“Hello?”I asked, my heart in my throat.
No one answered, and I thought I must have been hearing things.
Madness...maybe that’s part of the whole lost soul thing, right?
Except just as I slid my hands in my pockets and set forth toward our cabin, Ifeltsomeone grasp my hand.The feeling was cold, like ice.
I jumped, turning around once more, but there was no one there.
What the hell?
Panic and fear ran through me because I thought I really must have been losing my mind.I needed to find my body.I needed to find myself so everything could go back to normal.
What is normal?My psyche asked.
Being left alone like a houseplant and hoping to get enough sunlight to live?
I shoved the thoughts away and moved faster down the aisle toward our cabin.
I wasn’t sure what was happening, but maybe Endor or Valory would have an answer.
So that’s what I held onto.
I knocked once before entering, not missing the rustle of sheathing feathers or the thudding sound of Valory shifting in her seat.
The first thing I saw was Val’s pink cheeks.The second thing I saw was a look ofhurtin Endor’s eyes.
I recognized that look.My dad had gotten it every year when it was my mother’s birthday.
I should feel proud, or at least victorious, because I knew what that look meant.
It meant that I wasrightabout one thing, and that was that my supernatural chaperones had it bad for one another.
Which, that alone was like the storyline of the century.
An angel and a demon?
That was peak enemies to lovers if I ever heard it, but...
I didn’t have it in me to ooh and ahh over my guardians’ budding romance when I couldn’t shake the goosebumps on my skin, or the feeling like I was being watched.
You’re probably just paranoid from being kidnapped.Stressed because your body’s out there somewhere...
“Have a nice trip?”Valory asked, her voice betraying no hint of difference.
Endor shifted in his seat, flashing his gaze at me.That look...the sadness in his eyes, the fall of his shoulders...
My memory tugged at my heart as I thought about all the nights I’d found my dad, three or four beers in, staring at mom’s photos.
It was the only time he’d let me hug him without grumbling.
Mom always said emotion was easier forempathslike us.But for men like my dad—men who’d been conditioned to thinkfeelingmade them less than—it was more difficult.But difficult as it was, it didn’t mean they didn’t need a hug or comfort just like the rest of us.
So, I sat next to Endor, noted the shift in his stance, the momentaryrelief, and I thought maybe I was not the only person in the cabin who knew something about loneliness.
“Uh, sure...”I said.
“What is it?”he asked, his dark gaze focusing on me.
