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“Don’t be too long, Severin. She needs as much rest as she can get.”

Neeve clicked the door shut behind her, leaving us alone.

Silence settled between us. I never really knew what to say to him. As Xeniya or as Keira. I’d learned to be more gregarious and engaging with all my fake personalities, but the core of me remained the same.

The silent observer.

The girl who never knew what to say, so she simply said nothing at all.

The girl with a resting murder face.

My heart jumped into my throat.

What if he knew? What if he’d come to see me today just to confirm that I was weak and recovering from ghosting?

Severin was brilliant.

He’d figured out my main weakness from watching just one video.

Getting anything past him was nearly impossible; he’d stared me straight in the eyes and studied every curve of my face and body.

My ghost form looked different from Keira, but was it different enough?

I swallowed hard.

I didn’t fucking know. But I was going to act normal. Because nothing was wrong.

Right?

Right?

No, you hadn’t just pinned me to a wall, threatened me, and stolen the Forgotten girl from me.

Nope, all was normal.

So, so fucking, normal, Xeniya.

“You look terrible,” he said slowly.

My eyebrows drew together. I attempted a laugh, but it came out soft and broken. “Just what a girl likes to hear.”

He pressed his lips together, apparently realizing his mistake. “I mean, you’re always beautiful.”

“Doubtful.”

“Actually, even looking like a sickly mess.” He rested a gentle hand on my head. “You’re burning up.”

“Yeah.” My voice was weak. “I feel like someone took a hammer to my head. Or better yet, a screwdriver and violently twisted it around.”

“Quite the visual.”

I smiled, but even that sent a sharp pain through my head. I winced. “I have a talent with words.”

I truly didn’t.

“Why are you here, Severin?” I asked, my voice still raw.

“You weren’t answering your phone. I was worried.”