An hour later, I was walking through Central Park to meet up with Sara-Kate. It took some convincing, but I told Tiffany I just needed to give Sara-Kate back her notes she had let me borrow and that I’d be home soon to rest.
For whatever reason, I told Sara-Kate to meet me at the Obelisk monument. You’d think with all my nightmares, I would stay far away from this particular part of the park. But there was a subtle yearning, a pull, not like the Twinflame tether, but something more innate that drew me back to this particular place. I felt wary, but not unsafe. I reinforced my own mental and physical shields, making myself invisible to any Stonebound or death echoes that could be waiting for a Bloodwright to appear.
I saw Sara-Kate sitting on the same bench I had satwith my Nana when I last dreamed of this place. She was staring wide-eyed at the Obelisk monument, her head cocked to the side in wonder. I felt sick, wondering if the pendant in my pocket would even be enough at this point.
“Hey Sara-Kate.” I spoke gently, sitting next to her. “Thanks for meeting me.”
She turned slowly, as if she couldn’t bear to take her eyes off the stone before us. “Hey Mari.” The dark circles under her eyes were worse; the exhaustion evident in her dark brown eyes. “What’s up?”
“I hope you didn’t have to come all the way from Brooklyn to meet me here,” I replied, remembering how Sara-Kate told me she and her mom were planning to stay with her grandmother for the break.
She waved away my concern. “Oh no, we aren’t heading over there until later tonight, so this is actually perfect timing.”
I breathed a little easier, hoping that some distance might be good for her.
“I just wanted to thank you.” I began, my voice cracking with emotion. “I never had to ask you to be a good friend. You just were, from the moment we met.” Tears stung the back of my eyes as I pulled the pendant from my pocket. “And I know we’ve only been friends for a short while, but you’re the best friend I’ve ever had, and I wanted you to have this. It was my Nana’s, and it always gave me some luck and comfort, so maybe it will help you feel better.”
Sara-Kate sat up straighter, stunned before throwing her arms around me, tears streaming down her face. “You are literally the most precious human being. Thank you, Mari.”
We laughed and smiled through our tears as I latched the pendant around her neck. Her hand fell to it, the worry in her eyes seemingly melting away.
“This is gonna sound crazy, but I actually feel a little better.” She laughed, pulling me into another tight hug.
Relief flooded through me. Maybe this would actually work and Sara-Kate would be okay after all. Maybe I was overreacting and imagining things because Sara-Kate was still here and she hadn’t lost a family member.
But as I clung to my best friend, I gently prodded on the bond between Alaric and me, hoping he could feel my relief and perhaps reassure me. But there was only silence. No tug, no warmth, no movement between us. And that made me more afraid than anything.
The bond and my cellphone were strangely quiet all day on Thanksgiving. I had been up since 7am when Tiffany had gotten both me and Dan up to watch theMacy’sThanksgiving Day parade from both the living room window and the TV. All three of us sat huddled together on the bay window bench, pointing out the different floats and giant inflatable characters that lazily meandered by our apartment building, only glancing at the television to take in the Broadway and pop star performances that took place right in front ofMacy’s. I texted Sara-Kate to see if she was watching the parade too. I smiled in spite of myself as Sara-Kate’s sarcastic, “DUH!” response came through.
Dinner was quiet, but cozy, nostalgic even. Like I could feel in the moment that this day was one to remember, a warm memory that I would cherish years from now. Dan and I helped Tiff with the side dishes as she cooked the turkey she and Iris had prepared the day before. There was too much food—green bean casserole, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, roasted Brussel sprouts, ham, cranberry sauce, and turkey, of course. We ate until we were stuffed, packing up the rest of the food into the fridge, which could easily feed at least 10 more people.
Later that evening, all three of us went for a walk through Central Park, this time avoiding the Obelisk and taking in the picturesque sights and sounds of New York in late November. The day had flown by in such a blur of family activity that I actually forgot about everything that had to do with being a Bloodwright or a Twinflame. The warm feeling of family enveloped me every time I looked at Tiffany or Dan. I walked a few paces behind them, watching as they held hands, heads huddled together, looking more like they were conspiring together rather than making future Christmas plans.
