Page 55 of Stitches

“I honestly don’t care, man. I just want to go to sleep.”

“So sleep, princess.” I looked up through the nearly bare trees to the moon above us.

He let out another of his exasperated sighs. “So how is Mirage?”

“Tucked safely away,” I murmured, my heart picking up its pace.

Coming.

Close.

So close.

“That’s a shitty answer—”

I held up my hand to silence him and peeked around the tree I was leaning against to see her emerge into the clearing at full tilt. She stumbled and fell forward, crashing to the cold forest floor.

A small smile touched my lips as I pushed off the tree.

“Come, Sinclair. A small, innocent creature has stumbled in.”

He got slowly to his feet, his apprehension rolling from him in waves as he peered to where Sirena lay on the ground.

“What’s going on?” he asked, his voice filled with worry. It sounded weird coming from him, considering who he was. It was a nice change.

“I don’t know. That’s what we’re going to find out.” I walked carefully to where Sirena was, noting she sat up slowly, her body trembling like she was crying. And she was. I could practically taste her tears from where I was.

She wrapped her arms around herself as we circled her slowly.

“Hello, firefly,” I murmured, stopping in front of her and squatting so I could look at her. She was a mess. Her hair was tangled around her, there was a smudge of dirt on her face from falling, and her face was soaked with tears.

“You ran so far and so fast. Out of the house and away at last. Pretty firefly, why do you weep? Those watchers are wicked and you’re in too deep?” I cocked my head to the left at her, drinking in the silence I hated. “Why are you so quiet, my light?”

Her bottom lip wobbled. Sin stopped beside me and stared down at her. She shook harder. Her chest heaved. More tears.

“She’s afraid of you,” I said, continuing to study her.

“What happened?” he demanded, ignoring my words. “What’s going on? Where are the guys?”

I looked up at the sky for a moment before closing my eyes.

“Ah, Church is mad, and that makes her sad. Little firefly fell asleep and that was bad.”

“Enough with the children’s rhymes. Is everyone OK?”

“They’re worried.” I smiled. “They should be because look what fell into our laps, Sinclair. A pretty little firefly, far from home. Tell me, Sirena, what are you willing to do to be safe?”

She cried harder, hugging her small body tighter. I loved the way she trembled for me.

“Sirena, do you know who I am?” I asked, hoping for some sort of communication from her. I hated how she only spoke in silence since I’d released her.

She sobbed harder.

Of course, she knows. Take her home.

Let her run so you can chase! Chase! CHASE!

I let out a wild cackle.

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