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“I’m starting to think you’re obsessed with me,” I grumble.

“Oh, good, I’m giving the right impression.” Bellamy takes the cart from me, and I don’t fight him as a yawn cracks my jaw. I’m exhausted. I spent a couple of hours late last night trying to pull up a brick wall. I didn’t make much progress. Carver had made it seem so easy to picture one, but all I’ve managed is a half wall all at once. I finally decided I might have to build the first full wall brick by brick, though by that time, I was already half asleep.

“Next time, I’ll bring coffee.”

“There doesn’t need to be a next time.” I toss a look at him.

He waits while I dip into the cafetorium, and when I return, his entire face brightens.

I point at his face. “Don’t do that.”

The vampire looks genuinely confused. “I’m not doing anything.”

Yes, he is. He’s too happy. I don’t trust it. Shaking my head, I start walking. The cart’s wheels whir over the sidewalk as Bellamy keeps pace, all too happy to be helping me do shit work. I don’t get him, but he’s here and I’m wasting time. “How long have you lived with John?”

“Long enough.”

“Cryptic.”

“I’m a man of mystery.”

Humming, I watch the branches of the large oak trees sway in the wind. “Have you ever heard of paranorms going missing?”

“Of course. Demons take paranorms all the time.”

I frown. Addy wasn’t taken by demons. I refuse to believe that. “Have you ever gone to work with John?”

“No.” He waits while I grab a cart from Crucible’s spire. When I return, he studies me thoughtfully. “Why are you so interested in him?”

“Do I need a reason?”

He gives me a look. “Everyone has a reason.”

I suddenly find the clouds very interesting. “He’s the chief justice. Does he ever do investigations?”

“I think sometimes he works on cases that are abnormal.”

Not for the first time, I wish I could remember what happened before Addy was taken away. Empty space lives where the memories should, a dark abyss that taunts me.

The illusion is manifestation of your mind.

Shoving Drake’s words all the way out of my head, I refocus. “Define abnormal.”

“I guess anything that falls outside the normal. Someone with power that hasn’t been registered before, a demon attack that falls outside of usual patterns, since that usually suggests some type of foul play.”

I chew on my cheek as we walk. Is it possible someone killed my parents? Is that why he was there?

But why would he take Addy?

That question carries me through the rest of my route, and it isn’t until I reach the facilities building that I realize Bellamy simply existed in silence with me. He helps guide the cart into the laundry room.

Oliver raises an eyebrow as we pass by his office.

I shrug in answer.

The tall man squints at the vampire, but Bellamy moves as if on autopilot, perhaps lost in the cage of his past.

Unease settles in my stomach like a stone. Maybe it’s better to not remember what happened. But I have to. For Addy. Kids don’t just disappear. Something happened.