Page 56 of Cherish

A heavy weight pressing down on my head and shoulders so hard that it feels like it’s crushing me.

A lack of oxygen in the air around me, making me gasp like a fish washed up on the beach.

Just when I don’t think I can take it anymore, just when it feels like there’s no more oxygen left in my body—the heaviness lifts.

“Done,” Viola murmurs with satisfaction. “That was the last one.”

She doesn’t need to say it. I can feel it—and so can Hudson. The pressure is gone, just like that, and so is the strange buzzing that felt like it was coming from deep inside me.

I take my first real breath in several minutes, reaching down to squeeze Hudson’s hand in a silent thank-you for helping me through whatever that was.

In response, he bends down and rests his chin on my shoulder. His warm breath brushes against the curls near my cheek, and for a second, everything feels right in my world. It feels like we’re back home in San Diego, going to class, meeting with the architect for the Gargoyle Court, living the lives we’re both so grateful to have.

There’s no dangerous quest looming in front of us, no Vampire Court secrets hanging between us, no Circle edicts bent on making our lives as miserable as possible. There’s just Hudson and me and the never-ending feelings that stretch between us.

Viola leads us through a small antechamber to one more door. “I’m going to go in and let her know you’re here,” she says, waving a hand over the door so that the lock disengages from the inside.

I give her the best smile I can muster. “Thank you.”

“Of course. Though I can’t guarantee she’ll want to meet with you. She hasn’t been feeling very well the last few days.”

“We understand.”

As she slips inside the room, I exchange a worried look with Hudson. He wraps a reassuring arm around my shoulders and pulls me in for a hug. “It’ll be fine,” he whispers against my temple.

“I know,” I say, even though I don’t.

I can’t shake the fact that the Crone is gathering an army while I’m heading into the Shadow Realm, yet Mekhi is getting sicker every second we waste. And that’s before I let myself think of the midterms I’m going to miss if we don’t wrap everything up quickly and hightail it back to school.

But if Lorelei has any suggestions for how to deal with her mother, it would behoove us to take a moment and listen. Too many times, I’ve rushed into situations without gathering all the facts. For once, I know the right thing to do is to take a breath and gather information—before we head into what is still most likely going to be the death of us all.

Mirroring my thoughts, I take one, two, three deep breaths, trying to calm my racing heart.

“Hey, if you want—” Hudson breaks off as the door swings open.

Viola stands there, looking a little grim. I brace myself for the worst, but all she says is, “Lorelei is happy to see you both.”

I nod and exchange another glance with Hudson, who just smiles encouragingly at me. Okay, then. Guess we’re doing this.

“Thank you,” I murmur quietly to Viola as she moves aside to let us in.

And am completely unprepared for what I see.

33

There’s No Twinning

with You

As we enter, I can’t help but notice that neither the suite of rooms nor Lorelei is anything like what I expected. Then again, maybe it’s because Lorelei is nothing like I expected that the apartment looks the way it does.

To begin with, posters cover every available inch of wall space. BTS and Shawn Mendes and Quincy Fouse war for space with signs touting funny sayings and a slew of travel posters. The main room contains a huge, comfy-looking sectional that could easily seat ten people facing a fireplace big enough to walk in. Off to the right, I can just make out a stately four-poster bed with furry turquoise pillows. To the left is an oversize granite kitchen with clusters of tiny, globed lights hanging over the island. There’s a closed door between the main seating area and the kitchen, and I find myself wondering if she has a hallway leading to more bedrooms. Overall, the entire apartment looks set up for entertaining—like a giant dorm room—although I can’t imagine any guests relishing passing through those wards, should they want to visit.

Lorelei herself is sitting in the center of her sectional, cross-legged. She’s dressed in a BTS T-shirt and a pair of zebra-print pajama bottoms, and her long black hair is twisted up into a bun on the top of her head. She looks around seventeen, comfortable and happy, and not at all like she’s spent what must have felt like an eternity being tortured by her evil twin.

At least not until I get closer and see the dark circles under her eyes. The frailness of her arms. And the way she holds herself, like she’s trying to sit very still, so as not to move and cause herself any pain.

It makes me feel awful for her—plus furious all over again at the Shadow Queen. How could she let one of her daughters treat her other daughter like this? I know she probably physically separated them to keep Lorelei from getting hurt any more than she already had been, but she obviously did it too late. Even after all this time at the Witch Court, Lorelei looks like a stiff wind could blow her over.

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