I gasp, audibly.
“Shut up,” Winston says. “I don’t want to hear it.”
My enthusiasm withers. “You don’t want to hear me say congratulations?”
“No, I don’t want to hear you sayI told you so.”
“Yes, but I did fucking tell you so, didn’t I?” A wave of happiness moves through me, conjures a smile. I didn’t know I still had it in me.
Joy.
“I’m so happy for you guys,” I say. “Truly. You just made this shitty day so much better.”
Winston looks up, suspicious. But Brendan beams at me.
I stab a finger in their direction. “But if you two turn into Adam and Juliette clones I swear to God I will lose my mind.”
Brendan’s eyes go wide. Winston turns purple.
“Kidding!” I say. “I’m just kidding! Obviously I’m super happy for you two!” After a dead beat, I clear my throat. “No but seriously, though.”
“Fuck off, Kenji.”
“Yup.” I shoot a finger gun at Winston. “You got it.”
“Kenji,” I hear Castle call out. “Language.”
I swivel around, surprised. I thought Castle was gone. “It wasn’t me!” I shout back. “For the first time, I swear, it wasn’t me!”
I see only the back of Castle’s head as he turns away, but somehow, I can tell he’s still annoyed.
I shake my head. I can’t stop smiling.
It’s time to regroup.
Pick up the pieces. Keep going. Find J. Find Adam. Tear down The Reestablishment, once and for all. And the truth is—we’re going to need Warner’s help. Which means Castle is right, I need to talk to Warner. Shit.
I look back at my friends.
Lily’s got her head on Ian’s shoulder, and he’s trying to hide his smile. Winston flips me off, but he’s laughing. Brendan pops another piece of potato in his mouth and shoos me away.
“Go on, then.”
“All right, all right,” I say. But just as I’m about to take the necessary steps forward, I’m saved yet again.
Alia comes running toward me, her face lit in an expression of happiness I rarely see on her. It’s transformative. Hell, she’s glowing. It’s easy to lose track of Alia, who’s quiet in both voice and presence. But when she smiles like that—
She looks beautiful.
“James is awake,” she says, nearly out of breath. She’s squeezing my arm so hard it’s cutting off my circulation.
I don’t care.
I’d been carrying this tension for almost two weeks now. Worrying, all this time, about James and whether he was okay. When I saw him for the first time the other day, bound and gagged by Anderson, I felt my knees give out. We had no idea how he was doing or what kind of trauma he’d sustained. But if the girls are letting him have visitors—
That’s got to be a good sign.
I send up silent thanks to anyone who might be listening. Mom. Dad. Ghosts. I’m grateful.
