Things That Should Stay Buried - Casey L. Bond Page 0,98
and put it back together piece by piece. He taught my dad everything he knew. Dad was a mechanic, too. My grandma was… difficult. Very stubborn.”
“So, she was like you?” she teased gently.
I shrugged, remembering how she would spend hours perfecting her garden, how she became obsessed with every quilt she pieced and sewed, how she and Grandpa would debate about politics until one of them made the other so mad, they’d leave the room and Grandma wouldn’t speak to him for a week. He’d sleep on the couch because of how frosty she was. But then something would ease the anger and the two would be fine.
Helena kept staring at the floor, her eyes unfocused. I sat up. “Why are you asking about my family?”
“To ease your mind,” she replied with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
“You’re lying.”
Her mouth dropped open. “The dream must have been horrible, but that’s all it was. You’re here. You’re safe. Your mom is in Libra’s territory, also safe. Your dad is safe, too.”
I wanted to believe her, but I knew that tone. She was deflecting like Kes did when I asked a question he didn’t want to or couldn’t answer.
I climbed from the water and accepted the towel she gave me. “You didn’t wash your hair,” she noted.
“I don’t care.”
A thought slid through my mind as I dried off. Helena wouldn’t let me out of her sight, so she walked me to my room. “I need to get my things,” she said. “You get dressed and I’ll get someone else to stay with you for a few while I go get my bag.”
I shook my head. “How long will it take?”
“Five minutes?”
“Don’t bother anyone else for five minutes.”
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” she said, searching my eyes for something she probably wouldn’t find.
Sometimes I forgot they weren’t human. She handed me my knife and leg harness and I cinched it on as she vanished. It couldn’t have been more than a minute before she reappeared with a bundle of baby blue fabric spilling from her arms.
“It matches your eyes… and it’s calming.”
I was thankful she hadn’t pressed for something the color of blood again. The amount I lost in the nightmare was disturbing enough.
And calm was good. Calm, I needed.
I let her twist and knot in silence. Today… I didn’t go bold, and she didn’t even ask if I wanted it. She knew I was still upset, and she was being really nice. The first time she came to help me, it was because she owed Kes. This time, she was just being a friend. She was being thoughtful.
I saw it in the careful way she watched me as she combed through my hair and sprayed it with hair product that smelled like coconut. She didn’t braid it and didn’t ask me if I wanted makeup. And when she was satisfied, she lingered. “Aries would like to see you when you’re ready to see him. He’s… upset.”
“Why?”
“Because he cares for you and you were upset when he saw you last,” she explained so simply, it made the invisible hole Taurus left in my chest hurt.
“He shouldn’t. It’ll just hurt him worse when I’m dead.”
She sighed. “Larken.”
“I need to see my brother for a minute first. Can you tell him I’ll be on the balcony?”
She gathered her bag. “Sure.”
“Thank you for everything,” I told her, in case I didn’t get to again.
“Larken, it was just a dream.”
“Except it wasn’t. We both know that.” I strode out the door and made my way to the balcony.
Kes was already waiting for me, sitting on the plastic chaise, his knee nervously bouncing. He shot up when I came up the steps. “Hey,” he greeted.
“Hey.”
His eyes were sharp as he looked me over. “How are you?”
“Taurus killed me last night in my dream and it felt real. It still does, even though I’m awake.”
Kes went still. “He killed you?”
I nodded. “Why does it actually hurt, Kes?” I pressed the heel of my palm over my heart.
He cursed. “I need to get Aries.”
As soon as he spoke his name, Aries appeared beside me. He glanced over me, concern shimmering in his pink eyes as he raked them over me, frantically searching for what was wrong.
“I’m fine,” I whispered.
“No, she isn’t,” Kes cut in. I looked at him and he nodded to me. “Tell him everything, and don’t leave anything out.”