Rory’s heart jumped in her chest at the prospect of seeing Caius tonight and the prospect of retrieving her memories.
18
Rory sat on her bed,clutching a picture of Cora to her chest. The excitement of buying a dress for tonight and getting her memories back had occupied her every thought and temporarily distracted her from what today was.
But when she brought her shopping bags to her room, Dume messaged her, and her happiness shattered on the floor. Today was the eleventh anniversary of Cora’s death, a stark reminder of why Rory went to prison to begin with.
She paused. That meant her twenty-sixth birthday was during her incarceration. Did she celebrate? Probably not. She’d hated birthdays since Cora died and tried to forget the day when at all possible. It wasn’t the same without her twin. Her friends and family knew not to bring it up, and after years of avoidance, it sometimes slipped her mind until days or weeks later. Add in a life-changing event like going to prison, and she could almost guarantee it was the last thing she thought about while in Vincula.
Good.
She knew seeking vengeance for her twin sister’s murder would only bring more heartbreak to her friends and family, but knowingBane had Cora’s soul trapped somewhere made her decision excruciating.Assuming he still had it.
The sound of the car starting was Sam’s way of letting her know it was time to go, and she crept down the stairs quietly to keep from waking her father. This day was hard on their entire family. Before getting ready, she’d left him a note and slid it under his door, telling him where she went and how much she loved him.
When they arrived at Dume’s apartment building, he stood outside and waved them down.
Rolling down her window, she leaned her elbow on the door. “Ready to go?”
He nodded with a somber smile. “I’ve never been more ready for a drink in my life.”
Every year they bought a shit ton of liquor and sat in the treehouse, reminiscing about old times when Cora was still alive. It was the one time a year Dume drank. At least, it used to be until Rory drove him to drink more.
Once at the park, they hopped out of the car and wove through the woods until they reached the massive tree that housed their childhood.
Sam surveyed the old structure. “This is impressive.”
Dume and Rory exchanged smiles. It was one of their favorite places in Erdikoa, and when they came here, even on this day, it lifted their spirits.
They hurried up the ladder, and seconds later, Sam’s head popped through the floor. “May I join you?”
“This place is big enough for even you,” Dume joked.
Sam wedged his colossal body through, and Rory held in a laugh as his broad shoulders got stuck. “Do you need help?”
He glared at her and Dume as they lost control and burst out laughing. With a final grunt, he freed his shoulders and shimmied inside.
“How will you get out?” Rory asked, imagining his feet dangling in the air.
“I will shift. Had I known the door was made for infants, I would have shifted to come up,” he replied, rendering Dume speechless.
Dume eyed him warily. “Shift?”
Sam brushed splinters of wood from his shoulders. “I can shift into any animal.”
Dume shrugged and unloaded whiskey and cola soda from his backpack cooler like it was everyday news.
Rory began mixing their drinks as Dume dropped ice into plastic cups. “Are you drinking, Sam?”
“Someone must drive you two home.” He scanned the treehouse. “Did you build this?”
After taking a drink, she smacked her lips with a loud pop. “No. We found it when we were kids. It was in terrible shape, but we used a restoration potion lacquer and elbow grease to restore it.”
“We always wondered who built it,” Dume chimed in. “Cora used to say it was theSeraphimthemselves.”
“She read too many adventure books,” Rory said with a chuckle. “She saw the world through fresh eyes.”
“Remember when she asked your mom to put her in sword fighting lessons ‘just in case’ the realm was attacked by creatures from other realms?” Dume asked, throwing his head back with a booming laugh.
