Page 83 of Cherish

When we get to the dining room, the others are already there, chatting with Arnst and Maroly while they eat. I scan my friends’ faces as I sit down, trying to figure out how everyone is doing.

They all seem fine. Flint and Jaxon are sitting on opposite ends of the table from each other, which sadly seems to be par for the course lately, but they’re acting totally normal otherwise, so I don’t know what to think of it. Eden and Heather have their heads close together as they talk about something I can’t quite hear. And Macy…well, Macy seems just like she did yesterday.

Her green hair is spiked out in all directions. Her eyes are heavily made up with black liner, just like yesterday, and today that same shade of black has made it onto her lips and fingernails.

Somehow it suits her just as well as the rainbow hair and glitter she was rocking when I first met her—she looks cool as hell like this—but it still makes me sad.

Ugh. No wonder she and Hudson are such good friends. Underneath all the surface stuff, they deal with their shit exactly the same way. By locking it deep inside themselves and putting up no-trespassing signs all over the place so they can suffer alone.

The fact that they are no longer alone doesn’t seem to make it any easier for them to deal, no matter how much I wish it did.

It matters to me, though, and as soon as we fix Mekhi and Lorelei, I’m going to make sure they both know I am a gargoyle—I can be as patient as a stone. And while they both have a hell of a lot of resolve on their sides, I will wait as long as it takes, be the wall they lean on when they’re ready to let someone in.

It’s that thought that has me grabbing a plate and filling it from the spread in the kitchen before finding a seat next to my cousin.

“Hey,” I tell her as I sit down. “I like the new lipstick.”

She just nods before taking a huge bite of her parmallow roll, then making the can’t-talk-mouth-full gesture. It’s all I can do not to roll my eyes. But that’s okay. Like I said, I can be patient.

Breakfast goes by quickly, with Arnst and Maroly giving us advice on the best way to get to Adarie, since last time we were here—or, in their minds,Hudsonwas here—we had to flee over the mountains. Hudson and Smokey join us halfway through, and my heart still jumps just a little at the sight of him.

He’s fresh out of the shower, his hair still damp and falling over his forehead in the natural look that is my favorite on him. And when he slides into the chair next to mine, he smells good. Really good, like amber and ginger and just a touch of sandalwood.

I don’t say anything to him, but when he bumps my leg under the table, I can’t help but glance his way. And the crooked little half grin he gives me—the one he uses when he knows he’s in trouble and is ready to get out of it—has me melting despite my best intentions.

It pisses me off just enough that I narrow my eyes at him. Which only makes him grin wider, because he knows he’s got me. The jerk.

I don’t say anything, though. Instead, I just smile sweetly as I pour him a cup of tea. And do a little celebratory dance inside when I see the slightest bit of wariness creep into his gaze.

Apparently, he knows me as well as I know him.

I guess we’ll find out soon enough if that’s a good thing or a bad one.

46

A Very Gated

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“I’ve got to say, not going through the mountains definitely makes this trip easier,” I comment as we make it to the outskirts of Adarie several hours later. Being able to fly made the tripsubstantiallyquicker and easier than the last time Hudson and I passed through here.

“I don’t know. I kind of liked the mountains,” Hudson answers. His voice is casual, but when he glances at me, there’s a heat in his eyes that has my heart stuttering in my chest.

I know he’s remembering the cave—and everything that happened there—because I am, too. It feels nice to actually remember our first…everythings together.

“So now what?” Eden asks, staring up at the huge purple stone wall that surrounds the town. The new, fancy-looking gate—built after the Shadow Queen’s breach—is locked up tight. Worse, there doesn’t seem to be anyone around who can open it for us.

“We could fly over,” Flint suggests.

“No, we ring the bell,” I correct, pulling on the cord that connects to the watchtower.

The bell tolls, and a sleepy-looking guard peers down at us. Adarie’s people don’t go many places, but they also don’t get many visitors, except during Starfall.

“State your business,” he yells down at us.

“We’ve come for a visit,” Hudson calls up.

His eyes widen when he hears the British accent. “Hudson?” he asks, and as he leans over, I get a better look at his face and realize he’s Nyaz’s oldest son.

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