emptied over my head. The remnants of sleep and the dreamy sweetness from his kiss both blown away.
“Where would we go?” I asked. “Is there a place safe from her?”
His brows pinched in a concentrated expression, he sat up, holding me around the waist. “What time is it now?”
“Still fairly early. Just past noon. Do you think bracks could find us here?”
Freeing myself from his arms, I got out of bed, and he followed. The urgency to keep going as far as possible from the bracks buzzed through me, raising anxiety.
“What time would it be in Paris right now?” Zeph rubbed his face, as if gathering his thoughts. Maybe, he was still struggling with the aftereffects of whatever concoction Madame had dosed him with.
“Evening. I think.” I hid behind the closet door to change from the t-shirt I slept in into the leggings and sweater I’d had on before.
“Did you say bracks saw you with me in Paris that night?” Zeph asked, putting on the grey sweatshirt we had taken from the garage over his white t-shirt. “Would Ghata know you are the same person?”
“I don’t think so.” No one had even alluded to my connection to Zeph, not until I told to Amira about it myself.
Fully dressed, I nervously scanned the narrow basement windows, half-expecting to see bracks’ boots stomping out there.
“It was dark,” I continued. “And I had a different hair color back then—”
“You did?” He raised an eyebrow. “What was it?”
“Blue and pink.”
“Lovely.” He smiled, with a flash of appreciation in his eyes. I couldn’t help smiling back at him.
Zeph had the uncanny ability to lighten up even the darkest of situations. His levity seemed a little out of place right now, but it helped bring my fear and anxiety under control.
“Finding this house shouldn’t be that easy for them,” I said, to calm myself down as much as him. “Mom and I are not exactly close. We have different last names, and the last time I visited here was over two years ago...” I looked around the room, trying to figure out what to do first. “Anyway, you’re right, we should go.”
I went in search of a duffel bag among the luggage Mom kept in the closet under the stairs. Finding one, I started packing some of my things in it.
“I’ll need to call Lero,” Zeph said, helping me pack. “He has to know I’m free.”
“Right. I should call Fleur, too.” I could only imagine what my friend had been going through with me being gone all this time.
Unease stirred in me at the name of Lero, though. The scent of womora smoke tied him to Madame’s menagerie in my mind. Zeph trusted him, but with his most recent memories gone, I felt it would be wise to be cautious.
“Lero will be able to help us figure out what to do next,” Zeph continued. “He knows much more about Nerifir and Ghata than I do.”
I sat down onto the packed duffle bag, taking a moment to mull that over. Talking to Lero could be beneficial. Also, with an entire ocean between Zeph and him right now, if Lero had any malicious intent, he wouldn’t be able to act on it quickly.
“You should call him,” I agreed. “But we shouldn’t do it from here. I’m not going to wait for Marek to come home, either. We’ll rent a car for today, instead. I’ll stop by the police station to close the missing person’s report and get that out of the way. Then I’ll buy a new cellphone, and we’ll call your friend.”
I hoped with all my heart that Lero truly was what Zeph thought him to be.
A friend.
Chapter 24
CLOSING THE MISSING person’s report turned out to be easier than Mom had made it sound. Once the police officer was satisfied with the evidence I’d presented that proved I was who I said I was, the case was closed. He didn’t even bat an eye at the lame excuse I provided—leaving for an adventure to work the fairgrounds with the cute guy I had met. Running away with the carnival, without letting my family know about my whereabouts might make me look selfish and irresponsible, but it didn’t make me a criminal.
After that, I drove the rented car to a shopping mall where I got a new cellphone. Then, we sat in the car on the parking lot while Zeph called Lero.
Lero didn’t answer his personal line. Since Zeph didn’t remember the number of the cabaret, I had