Page 61 of Veil of Death and Shadow

“I do, but?—”

“And I would like the chance to maybe talk outside of a building filled with my patients. That’s all. I don’t have a ton of friends or free time, and I just think it might be a nice change of pace for us both. To get away from here, away from Frank’s for a night.” He shrugged. “I’m not asking or expecting anything more than that. A change of scenery.”

“That’s all?” I asked.

“Look,” he sniffed, his smile turning coy, “I’m notnothoping you might change your mind on the dating front at some point. But I’m also good with just friendship.” He grabbed the pile of bandages I’d sorted through and started placing them in the different bins he liked to keep stocked in the various rooms. “And to be clear, I don’t mean to suggest that friendship is a consolation prize. I like talking to you. I think we are good at talking to each other. I would just like to be good at talking to each other somewhere that isn’t here.”

I laughed, considering him for a moment. This broke my rules, but would chatting with him over a meal really be all that different, more dangerous, than what we did every day in the med center? “Okay, Aidan.”

“Okay?” He straightened; face drawn in shock. He hadn’t really expected this approach to work, had he? “As in you’ll go?”

“Tomorrow.” Truthfully, a little company wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.

Sora had been so busy in the last week that I’d hardly spoken more than a few words to her outside of the dinner shifts.

Between the diner, her salon, and a new mystery person she’d been seeing, but refusing to talk about, we’d been like two ships passing in the night.

Some ships sink, not all ships sink, I reminded myself.

Aidan was right, barring the slight awkwardness between us since the first time he’d asked me out, our conversation had always been easy. Enjoyable. There was no reason we couldn’t go back to that. Maybe a different setting would even help—shed some of the heaviness that came with working at the med center, surrounded by pain and death all day long.

My walk back to Frank’s had been an odd one.

You know that very strange prickling sensation, the one you only got when someone was watching you or following you? Well, I had it the entire time. A sixth sense tingling at the back of my neck.

Twice, when I looked back, I noticed a strange man.

Both times, he kept a few blocks behind me, like he was trying to keep some distance, and I couldn’t see his face. He wore a hood—an odd choice for June in Seattle, but whatever—and between that and the early morning rays of the sun, it was difficult to get a proper look at him.

When I got to Frank’s, he’d disappeared, but I locked the front door, just to be safe.

I doubted we’d have any customers for a few hours, other than maybe Claudine in a bit, so I ran upstairs to see if I could spot the hooded figure from the windows and the safety of our apartment.

Sora left after the early breakfast shift and wouldn’t be done with her clients until late tonight, which meant I had the place to myself.

Again.

I used to enjoy the solitude, but lately it was starting to feel almost like a prison. There were no distractions when I was alone with my thoughts.

And it wasn’t like the old days. We now had generally reliable electricity, but the internet hadn’t reached the capacity that it had in the past. I couldn’t doom scroll or watch videos from my favorite creators, people I’d never met but somehow convinced myself I cared about—the things I used to do create the illusion of connection. In some ways, it was better this way, but in a lot of ways, it was worse. Especially since I did my best to keep my in-real-life relationships surface level.

I opened the window in the kitchen, letting in some fresh air, and stepped out onto the balcony to survey the street below.

No mysterious, ominous stalker.

I relaxed against the railing, feeling a little ridiculous for being so paranoid in the first place.

The whole being-alone-so-much thing was clearly getting to me.

Dinner with Aidan would be good. Necessary, maybe.

Oddly, despite the fact that we lived above a diner, there wasn’t much food in our place, so I grabbed a glass of water and sipped it while I watched the people pass below.

Something soft brushed against my hand, and the shock of it sent the glass spiraling to the ground. The crash of it shattering against the pavement echoed through the street.

Fuck. I loved that glass. It was from the Before, and it wasn’t like I could just order another one online and have it delivered to my doorstep in a day or two.

Black feathers eclipsed my field of vision, and I took a few steps back to let the little hellion in through the sliding door.

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