"Dad's worried about you,” she says after a beat.
Is he worried about me, or is he worried that I won't be stable enough to help him solve his Kimi problem?
"Actually,” she drawls. “Kimi already solved her own problem."
That uncertain lilt in her voice says it all, perking my head up.What?
"She's in a lot of pain, but she claims the gene has been made dormant. Something about the witches—"
I was right.
Yeah, I know all about it. Soren told me.
Tigerlily’s face screws up in disbelief. "When? How the hell did Soren know? How is that even possible? Pa just told me before I left to come find you."
Because he marked her and he's the one who had to help her see the spell through.
"Soren marked Kimi?!" Her squeal echoes off into the tide, through the trees of the Woodlands around us. Wouldn’t surprise me if Soren just heard his name in the distance.
He did, yes. Not too long ago.That’s all I offer. It’s not my story to share and I don’t really care to discuss it.
I’m happy for Soren—really, I am. But he got his girl, she’s his forever now, and here I am, howling inside for the loss of mine.
Wide-eyed, my sister lifts a hand to her mouth. "I'm pretty sure Aiyana doesn't know that."
She doesn't. Kimi's been hiding it from her because she didn't want her trying to intervene with her plans.
"Holy crap."
A scoff through my nose is the extent of my reply. I’m done talking about this. She can go dissect it with dad all she wants. I love her to death, but I’m not doing it. I just want to be alone.
"You should really come see dad. He's worried, Tav. He knows you love her. Maybe he'll be able to help."
I nearly roll my eyes.No one can help. Wendy's gone and she's never coming back.
"Never say never."
Really? But two seconds ago you wanted to kill her? Can’t choose both sides of the coin, Lil. Either way, there’s no use in being any sort of optimistic. We both know this is where it ends. She's home now. She'll build a new life, fall in—I can’t even say it. Thinking about her falling for someone else, building a life with them…I just can’t.
"For the record, I don’t hate her. Yes, I’m furious, and if I could knock her around real quick, I would. She needs a good reality check. That doesn’t mean I’d wish anything bad on her, especially if Pa’s speculation is true.”
And what is that?
“Don't you know the story? The night they took her. How Peter was killed."
Yeah, she told me about it. Bastard was left in pieces.
"He was,” she nods. “Well, a body decomposes.”
I feel like I’m missing something. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I can hear faint alarms blaring, but I’m not following. Of course a body decomposes, unless it’s burned to ashes.
What are you saying?
"Think about it. Peter's body was left in Wendy's room. She lived in a building with other people. Someone was bound to smellsomethingcoming from her quarters."
The lightbulb doesn’t just go off. It fucking bursts, throwing my heart in overdrive.And she was missing.
Tigerlily hums, genuine worry swirling in her deep brown eyes. "Anyone would look at that situation and assume she's at fault."