CH191

CH191
I looked up, fork halfway to my mouth. “What do you mean?”
“You’re sitting here rather calm despite the attack and that nonsense with the police." She grinned at me. "I hardly recognize you."
"Let's not forget she put three girls in the hospital with no training whatsoever," Dad said. "Must be the genes."
Mom laughed, and I tried not to think about it.
The rest of the meal unfolded with the kind of ease I hadn’t realized I’d been starving for. Stories about their work, light teasing about Lukas, and questions about classes. By the time dessert was set down, I felt something I hadn’t in days: normal.
When they dropped me back off on campus, with a new phone and all, they each hugged me.
“Be safe,” he said. “And call me if anything feels off.”
“I know.”
I watched them drive away, their cars merging into the stream of traffic until it was gone.
I stood on the curb for a long time after my parents’ car disappeared into the stream of Boston traffic. The early evening air bit against my skin, sharp and metallic with the hint of rain coming in from the harbor. I headed to class, looking through my new phone's settings and noting the dozen missed calls from Isla and Ben, a few messages from Matteo, and one from Lukas that made my stomach flutter even before I opened it.
Are you safe?
Safe. The word made my throat tighten.
I texted him back, I’m fine. Heading to my end-of-day classes.
Then, I started toward my last class of the day. The lecture hall smelled faintly of chalk and coffee. Professor Carr was already setting up her slides when I slid into the back row. She gave me a curious look but didn’t ask questions, bless her. I took my usual seat and took notes as she talked about the use of runic iconography in pre-Christian Scandinavian art. My mind was still elsewhere, with Lukas and my grandmother, about all the lives I must have lived before this one and how all those lives had brought us here now.
I thought about that woman calling Lukas her future husband.
Part of me wished she'd been around to get her face punched in. I winced at the thought. I didn't think I'd be the jealous type, or the violent type, yet here I was.
When class finally ended, I packed up slowly. Outside, dusk was falling over the campus, the sky bruised purple and gold. The crisp air felt good in my lungs. I tucked my hands in my pockets and started walking toward the main road. I climbed into the awaiting car and rode toward the townhouse, trying to decide how to explain everything to the others.
The closer I got, the more amused and troubled I felt. The front windows glowed with warm light when I reached the townhouse. I expected laughter or something, maybe Matteo's idle strumming and Ben and Isla's chatting, but when I pushed open the door, the quiet hit me first.
Everyone was in the living room, and the tension was thick enough to taste. Isla sat cross-legged on the arm of the couch, on her phone and laptop at the same time, somehow. Matteo was cooking something that smelled delicious and warmed the whole house. Despite his being seated with his guitar, his foot jiggled like he'd rather be pacing. Ben seemed to be trying to pretend to work, but he kept looking back at Lukas with this grim expression.
Lukas was sitting on the far end of the couch, his hands clasped together so tightly that his knuckles were white. His outline shimmered faintly, like a heat mirage. For a second, his right hand flickered—gone, then back again—and Ben made a soft noise that was almost a whimper.
“Vandy,” Ben said as soon as he saw me. “Thank God.”
I shut the door behind me. “What’s happening?”
Matteo worked his jaw. “He’s been flickering."
Lukas lifted his head then, and the look in his eyes nearly undid me. He looked calm, as always, but stretched thin under it.
“This bout started an hour ago,” he said quietly. “A few minutes at a time, then less. It’s… disorienting.”
I crossed the room without thinking, dropping to my knees in front of him. My hands found his, half-afraid they’d slip right through him, but they didn’t. His fingers were warm and solid. The flickering eased.
“This didn't just start today…" He glanced at me and shook his head. "More than you let on about the lift?" He nodded. "Why not tell me?”
“I didn’t want you to worry,” he said, and the small, rueful smile he tried for made my chest ache. “You’ve had enough of that lately and keeping to crowded places has seemed to help." He chuckled a little. "I don't think I've ever been more social."
“I’ll worry regardless.” My voice came out sharper than I meant. "There’s no version of me that wouldn't worry.”
He looked down, his thumb brushing absently over my wrist. “It comes and goes…” He hesitated, searching for the word. “Like something’s tugging, but it's not nearly as strong as before.”
“That's got to be a good thing, right?" Ben asked.
 I nodded, but I wasn't sure how good a thing it was.
"Have you seen anything?"
He shook his head. "Blackness, like passing out. Lights sometimes."
No one spoke for a moment.
Matteo stopped strumming. “It's got to be slowing down. Whatever is pulling is losing strength. Can't we just wait it out?"
"I don't think so," Isla said. "How long will it really take for them to realize that and do something to recharge the battery?"
My pulse thudded in my ears. “We need to figure out as much as we can about whatever they're doing and the token. Whatever it is, wherever it is, it’s got to be connected.”
Ben nodded. "They have one half of the token… what about the mirror?"
Lukas grimaced. "It has crossed my mind that perhaps they have the other mirror as well."
I shake my head. "I don’t think so…"