His brother shot him a weary look, but ultimately he nodded. “I agree. But first, we have to find him. Who knows where he’s run off to now?”
“If he was trying to escape the scent of Theo’s blood, he might be quite far away,” Pierce warned.
I frowned, feeling even more guilty. My experiment was a success, but had I pushed Theo too far in the process?
But our fears were quickly put to rest as we left the clinic together and found Theo and a familiar friend sitting on the clinic’s front steps together.
I gasped. “Theo! And Jordan?”
The two perked up at the sound of my voice. Theo turned around with a huge grin, and Jordan smiled widely.
“There you are,” Theo said. “We were wondering when you’d show up.”
Jordan waved timidly at Adriel. “Hi, Mr. Tenebrae.”
To my surprise, Adriel smiled back at him and returned the greeting. It was odd, but nice, to see Adriel getting along with my friend.
“Hey, dude,” Jordan said to me. “How’ve you been? I missed you at the meeting tonight.”
I gasped and then groaned. “Oh no. Jordan, I’m sorry, I completely forgot. Things have been crazy lately.”
“It’s all right. I just wondered if you were okay, is all.”
I gave him a hug, which he shyly returned.
“I promise I won’t miss any more, if I can help it,” I said.
Jordan tilted his head. “You seem to be doing a lot better. Maybe you don’t even need the meetings anymore.”
His words surprised me. I hadn’t noticed my anxiety flaring up lately, at least not at the level that it used to. Maybe time amongst Theo and his family had helped bring me out of my shell and eased my nerves more than I thought it would.
“Well, I better get home,” Jordan said. “We should, um… Maybe hang out sometime?”
“Yes,” I said, grinning. “Definitely. I’ll give you a text.”
Jordan smiled back, then said a quick goodbye to everyone before scurrying off.
“I guess we’re heading back to our place?” Theo asked. He put an arm around my shoulder and shot Adriel a wary glance, like he wasn’t sure where he stood on the matter of our relationship.
“Yes,” Adriel said. “There are some things we need to talk about.”
“Er,” I mumbled. “I know it’s important, but is it okay if we have this conversation tomorrow? I know you guys don’t get as tired anymore, but it’s been alongnight for a human.”
Pierce nodded. “Let’s go home and get some rest.”
* * *
I barely rememberedthe rest of the night, because as soon as we got home, I instantly fell asleep in Theo’s bed. I woke to him the next evening, sitting up in bed next to me. He fidgeted with a handheld video game console.
“Hey,” he said with a grin. “You slept like a brick.”
“I feel like a brick,” I muttered.
“Adriel’s been waiting for you to wake up. They’re waiting in the dining hall.”
“Okay, but first, I desperately need a shower,” I muttered.
Theo flashed his teeth in a smirk and followed me as I trudged to the bathroom. “Do you want me to join you?”
