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Dr. Seth Fairchild

Consulting Psychiatrist

Greenbank Psychiatric Facility

Chapter Thirteen

Valli

Leni and I are at Ares’s Bar catching up. I have been so busy entertaining Noa and Cipher’s families I feel like I have been neglecting her. She says it’s fine, that she likes seeing me happy, and Khodi has been occupying a lot of her time anyway. Her face goes pink every time she talks about him, which I find cute. I only hope she doesn’t get her heart broken when she goes back to school.

The door to the bar opens, and Nixie pops her head in and scans the room, stopping when she spots me. She walks in, but there is no smile. Something is wrong.

“I need you,” she says. “Bring Noa and Cipher to the shed as well, alone.”

“What’s wrong?” I ask, panic washing through me.

“Just hurry. Twenty minutes.”

She walks away before I can ask anything else, and I stand there frozen.

“Hey,” Leni says, snapping me out of my trance. “Whatever it is, you can handle it. I will find something for Noa’s and Cipher’s families to do to keep them busy.”

I nod silently, not trusting myself to speak right now. Tears well in my eyes as I leave the bar to get Noa, who is at the cornfield decorating the outer trees with his brother. When I approach them, Noa takes one look at my face and runs over.

“Shit, what’s wrong?”

“We need to find Cipher.”

“He’s at the shed—let’s go. But first, I need you to tell me what’s wrong.”

I sniffle. “I don’t know.”

Noa nods and turns back to his brother. “Finish the trees, and I’ll be back when I can.”

Lach doesn’t argue as Noa takes my hand, and we walk in silence the entire way to the shed. It is so unlike Noa, but I appreciate it.

Cipher is at his workbench, but he jumps up the second he sees I’m crying.

“Nixie is coming—something about Cave,” I blurt out.

“What has she heard?” Noa asks.

I shrug. “I don’t know yet.”

“News on Christmas Eve from Nixie isn’t going to be good. Shit. This is supposed to be a joyful day,” Noa says, filling the room with restless energy. “I’m filled with the opposite of joy right now.”

“Noa,” Cipher growls.

“I’m fine, I promise. Okay, that’s a lie. I’m not fine.”

“We don’t know it’s bad,” Cipher tries to reassure us.

“What if it is, though?” Noa asks him.

Cipher puts a hand on each of Noa’s shoulders. “Then we deal with it the same way we have been—together.”

Noa looks at the door. “Cave better come home soon, I’m running out of holes to dig.”