Chapter 37
CHAPTER
THAD
Sunlight creeping in, Charley in my arms. It was the best morning on Nil yet. For the first time in weeks, I’d actually slept. No dreams, no nightmares. Just sleep.
Watching Charley sleep, I thought again of my greatest fear, the one I’d admitted last night. I thought I’d loved Mallory, but I was wrong.
The idea of losing Charley was unbearable.
You’ll make it, Charley had said fiercely last night. And so will I. We’ve got plenty of time.
I hoped Charley was right.
And that Ramia was wrong. That thought shot from nowhere, making me jerk, and the movement woke Charley up.
“Morning.” I kissed her forehead. “How’d you sleep?”
“Great.” She smiled, turning away to yawn. “Best night ever.”
“Did you miss your socks?”
“Socks?” Charley looked confused.
“You said you miss socks. That your feet freeze at night. So I’m wondering if you missed socks.”
Charley laid her hand on my chest, over my heart. “I didn’t miss anything,” she said softly. “Not one thing.”
“Good to hear,” I said, kissing her forehead and alternately wanting Charley closer and desperately needing space before I lost control. “We’d better get some food before we miss out.”
Natalie sat with Talla by the fire, a bowl of cut pineapple between them. It looked untouched.
“Morning, ladies. Dibs on the pineapple?” I asked.
“All yours,” Talla said. “The pit’s full of fish wraps. Good ones, too. Seasoned with lime and sea salt. You can thank Rives and Jason for that.”
Nodding, I grabbed two wraps and gave one to Charley.
“There’s fresh coconut milk, too,” Talla offered.
Charley made a face as she sat. “Thanks. I’m good with water.”
“How’s coma-girl gate-crasher?” I asked.
“Six feet under,” Talla said.
“What?” Charley said as my stomach dropped. “She died?”
“We buried her last night,” Natalie said in a small voice. “Me, Rives, and Talla.” She looked at me, guilt coating her face. “And it’s all my fault!”
“Huh?” I frowned. “How do you figure that?”
“I let you put her in my bed!” Natalie cried. “I didn’t stay with you, and when I went inside the hut to check on her, she was dead.”
“What does your bed have to do with it?” I asked, not following.
“Ramia.” Natalie’s voice was anguished. “She warned me, but I forgot! I was so obsessed with Charley’s charts, I totally blanked. And now the girl’s dead. Ramia warned me, Thad. And I blew it.”
“No.” I said sharply. “I don’t know what she told you, but it means nothing. Ramia was a fruit loop, Nat. You know that.”
“Was she?” Natalie asked, suddenly quiet, her eyes intense.
“She sat with me, Thad. By the fire, the night before she left. I wished her good luck on Search, gave her a hug, and when I pulled away, she stared at me, like she was looking through me. ‘Keep your luck,’ she said. ‘You need it. You will lose the one you love, and when you try to save another, she will die. Dead in your bed.” Natalie shivered, twisting her hands. “‘Dead in your bed,’ she told me. Rubbing that stupid bone bracelet! And now the girl is dead! And she died in my bed!” Natalie’s rising voice now bordered on hysterical, and her hands shook.
Ramia’s singsong voice echoed in my head. Dead in your bed. Open your eyes, Thad. The blind leading the blind. Will you open your eyes?
“Nat—” I faltered, not sure what to say.
Charley gave me a long look, then reached over and clasped Natalie’s hands, holding them steady.
“Natalie, I never knew Ramia, but she sounds like a complete whack-a-doo. My nana likes to say that you’ll find what you’re looking for, and no offense, but right now you’re looking for the weird.
You’re looking for something to fit her crazy predictions, and if you look hard enough, I guarantee you’ll find it.
But it doesn’t make it true. And it doesn’t make you responsible for that girl’s death.
” Charley paused. “Besides, it wasn’t your bed. ”
Natalie head jerked up.
“It’s just borrowed,” Charley continued.
“Temporary, like everything else on Nil. Like your separation from Kevin. You’re just another Nil visitor, living a temporary time-out from home.
Nothing here is yours. Not your A-frame, not your bed.
So if I were you,” Charley said softly, “I’d let it go. But that’s just me.”
Natalie launched herself into Charley’s arms. “Have I told you lately how glad I am that you were the one who found Kevin’s clothes?”
Me too, I thought, choking up, watching Charley comfort Natalie. And that somehow I found Charley. And that she found me, even the part that had been lost.
In my peripheral vision, a black furball crept into sight. When I saw the paws, I grinned. Burton.
He slunk close enough to shoot me his evil cat eye. “Good to see you too, buddy,” I said, tossing him my last hunk of fish. “I figured you’d turned into a Scooby Snack by now.” Burton hissed, but barely. He snatched up my offering, without hesitation.
“Do you always feed stray cats?” Charley asked. Wiping her eyes, Natalie looked at me curiously.
“Just Burton.”
“Burton?” Charley said.
“Yeah. He hung around long enough that I finally gave him a name. It made him seem less puny.” I watched Burton inhale the fish, then lick his white paws clean. “I doubt he’s got many of his nine lives left. He’s a serious pain in the butt.”
“Uh-huh,” Charley said, in that same tone of voice she uses when she sees through my crap but doesn’t call me out on it. “Sounds like he’s a survivor.” She tossed him a piece of fish.
Burton hissed so loud that Charley jumped back.
“I think he likes you,” I said, grinning at Charley. “But we won’t know for sure until he brings you something dead.”