Page 79 of Dark Night Golden Dawn
Harlow’s mouth fell open at his tone. Was hemadather? Axel perched next to Enzo in the kitchen and together they glared at her. “What did I do to the two of you?” she grumbled.
Enzo shook his head, flinging his hands into the air. “Why is this so hard for you to get? When you do this, when you retreat like this—it hurts everyone who loves you.”
Harlow sat on the bed, her chest tightening. “I needed space.”
Her best friend rolled his eyes. “Yeah, and what about me? What happened with us when you were with Mark was one thing. And babe, I take responsibility for not knowing the right thing to do when all that went down, but youcannotdisappear on me again.Do you understand?”
She’d been staring at her hands as he talked, but the sound of the shake in his voice caused her to look up. Grief, deep echoing grief, ricocheted on Enzo’s face. Harlow leapt up, throwing her arms around him. She didn’t need to be an empath to know he was thinking about how lonely he was without his parents.
“I’m sorry. You’re right. I’ve been a bad friend.”
He hugged her back and she felt the smooth comfort of his magic envelop her. “Why can’t you call Finn and tell him that too?”
Harlow pulled back, sighing. She walked out onto the terrace. The air was warm and balmy today, weak sunlight filtering through the usual haze over Ambracia Bay. Enzo followed her, plopping down in the single plastic chair, munching a plate of parm fries. She stole a couple before answering.
“Because it’s complicated. I went about things the wrong way, and I’m honestly not sure why I gotsomad, but what I said stands up. Did Riley tell you what Finn did?”
Enzo smiled, slouching down in the chair. “This chair is awful,” he said, disdain for the cheap plastic monstrosity in his eyes. “Actually, Petra and Finn both told me. Riley is a vault.”
Harlow froze. “PetraandFinn?”
He handed her the plate. “Yousit here and tell me this is a chair worth keeping.” She laughed. The chairwasawful; the other had fallen apart a few days ago, and this one was on its last legs. She let her shadows out, thinking of the plastic chairs they had at the cabin, the ones that were much, much more comfortable. The chair shifted under Enzo, until he was sitting on an exact replica of the cabin chairs.
“Better?” she asked.
“Much.” She started eating the fries, a signal that Enzo should keep talking. “Yes, they asked Riley and I over for dinner. Your whole family was there, actually, and Cian Herrington.”
Harlow’s stomach flipped. They’d all met without her?
Enzo saw the face she was making. “You’ve said no to everything, Harlow. We all needed to talk about what’s going on and we couldn’t wait for you.”
She slid down to sit on the ground, propping her feet in Enzo’s lap. “Fair. So what’s up?”
“No news on Mark, or Olivia. No one has seen either of them.”
Harlow nodded. She’d expected as much.
“Mark’s dad is gone too.”
“What?”
Enzo shook his head. “If you’d been checking the news, you’d know. He’s missing.”
“That seems bad,” Harlow said.
“Yeah… And shit gets worse… Finn confronted his parents about Petra.”
Harlow felt her eyebrows raise until her forehead ached. “He did?”
“Yes. And that didnotgo well. The McKays outed her to her parents. She’s out of their will and cut off financially. They paid for her apartment and car, of course. I guess she got fired from her job at their company too.”
Harlow wasn’t sure what to think about that. “Is she okay?”
Enzo stared off into the distance. “You know, it’s weird, I’ve disliked her nearly our whole lives. She’s always been such a miserable person to be around… But she’s different now. She waskindat the dinner, which was at Alaric’s by the way, and the food was excellent. She’s staying there now. She’s still a little… blunt… sometimes, but maybe that’s just Petra.”
“No one should have to live like she was,” Harlow said, her voice quiet. “I’m glad Finn stood up for her. Did he tell her he was going to do that?”
Enzo nodded, leaning forward to steal a handful of fries. “Yes, he asked her first, and I guess she said that she’d rather face the consequences with her parents than think he didn’t care enough to stand up to them. They worked their shit out.” Harlow’s breath caught in her throat as she bit her lip. “Can I give you some advice, Harlow?”
