How long had this been happening? Why didn’t her parents do something about it sooner?
When my entire body tensed, I had to push those thoughts away. Thinking about what Sera endured wasn't going to help me sleep.
Even though I could reach out and touch her back, she still felt miles away. Twice I opened my mouth to say something, and twice I closed it again. What was there to say? Not much longer after she settled in, her breathing softened into the steady, even cadence of sleep.
I stayed awake, my thoughts spinning.
7
Serafina
When my eyes opened the next morning, an immediate groan followed. I lay on my back and tried to roll over, but a sharp protest stopped me. Lightning-hot pain spread through my body and ended on my spine. Several seconds passed before it came back under control and I could breathe again.
Breathe, Serafina, I murmured. Breathe . . . slowly.
My eyes popped back open when several thoughts crashed into me at once.
Talmage.
Hotel.
Benjamin.
With heavy morning breath, my head spun over to see an empty bed and ruffled covers next to me. Not sure whether I was relieved, or annoyed, to find him gone, I sank further into the bed. Then I pulled my hair over my face to hide from the world and groaned. Benjamin Mercedy had stayed the night.
What was I thinking?
Of course, I hadn't been thinking when I asked him to stay. I'd been scared. Traumatized. The brother I'd always known had been replaced with someone that could have killed me. I already knew that I felt safe around Benjamin, so when he showed up looking so concerned and awkward, I'd broken.
Like a cracked porcelain doll.
With a grunt, I shoved out of bed, braced myself against the pain, and took stock of my body. The headache had mostly gone away, but now I felt sore all over. My cheek was swollen, so my eye didn't open all the way. I forced myself to shuffle to the window and open the drapes. A gray sky waited outside, plunking raindrops down the window. I peered out on a quiet parking lot, only a hint of the main road visible. My brain was a mess of thoughts I didn't try to unravel.
If not here, then where was Benjamin? No note. No text. Just disappeared.
Probably better that way.
A hot shower woke me the rest of the way, easing some of my tension and tightness. I popped some more over-the-counter pain relievers once I'd changed into a pair of yoga pants, a t-shirt, and a light blue jacket.
My phone chimed with a text as I ruffled my hair out over my shoulders to dry.
Mom: We should be able to fly out Saturday. I’ll keep you posted. Any word?
* * *
Serafina: None so far.
* * *
Mom: You doing okay?
* * *
Serafina: I slept surprisingly well. Thanks. Love you.
Mom and Dad were flying out as soon as Dad could clear his surgery schedule, which could be a few days. Talmage might only be in the county jail for a day or two, if even that. No doubt Amber would sign him out. He certainly hadn't called me, which was for the best. My mind spun with the implications of everything that happened yesterday. Talmage had been scary, but he wasn't like that all the time.
When he was Talmage.
Part of me wanted to see him now that time had passed, but the other part of me recoiled at the same thought.
He was my brother, though, not my lover. I couldn't just get rid of him or change history or my genetics, and maybe I wouldn't want to. A deep part of me loved Talmage, but a more real part of me feared him now. Because, in some way, this guy wasn't Talmage.
Noooope, I wasn't ready to see him again.
Not yet.
Since I wouldn't work until next week, that left me with five days to find a new place to stay, all while avoiding an inevitable confrontation with Talmage at some point in the future. More than likely, he'd avoid me until our parents came. Then we'd meet again and hash out what moving forward looked like.
Without me living at his place.
And maybe without me living in Pineville anymore. That thought didn't sit well either. A mountain summer is exactly what I wanted. Besides, this could be the impetus to change that Talmage needed. With help, he could move forward. With me in a safe environment, Talmage’s recovery was worth working for.
While standing at the coffee maker, I