“If you want me here, that is,” I muttered, her surprise making me bitter.
“Of course, we want you here,” Claire said, rolling her eyes as she walked past me to sit next to Astrea on their couch. Their room was huge, one king sized bed in the right side of the room, and a sort of living room to the left. They had on a movie I didn’t recognize, both of them looking cozy with blankets.
“Everything okay?” Astrea asked as I sat down on the only armchair.
“Yeah,” I replied, clearing my throat. “I just needed to make sure we were okay.”
They both looked at me with confusion. “Why wouldn’t we be?” Astrea questioned, looking me over.
“Because you two rarely leave your room? Because even though the danger has passed, I still don’t see you? Or maybe, because I mighthave believed you would seek me out as I did with you both at first. But now, I’m unsure what you want.”
They blinked, then Astrea sat up from where she’d laid comfortably before. “I didn’t know you felt that way.”
I could only nod.
She sighed. “I’m sorry, Felix. I never meant for you to feel abandoned. I, um. I’m still struggling, okay? I mean, I’m getting better each day, but I still lost five years of my life. It felt like I blinked and in an instant five years had passed without me. It still surprises me when I see the news.”
Oh.
“I hadn’t thought about that,” I admitted.
She gave me a soft smile. “I know, but I’ve told Claire. She’s been helping me every day, showing me, or telling me, a bit about the world as it is now. It helps. I don’t like feeling overwhelmed.”
“I get that,” I agreed, feeling stupid for thinking it had something to do with me. Of course she would need time to adjust, but instead of being understanding, I’d taken it personal.
“Then there’s you,” she continued, giving me her full attention.
“What about me?”
“The Felix I knew had just started making potions and infusing crystals. You were too afraid to date around, because as you’d put it, ‘you didn’t have time for that shit.’” I grinned, because that had been exactly what I had told them when they’d pestered me about my dating life. “And now you’re bonded to a vampire,” she finished.
“And living in a castle,” I added, because that had to be said. She laughed and Claire did, too.
“Maybe you should mention all of it,” Claire said, nudging my sister with her elbow. “Better to let it all out there.”
Okay, that had me worried.
Astrea met my gaze. “I also feel guilty.”
I tilted my head in question.
“You worked your butt off to get enough money to free me from my curse, money you’ll never see again.” She shook her head. “I feel like because of me, you lost five years of your life, too. And that thought is eating me alive.”
I abandoned my chair, moving over so I could hug my sister. “Let’s agree on blaming the Silver Lock Coven for everything and not ourselves. Okay? They don’t deserve to still haunt us.”
She choked out a laugh. “Deal.”
“No, the killer is clearly the handsome one,” Claire argued, pointing at the screen with her fork. “It has to be.”
“No, no,” Astrea intervened. “It’s always the ugly ones with scars.”
“Pfft. It is not!”
I enjoyed listening to their bickering. It was so familiar, I could almost imagine I was back in Gran’s old house with them.
“See!” Astrea jumped up from the couch in victory, gesturing wildly to the TV where the villain was finally caught. “Told you!”
“Yeah, yeah,” Claire waved her off.
