“Are you okay?” she asked, reading my thoughts.
“I am right now.” I couldn’t hold back any longer. “Why didn’t you visit me in jail?”
She instantly spun, looking at me. “I did twice, but they told me I wasn’t on the list.”
I nodded. “I figured.”
“Did you?”
“I hoped it was the reason.”
“Did you think otherwise?”
“All I had time to do was think.”
“How bad?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It does to me. I want to know everything.”
“Everything?”
“Yes,” she reaffirmed, peering deep into my eyes.
“I keep seeing Melody…”
Her stare widened. “Your mom?”
“Yeah,” I rasped.
“What did she say?”
“She was sorry.”
“I see.”
“So I don’t sound crazy?”
She shook her head. “Of course not.”
I arched an eyebrow. “I’m seeing my dead mom, and that seems normal to you?”
“Nothing about what happened to you is normal, Julius. Our lives have never been normal, and we’re all just dealing with the cards we were dealt.”
“What do you want to do, Isla?”
“You mean about us or?—”
“About everything. In a perfect world, what would you want?”
She licked her lips, and I followed the movement of her tongue.
“I don’t believe in fairy tales, Julius.”
“And what if we’re one, huh? What if I’m your hero?”
She eyed me skeptically. “Does that make Kraven the villain?”
