My glass freezes halfway to the table. “What.”
“He is French,” she says, her tone too calm, like this is common knowledge. Like I’m supposed to know. Maybe it came up, and I just don’t recall?
“No!” I wail, throwing my hands in the air. “Why does he have to ruin everything?!”
Sue watches me for a moment, then sighs, her own eyes welling up. But before we can take another sip, a sharp cough breaks through the haze of laughter.
We both freeze. Slowly we turn toward the sound. There, leaning casually against the doorframe, is… someone. His arms are crossed, his gaze fixed on us, one brow raised. Who could that be? I stare, blinking.
Everything is so blurry all of a sudden.
“Who is that?” I whisper loudly to Sue, squinting.
Sue chokes on her drink, turning it into a cough. “Adeline, that is Kai.”
“Kai?” I say, tilting my head as I study him. “No, it’s not. That’s not Kai. That’s…” I wave my hand in his direction. “Some kind of angel?”
Kai’s expression doesn’t change. “Angel?” he repeats, his tone flat. “Adeline, how much have you had to drink?”
I ignore the question, leaning closer to Sue. “Do you see him? He’s glowing. Angels glow, right?”
Sue is biting her lip, clearly trying not to laugh. “Yes, Adeline. Angels glow.”
“That’s what I thought.” I nod sagely, then turn back to Kai. “Hey, can I touch your wings?”
Sue loses it, doubling over with laughter, while Kai just stares at me, unamused. “It’s me,Soreya.”
Sue stops laughing.
“Kai?” I squint harder, as I lean forward until I’m practically falling out of my chair. Then it hits me, and my stomach flips the way when I hear that he called methat.“Oh my god, itisyou! You’re real!”
“Yes,” he says dryly.
I’m out of my chair before I even realize it, stumbling toward him. “Kai!”
“Adeline…” he starts, but I’m already poking him in the chest.
“Are you okay? You’re not hurt, right? Because you look fine. Too fine. Which probably means you’re not fine.”
Kai just stares at me. “That’s your logic?”
I gasp, clutching his sleeve now. “Oh my god, what if youarehurt? What if you’re just covering it up because you think it’ll make you look tougher? That’s exactly what you’d do!”
Behind me, Sue snorts into her glass. “She’s not wrong.”
“Not helping,” Kai says without looking at her.
I keep going, words tumbling faster now, half under my breath. “Maybe you’ve been in some kind of fight. Or maybe you haven’t slept in days. Or maybe you’re secretly bleeding out somewhere—oh my god, Kai, are you bleeding out? Do you need a bandage?”
Kai catches my wrists before I can start patting him down for wounds. “Adeline,” he says slowly, like he’s talking to someone who’s half-feral. “I am not bleeding out.”
I blink at him, suspicious. “You’d say that even if you were.”
Kai lets out a slow, exasperated breath. “Adeline, you’re drunk.”
“No,you’redrunk,” I respond in the best way I can think of, poking him in the arm this time.
“And you’re done for the night,” he says, rolling his eyes.
