Book 2 of the 𝕱𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙𝖈𝖑𝖚𝖇 series
{Duology}
𖤓
𝕾𝖔𝖒𝖊 𝖒𝖊𝖒𝖔𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖘 𝖓𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖗 𝖑𝖊𝖆𝖛𝖊 𝖞𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝖇𝖔𝖓𝖊𝖘.
𝕿𝖍𝖊𝖞 𝖇𝖊𝖈𝖔𝖒𝖊 𝖕𝖆𝖗𝖙 𝖔𝖋 𝖞𝖔𝖚.
𖤓
𝕬𝖈𝖈𝖆𝖑𝖎𝖆 𝕸𝖔𝖗𝖊𝖑𝖑𝖎 got tricked once, but she vowed never to be fooled...
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Still wrapped in my blanket, I perched on a barstool by the counter in the kitchen. The warmth of another cup of hot chocolate in my hands soothed my nerves, though I prepared two more for our guests. Imani sat beside me, her presence steady yet fragile. Across the room, Ace lingered near the doorway, his stance guarded. He refused the cup I made for him, so I left it on the table, untouched. He'd drink it when he was ready, I told myself. When he deemed the space safe enough he would settle.
Come on, kitty kitty. I won't bite.
The silence of the house enveloped us. Everyone else was asleep, blissfully unaware of the storm that had walked through the door. Imani and Ace were a secret for tonight; tomorrow would bring its own chaos. Asa had seen Imani earlier and she embraced him like he was her lifeline. In many ways, he pretty much had been for years. Still was but now there were more variables in the equation. Life had added more pieces to the puzzle.
Life worked in mysterious ways.
Life was funny like that—throwing you into the depths, only to show you there was a way back to the surface. And I was actually happy some things didn't work the way I wanted them to. Looking at my family, I couldn't help but feel a strange sense of gratitude. Things hadn't gone the way I wanted them to—not with my addiction, my destructive coping mechanisms, or my attempts to leave this world behind. But against all odds, here I was. Things were falling apart, but somehow, they were falling into place, too.
From Melanie, to Maeve, to Asa, to Rosalyn and Imani.
To my whole big family and crazy friends.
I wouldn't have met them if things didn't work how they did.
Maybe in another universe but in this I wouldn't be here without my found family.
Imani, though... She was one of my firsts, a constant through my chaos. Still was but another version of her that wasn't on the surface, until now. Even now, as she sat there with puffy eyes and trembling hands, she was still full of gold, her heart too big for the pain it carried.
She hadn't stopped apologizing. She hadn't stopped looking at her fingernails and at the floor. Still warry and fidgeting.
Asa sat on the other side of her. Seraphina the beautiful and understanding woman that she was had kindly given us space to figure out where we stood, leaving the room with an understanding smile. Ace, however, still loomed in the doorway, his gaze heavy, unnerving.
The kitty is still here.
The kitty is getting on my nerves with how he stares and I have an itch growing that demands I grab my dagger.
