“Silva!” I huff. “I love you, I do, but you're not my big sister, and you’re not responsible for me. We’re twins, equals. We protect each other. I hate it when you go into town alone, it’s not safe.”
“I don’t want to risk you,” she says, green eyes hard as emerald stones.
“And what? I should keep letting you go alone, so if something bad happens, it happens to you and not me?”
“Exactly.”
“You’re crazy, you know that?”
“Not the first time I’ve been told that.” She shrugs.
“I’m going. That's final.”
“Lexi, just stay here. I won’t be long.”
“No.” I shake my head, grabbing my coat. “I’m coming. And if you try to stop me, I’ll just follow you.”
“Fine,” she huffs. “But we’re in and out. No talking to people, and try not to look like we are hiding something.”
“That I can do.”
As soon as we step out into the cool winter breeze, I shiver and clamp my teeth together, not letting Silva see. I don’t need theI told you soshe would no doubt give me.
Thankfully, we’re dressed for the weather, but the walk is brutal. By the time we get into town and stop for a coffee and to warm up, my feet are frozen, and I regret coming. Still, there was no way I was going to stay alone at the house again and worry for hours on end about whether my sister was going to make it back.
“Warm or iced coffee?” she asks me as I rub my hands together, blowing warm air on them.
“Warm, please.”
She huffs, a small smile curving her lips. “That's surprising. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you drink it warm.”
“Well, I think a day like today calls for it.”
She orders while I get us a table far away from everyone, but close to the cute little fireplace they have.
Once I start to warm up, I take a moment to look around. It’s mid-January in Washington, and the weather is awful. I hate snow, and so does my sister. It makes us both grumpy bitches. If we could hibernate and wake up in spring, we would.
We didn’t last past the first night with the no-lighting-a-fire rule. Unless we wanted to die, we needed the heat. Thankfully,we’re so far out in the middle of nowhere—it’s literally a damn two-hour walk—that no one has seemed to notice.
A few minutes later, Silva joins me, handing me my coffee. “Careful, it’s hot.”
“That’s fine, I’ll use it as a hand warmer for now,” I laugh.
We sit in silence, not wanting to have a conversation that would draw attention to ourselves. It’s kind of nice, though. The sound of people coming and going, the laughter and chatter of people around us.
By the time we’re done with our coffees, we’re warmed up enough to get going.
As we leave the coffee shop, I get a weird feeling like someone is watching us. Looking around, I try to see what it could be.
“What’s wrong?” Silva asks, sensing my unease.
“Nothing,” I murmur, my eyes going back to hers. “I just have a weird feeling.”
She looks around, on high alert. “Come on.” She takes my hand. “Let’s do our shopping and get back. It’s a long walk, and I want to get home before dark.”
Nodding, I follow her.
An hour later, we have everything we need.
