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Chapter 24

I don't leave my room for the next few days.

What's the point?

The only thing I do is eat, barely, and talk to my parents.

My dad woke up yesterday but is still too weak to talk.

My mom keeps trying to sound cheery, but I know she's just doing it for my sake.

It's almost funny when you think about it. The way I keep hitting new lows. I think the things that have happened to me are the worst, but then something new happens, and I get a new worse.

On the 30th, there's a knock on my door.

Someone usually leaves food at it at specific times, there's never a knock. And I know it isn't Seb, Grey, or Lilian because they all have functions now.

"Hey," Tristan opens the door. "I heard you were back."

I sit up. "Tristan."

He smiles. "How are you, Cassandra?"

I blink back tears. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see how you were doing." He points at my bed. "Can I?"

I get off the bed, walk up to him and hold him as tight as I can. He returns the hug. "I missed you so much."

He sighs. "I missed you too."

I briefly let go of him and we sit on the bed. "Did Grey tell you what happened?"

His smile is sad. "Not him."

I hug him again. "Thank you for coming. It's just been a hard couple of days."

"I know."

I remember what happened the last time we were both sitting there and I pull away. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't treat you like you're my boyfriend."

"It's fine, Cass," he says.

I stare into his eyes, they look a darker blue than usual.

We stare at each other, saying nothing.

"What do we do now? When we're not dating, and just two friends?" I smile weakly.

"We can talk." He offers.

I nod. "Okay."

"How did it feel? Defeating the two Ryppers?"

"I don't know. The only thing I remembered was I couldn't let them hurt my mom."

He thinks about that. "Did your magic malfunction?"

I shake my head. "No, no. It just...happened." I intentionally don't mention the white fire. I was so disoriented, I probably hallucinated it. No point mentioning something I'm not sure even happened.

He nods. "That's good. Maybe your problem's solved."

"Maybe." The knot in my chest is getting looser with each deep breath I take.

"What did Intelligence say? About the attack."

"Seb's still waiting for info."

He looks around my room. "And your parents, how are they?"

I feel the knot getting tighter. "They're good. Do you mind telling me about your break?"

He knows I'm changing the subject. I expect him to call me out but he doesn't. "I hung out with Jamie a few times. But there wasn't much to it."

I stare at his lips as he talks. It's unfair I can't kiss him. It would have been nice now. Not a deep kiss with lots of tongue, but a nice, soft, reassuring one.