She cocked her head. “We know how the zombies got here now. Can’t we fix this situation?”
“We can at least start bandying about ideas,” Lilac confirmed. “It doesn’t have to happen tonight. They’ve been here for years. They can stay a little bit longer.”
“Later,” I agreed. “We’ll talk about it later.” I slipped my hand into Galen’s and forced a smile. “I’m exhausted.”
“You need a good night’s sleep if you’re going to start catching up with your mother tomorrow,” he said.
I was taken aback. “Do you think she’ll come see me?” I was afraid to hope.
Galen sent me a pitying look. “Baby, that’s all she wants.”
“Did she tell you that?”
“Yes, but even if she hadn’t I would have known.”
“How?”
“Because that’s all I want. I can recognize it in another person.”
I rolled my eyes. “That was so schmaltzy.”
“And I’m not the least bit sorry.”
I SLEPT LIKE THE DEAD.I didn’t fully remember my dreams but they involved a sandy beach, a coconut bra, a shirtless Galen, and frozen cocktails.
Galen was not next to me when I woke up. When I reached over to touch his side of the bed, I found the sheets cool.
He wasn’t in the shower. I cleaned up alone. He wasn’t in the kitchen when I went downstairs.
