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“Seriously?” I said out loud.
On the paper, Seris sat cross-legged on a cracked concrete floor, surrounded by rubble and the ghost of her ruined city.
I sat cross-legged on a freshly vacuumed carpet, surrounded by order and lemon cleaner.
Yeah. I had absolutely no problem separating fantasy from reality here. Everything was fine in my head.
The phone buzzed again. Longer this time. Probably a call instead of a text.
I still ignored it.
If I picked it up, I’d have to answer questions.
If I answered questions, I might have to admit that I’d come back without knowing what I was doing.
The pounding on the front door almost made me fling the pen across the room.
“Open up!” a voice shouted.
I didn’t need a caller ID for that one.
Shit.
Maddie.
The pounding continued, slightly out of sync this time.
“Don’t ignore us!” a second voice added.
Trenda.
“I will get Jiffy to break down this door if you don’t open it. Now!”
And Zoe.
Of course.
I closed my eyes briefly and counted to three. My legs screamed as I tried to uncross them. I’d been sitting there long enough for both feet to fall asleep. Pins and needles shot up my calves.
“I’m coming, I’m coming!” I yelled, shoving the legal pad onto the coffee table and staggering upright.
Every joint popped in protest. My lower back chimed in with a cracking sound that probably belonged in someone twice my age.
I limped to the front door and pulled it open.
Three Avery sisters stood on the porch, shoulder to shoulder, grins wide enough to power the county.
“You’re back!” Maddie crowed, lunging in for a hug.
“You’re back,” Trenda echoed, hugging me from the other side.
Zoe just wrapped her arms around all three of us, squeezing hard enough that my ribs complained in sympathy for Zarek’s.
“Ow! I think you cracked my ribs.” I got an arm free long enough to fumble the door shut behind them before we all stumbled into the living room in a tangle of limbs.
“You’re going to crack a rib again,” I wheezed.
“You can’t crack what’s already cracked,” Maddie said. “That’s science.”
