Carolina places the lantern on the kitchen counter. Good spot. It’s behind me, so I don’t have to see it, and it’s far enough away that I’m not so put off by it being in the room with us. Plus, the height gives it strength, splashing light over the floor where I’m sitting.
Careful to keep some distance between us, Carolina joins me on the floor. She’s not looking at me, though. Her eyes are narrowed on the food I’ve set out on napkins in front of me.
She’s frowning at it, but there’s no denying how wistful she looks.
In the car, at the drive-thru, I asked Carolina if she wanted anything. I didn’t think she would, and I wasn’t surprised when she shook her head and didn’t order a damn thing for herself.
Now I feel like an ass. I gesture at the food.
“You want some? I’ve got more than enough. We can share.”
She shakes her head. “No, thanks.”
“I don’t want to push you to do something you don’t want to. I mean that. And I get it. You’ve got this thing about food. I’m not gonna judge. But it’s here if you want it.”
I grab one of the wrapped burgers and slide it closer to her.
Her eyes watch it as the plastic wrapper crinkles against the wood floor. I can see the way her hand twitches, almost like she’s itching to reach for it.
And then she sighs and turns so that it’s not tempting her. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“I know why you were at the facility. I’m local. Even before I first heard of the fae, I remember the story of the Everett girls and the fire.”
I stiffen. Of all the things I’d thought she might say, that’s probably at the bottom of the list. “My name is Thorne,” I say, correcting her. Can’t help it, either. “Only Madelaine was an Everett. She was adopted. Not me. I was just a foster.”
“Right. Sorry. Anyway, I knew you ended up at Black Pine. When my mistress told me that I could find the Shadow inside the same place, I wondered if there was more to the fire than was on the five o’clock news.”
It’s bad enough that I’m back in this house. Six years later, without a single sign that this place nearly burned down to the ground, I’m here again, hiding out again. So dinner put me in a much better mood. That doesn’t mean I want to sit here and be reminded of what happened to me the last time I snuck inside the Wilkes House.
I pop a fry into my mouth. Chew. “Is there a question in there somewhere?”
“Kind of,” admits Carolina. “I know why you were in Black Pine. Why did you think I was there?”
Good thing I had already swallowed. If not, I might have choked.
She’s… she’s kidding, right?
“I don’t know. I mean, I know what you talked about in group. It’s ‘cause you… your...” I can’t bring myself to say the word out loud. Thinking back on it, Carolina never did, either. Instead, I wave at her skeletal frame. “You know.”
Her expression turns sad. She looks down at her hands in her lap. They’re more bone than flesh. “Yeah. I do. Good excuse, huh? What I talked about in group… it’s how I got my parents to agree to a voluntary check-in. They wanted to help me. But it’s not what you think… it’s not what any of them think.”
Call it a premonition or something, but a horrible feeling starts to prickle my stomach. Almost like fear mixed with a terrible sense of deja vu. Uh oh. “Then what is it?”
“It’s not that I don’t eat because I don’t want to. I can’t, Riley. I… I physically can’t. That fry would turn to ash the second it hit my tongue.”
“You didn’t.” Tell me she didn’t. “You didn’t eat food from Faerie.”
She nods miserably, careful not to meet my horrified face. “Last year. I didn’t know better, and my mistress told me it was a treat. She offered me an apple—”
“That’s okay,” I cut in. “I had a peach, but then Nine came and he fixed me. I’m not cursed anymore. He can fix you, too. I’ll call him for you.”
“No!”
“What? Why not? He can help.”
“My mistress offered me an apple,” Carolina repeats, “but then it was pear, some grapes… a peach. It didn’t matter how sick I got, I couldn’t stop. No one told me what would happen if I didn’t. Now it’s too late. Unless my mistress feeds me from her hand, I can’t eat. No one can help me, especially not another fae.”