But as we rounded the corner, heading back to the apartment, a sharp blow reverberated through me, like a slap across the face. I stood frozen, still reeling from the intense physical and emotional pain that echoed deep in my gut. It took me another moment to realize it wasn’t me that was feeling this pain, this emotional abuse. No one had hit me. But someone had hurt Alaric. And it made me realize that Alaric’s Thanksgiving was nothing like mine.
Chapter Eighteen
The car ride from the city up to Alaric’s cabin in the Adirondack Mountains was tense and awkward, to say the least. His father sat up front with their driver, leaving Alaric and me in the backseat where he sat as far from me as physically possible, cramming himself against the window where he kept his gaze fixed on the blurring landscape we passed. Completely out of character with how he greeted me in the apartment only hours before.
He and his father had been charming when picking me up, coming all the way to the apartment door to fetch me and reassure Tiffany and Dan that there would be plenty of rest and parental supervision. Both of them smiled confidently, Alaric pulling me close to him, the bond finally feeling whole, as if the distance of the past two days had left us both with an all-encompassing ache that only each other’s presence would fix. I had almost fallen for his easy-going smile, the way his arm snaked around my waist, his thumb making lazy circles on the small of my back. I almost believed that maybe I had been overreacting when it came to the missing pages from the book in the library, from my father’s missing ring, that maybe Sara-Kate was really okay and not emerging as a Bloodwright. I was prepared to ask him about the pain, both physical and emotional, I had felt last night. I had been worried all night, but didn’t reach out, unsure of how to broach the subject. But later, when we were alone, I would ask. I would check in.
But as soon as we were out of the watchful eye of Tiffany, his gaze turned cold, his hand dropping, and I felt the ache within the bond flare up once more. He kept his shield up, keeping the silence between us, both physical and through the Twinflame bond.
The car was silent now, only the sound of Christmas music gently playing from the radio. Their driver, Mr. Thomas, had tried to make polite conversation with me, asking about school and how I was liking living in New York compared to Georgia. We conversed occasionally until Richard finally glared toward the driver, the only time he glanced away from his phone that he was constantly on the entire five-hour drive. Mr. Thomas didn’t ask me any more questions after that.
We finally pulled up to an expansive house that looked more like a mansion versus the cozy cabin in the woods I had been picturing. The three-story cabin was tucked into the woods, overlooking a frozen lake. The air surrounding the place shimmered with what I had come to recognize as protection wards, most likely from Stonebound and death echoes. The driver seemed unaware of the wards, simply pulling into the circle drive and parking in front. All three men hurriedly got out of the car: Richard heading to unlock the front door, Mr. Thomas to the trunk to fetch the luggage, and Alaric coming around the corner to open my door for me.
I looked up at him as he opened the door, willing him to look at me or say something. But he simply opened the door, his gaze fixed on something in the distance, and then led me to the front door that stood wide open. I fought the tears that stung the back of my eyes and the sinking feeling in my stomach that made me want to beg Mr. Thomas just to take me back to the city.
I walked through the foyer into the living room, taking in the dark woodwork and tall ceilings. There was a floor to ceiling window overlooking the frozen lake with a large fireplace to the right. Two couches sat across from each other with a table in the middle, several blankets casually laid about, making the whole room look homey. But the tension easing off of both Alaric and Richard made the warmth radiating from the roaring fire feel more like ice.
“I’ll show you to your room.” Alaric finally spoke, his tone somber and serious as he took my hand, leading me away from his father who stood in the doorway, watching us carefully.
I simply nodded, following him up to the third floor where a reading nook and two bedrooms were tucked away. He opened the door to a small but comfortable guest room with a bathroom attached for privacy. There was a balcony that opened out to the lake, the mountains in the distance shimmered in the incoming twilight, the sky a beautiful pink and purpleas the sun began to dip below the horizon.
My bag was already in my room, sitting at the end of the bed. I held myself as I looked out over the lake, the quiet feeling foreign after living in the city for so long.
“Dinner will be ready in about an hour.” Alaric turned, ready to close the door and leave.
