Chapter 9
POSSIBLY THE LONGEST TUESDAY EVER
IN WHICH DESSA IS THE EMPTY NESTER
Dessa’s mom picked her up at the North Pack office after the useless interview with the Werewolf boy. It turned out the Alpha’s assessment of his account had been spot-on, and even Jamison’s shoulders slumped by the time the guy’s ramble finally came to an end.
There were tons of witnesses to corroborate that he’d been out of town the week of Carly’s disappearance, and when questioned about Carly herself, he hadn’t known that much about her besides her pretty face.
Apparently, the ice cream had only been their second date, and she’d never been good about answering his calls.
One of his friends had helpfully added he’d bet good money that she’d break up with him at any moment, but none of them guessed she would’ve pulled a complete disappearing act.
The subsequent Werewolf giggling had really been the death knell of the interview.
The only benefit of the meeting had been the ability to rule him out.
Perhaps that’s why Brad hadn’t interviewed him in the first place.
Or maybe he had and just hadn’t found anything useful enough to write down.
Either way, the clock was already hitting five, which proved her point that Tuesdays were interminable.
She got into the maroon Honda, and her mom grinned at her as if she were picking her up from school. “How was your second day back, Dessa Blue?”
“About the same as I remembered it,” Dessa said, returning Jamison’s wave as he walked to his Lexus, his clothes still muddy and torn.
Her mother tracked his movements, and her lips twitched into a frown. “And how’s working with Jamison Kane?”
“About the same as working with anyone else.” Dessa leaned her head back against the seat, the exhaustion of the day weighing down on her.
Though her mother grew up alongside the McKinney brothers in the PC, the confidentiality of AzRIO duties made it so Dessa and Brad really couldn’t share the details of their day-to-day with anyone other than their coworkers.
“Well, your dad was over at the office today moving your furniture in upstairs. It’s still pretty bare, but I think it should cozy right up once you move in the rest of your stuff.”
Dessa looked out the window to hide her surprise. Of course she knew her parents were planning on leaving tomorrow, but over the last two days, it’d slipped her mind. “Uh, yeah, I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
“You’ll be careful while we’re gone, won’t you, Dess?
” Her mother’s brow furrowed. “I just remember the last time with Zach…” She trailed off.
Like basically everyone else in the PC, her mother knew the basics of what had happened.
One boy went missing, one boy died looking for him, another girl was involuntarily changed into a Vampire, and the last girl left town, determined never to return.
It was enough for most people to get the general gist that they didn’t want to know more.
“I’ll be fine, Mom.” Dessa gave her the warmest smile she had after spending the day in soaked clothes. “You know most of the stuff we deal with is pretty easy.” While technically true, she certainly wasn’t going to mention how much the current case reminded her of the last one.
“I know.” Her mother grinned again. “You’ve always been so capable with everything, I often felt like you barely needed a parent. You always knew more of the paranormal ins and outs of the neighborhood than I ever did. Like you were born for it.”
That’s because, for all intents and purposes, Dessa had been. Though her Uncanny abilities were relatively easy to hide in the Nescient world, they were always there in the forefront of her mind, begging to be let out—calling for her return to the world of magic.
Without magic themselves, her parents could never understand how deep those roots ran, but of course Brad did.
That’s probably why he hadn’t been surprised to see her back.
Why, even after the long day, and the mess of a life she’d left in New York, she felt more like herself than she had in a long time. Even if she was tired.
The next twenty-four hours passed in a veritable blur.
She and her parents sat out on their patio late while they grilled brats, drank iced tea, and rehashed old stories.
Then, they woke early in the morning so her parents could drop her off at work, crush her in a hug, and honk as they peeled out of the city.
Though of course Dessa loved that they were headed northwest on a new adventure, she couldn’t ignore the feeling that she was alone all over again.
She buried herself in emails, paperwork, and Arthur’s precious activity report, trying not to think about the glaring absence of her loved ones while Melba took Jamison’s OJT upon herself.
Melba’s voice droned above the hum of the ceiling fan as she described the nesting dolls of the city, regional, and federal offices as well as the duties each maintained.
It wasn’t until everyone had left for the day, and the sun was sinking behind the horizon, that Dessa let her mind drift to all the possessions that waited for her in her car, and who knew what else upstairs.
She was sure Brad had told Arthur and Melba she’d be taking the room, but she was embarrassed to bring it up to anyone else for reasons she didn’t want to examine.
With a sigh, she forced herself past the break room and up the creaky wooden steps. She’d have to make sure she was in the office before anyone got to work in the morning, or else they’d hear her come down—the chick that couldn’t fly returned to live alone in an empty nest.
The door at the top of the steps waited for her with an old-fashioned key in the lock, and Dessa slipped it into the pocket of her slacks before shouldering into the spare room.
Though Brad’s unmarked boxes still lined the walls, her father had moved in her bed, fully made up, a chest of drawers, a desk, a soft lounging chair from her childhood bedroom, and a long couch that had dominated her family’s parlor throughout her teenage years.
She paced the cramped space, one window faced the street while another gave her a view of the back alley where she’d have to move her car for the night.
A narrow door showed her a tiny toilet and shower, and in the corner by the entrance, a counter with a hotplate, microwave, sink, and slim refrigerator stared back at her.
Only then did she sit down on the couch and cry.
She curled her body on the worn cushions in a tight knot, folding her legs to her chest and burying her face in her knees.
She cried because this was her new home, and it didn’t feel like it at all.
She cried because Brad and her parents were gone, and any veneer of safety—of a soft place to land—had been stripped away with them.
She cried because the old furniture brought a rush of memories back, each one with Zach, Alana, and Peter alive and happy.
Zach and Peter wrestling on the couch; she and Alana bouncing on her bed.
Zach always poking through her drawers to look for illicit contraband, or Peter trying to cook them his latest internet-inspired concoction.
When her parents had worked long hours, her friends had been there for her, and now being here without them was like a stake to her chest. Especially considering Peter and Alana’s little sister, Carly, was now missing too, and with each passing day it became less and less likely they’d find her.
For a moment, she indulged herself in the fantasy that the October of her senior year had never happened.
That Peter, Zach, Alana, and Carly were all alive and well.
Living their best lives. Alana had become a veterinarian, Peter a chef, Zach would be running his family’s hardware store across town, and Carly would be off somewhere at college.
But even in the fantasy, Dessa was still in this room alone crying. Because she’d survived that October unscathed, and yet what good had it done her? She’d fallen for the wrong guy, invested her passion in the wrong business, made the wrong friends, and ended up alone anyway.
Even now, Aiden’s texts and emails assaulted her phone.
Not in excess, of course. But one each day, like she’d left a task undone that he had to check on.
And despite everything, she’d read some of them—cried over them.
Adrift in her dark spiral, she dug out her phone, and her thumb hovered over his name.
The tiny voice of logic asked what she hoped to find there.
What reply she could possibly muster that could make anything better at all.
But still she stared at the name that had once brought her such comfort.
So immersed was she in her pity party, she didn’t hear someone coming up the stairs until the door creaked open, and Dessa screamed.