Every moment is torture.
I stifle a groan and press my hand over my eyes. Shutting off the view only brings the images inside my head into starker relief.
Byron calling me a “fucking terror.” Gazing at me from across a card table, which he must have felt compelled to invite me to without even being able to see who I am.
Cole glowering at me from behind his desk, looming over me in the hall. Every word from his mouth like a little knife, as penetrating as the flickers of heat in his gaze.
Salvatore with his provocative nicknames and teasing hands. Heckling me even as he pulls me close, dangling promises he’d enjoy yanking away just to embarrass me.
And Asher. Racing to my rescue even when I’ve done everything I can to avoid him.Worryingabout me…
The memories condense into a ten-ton weight pressing down on my chest. Every breath strains my lungs. I don’t know how to peel myself out from under it.
I shove myself into a sitting position and cross my legs. Inhale slowly, exhale slowly. Let my thoughts flow with the peaceful rhythm. Float above the worldly conflicts.
I have all I need. I have all I need.
The ache in my chest won’t release.
No, I don’t have all I need. I need my actual matches. I need the reality I belong in.
A knock sounds on my bedroom door. Or rather, Other Elodie’s bedroom door. Not mine—none of this ismine.
I force myself to answer. “Yeah?”
Aunt Daphne’s bright voice carries through. “Can I come in?”
I press my lips against a groan. I don’t really want to deal with her unsettling mix of manic energy and barely suppressed grief on top of everything else.
But maybe…
She’s the only person who can send me home. She’s the only person I can talk to at least somewhat openly. If she’s smart enough to figure out how to yank a person across parallel universes, she’s got to be able to recognize the problems her decision caused… right?
I swing my legs over the edge of the mattress and brace my hands beside them. “Sure.”
Daphne slips inside, her airy sundress drifting around her as if she’s floating. Between that, her spindly arms, and the cloud of her tawny hair, she looks like an overgrown pixie.
She clasps her freckled hands in front of her, her big eyes intent on me. “You seemed rather… down when you joined us for breakfast and lunch. And you haven’t left the house today, after you’ve been so active… I wanted to make sure you’re all right.”
A bitter laugh snags in the back of my throat.
Am Iall right, after she’s kidnapped me from the only people who actually care about me, just to stick me as bait in front of a still-unknown murderer? Is the fancy house supposed to make up for that violation?
The trace of desperation in her voice stops me from letting out my bitterness.
It’s not as if I haven’t done plenty of awful things with equally selfish reasons.
All the same, I’d rather not risk driving her to a potentially worse decision if I outright demand to leave. I suspect my chances are much better if she comes up with the idea herself.
I lift my chin to meet her gaze. “I don’t think this is working out the way you wanted. You know I’ve been trying, looking into every avenue I can, but I still haven’t been able to give you any answers.”
Not any she wants to hear, at least. Nothing solid enough that she’d have to listen.
“Oh, honey.” Daphne perches on the bed next to me and pats my hand, oblivious to my urge to squirm away. “You’ve been giving it your best. I’m sure the trail will become clear soon. Her attacker must be laying low right now, but they’ll slip up. Just stay on your guard. I don’t want anything happening to you too.”
How long does she think she can keep saying that before it’s impossible to believe it? She knows how much I left behind when she tore me from my real home. Hasn’t she had enough time to come up with a story to hold the Devine family together?
I ease my hand out of her reach and dredge up the bigger problem that’s weighing on me. “It’s not just the investigations. Ithink… I think my being here might causemoreproblems in the long run. I’m not supposed to be in this reality. I’m throwing off other people’s lives.”
