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“I would have rather you didn’t stop to talk to me, but—”
“No. I mean in Fall Haven. I know you’re working at the diner to save up. Is it to go home? Back to your world?”
I thought that was obvious. “Of course, I want to go home. I didn’t ask to be here. I’m still not even sure why I am.”
“And if the opportunity came to leave, you would take it? That would make you happy?”
My lips pull between my teeth, thinking of Aldure, of the friends I’ve made. Of Rhenn. The man I can’t quite hate, even when it’s the only thing that makes sense to do. I also think of home. My real home. With Luca. I’ve become content here, but only because I had no other choice.
“Yes.”
Ashen lets out a breath. “Okay, then.” He pulls his hand from his pocket, extending a small glass vial with the words Witch’s Flash etched across it. Green liquid swooshes inside as he holds it out for me.
“Gross. What’s in that?”
“The thing you want. Your ticket home.”
“Radioactive pond water?” I scrunch my face like the murky bottle might sprout legs or something. “Pass.”
“Look, I’m just trying to make up for the shit we put you through.” He drops the bottle in my hand. “It’s a one-way thing, so hold onto it for a while. Make sure it’s what you really want.”
Ashen rises to his feet and starts to walk away.
“Wait, you’re just giving this to me?”
“Aldure can be fucking cruel, but we’re not monsters.” He pauses, glancing back at me over his shoulder. “Especially not Rhenn.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
SUMNER
Istammer down the darkening street, repeating Ashen’s words in my head. My ticket home. Though it’s impossible not to get my hopes up, I can’t help thinking it’s some kind of trick. Ashen is far from someone I fully trust. But the thought of home makes it so hard not to accept what’s been given to me as true. To sleep in my own bed, not follow anyone else’s rules, see Luca.
The memory of him brings a sting to my chest. Will he be happy with my return? Disappointed I left? I don’t even remember the last thing I said to him. Did we have plans that I broke? My world feels like a lifetime ago. How much time can pass before my silent absence becomes unforgivable?
In the end, I decide it doesn’t matter. Ashen has given me the one thing I’ve been working for. He’s given me an out and I have to take it. Tomorrow, I’ll say goodbye to Vera and the wolves. Rhenn will have his guesthouse back. He’ll finally be free of me.
Rhenn…
Why does the thought of never seeing him again make my stomach knot up? I close my eyes, trying to shove these emotions down where they belong, locked away and ignored.
It’s for the best. It has to be.
“Feeling down, cherub?” a deep voice calls from the shadows.
I pull my focus up, my attention snapping to high alert as a man in dark robes steps into view. “Tell me, what’s a little thing like you doing out here and so…alone?”
My fight or flight must be broken because I just stop and stare at him. It’s like I couldn’t move even if I wanted to. My feet are stuck.
“Surely you can talk?” the man asks, his face hidden by his hood.
“Just going home.” I offer a dry smile, trying to force my legs to work.
“Smart girl. The dark is no place for a light like you.” The hood falls away as he comes closer, and my breath catches in my throat. There is something hauntingly familiar about this man. It isn’t his tall stature or his messy dark hair.
Eyes like a deep rolling thunder cloud look back at me. A storm beautiful enough to pull you in and powerful enough to break you down. The kind of smoky metallic I’d never known until coming here.
Not just gray. Silver.
