Robin followed Ambrose and LM outside. He stared at the half-fey’s rigid, misshapen wings and he couldn’t help comparing them to Isellta’s perfectly healthy wings.
In his mind, he saw Isellta flare out his wings and flap them.
He smiled.
Tonight.
I’ll see my ‘sellta tonight. He’ll flap his wings. I know he will. He’ll be so freakin’ glad to see me.
Maybe that’s an understatement.
Maybe—-
“Oh.” Ambrose stopped.
“What?” Robin came around to the older vampire’s side. “Oh, darnation!”
Raven’s car was not in the driveway.
Robin flung an exasperated gesture at the empty driveway. “Where the heck’s Raven’s car?”
Ambrose thought about it. “Ohhh, right. Raven took the car.”
“So, what? It’s at the hospital?”
“Yep.”
Robin swatted the back of Ambrose’s head.
“Ow!”
“Idiot. So much for that plan. I’m goin’ back to bed.”
“Wait.” Ambrose smiled. “There is a very simple solution.”
Robin folded his arms across his chest. “I ain’t hitch hikin’.”
Ambrose scoffed. “As if that was even a plan.” He pointed at LM. “You are going to call a taxi for us.”
LM blinked quickly. “Me? Why?”
“Because I hate the local taxi service. They have obnoxious hold music and rotten customer service. I want you to deal with them.”
“Oh.” The half-fey smiled.
Robin quickly looked away. “I’m headin’ back inside. Too much sunlight out here. Bye.” He stormed back into the house and slammed the door.
His face is all wrong.
His hair’s all wrong.
His wings are all messed up and all wrong.
His whole body’s all wrong.
He’s just all wrong.
He ain’t my ‘sellta and he ain’t ever gonna be him.
But that smile. Why’d it make me think of him?
Robin marched over to the living room couch and dropped down on it. He bunched up his knees.
‘sellta.
My Isellta. Do you know how much I miss you?
***
LM tilted his head and blinked quickly. “Did I say something wrong?”
Ambrose smiled kindly. “No.” And he left it at that.
***
Call Ended.
It took Raven a few minutes to put those two words together and realize what they meant in that particular order. “Ah, I see. He ended the call. Did he say good-bye? I am unsure.”
He leaned his head back.
I am unsure of so many things.
Raven closed his eyes and listened to the back and forth trod of Jeff’s pacing. “Please, sir. Jeff. Master Farsigh. Please. nnngh. Please settle down. You are unnerving me.”
“Sorry.” His footsteps stopped. “I can’t help it.”
“I understand, sir.”
“I don’t know if you do. Raven, I lost her. For those few small moments, I lost my daughter. I lost her and it was completely out of my control. There was nothing I could do. I had to stand back and let the nurses and techs and…”
He resumed pacing.
“I had to trust them. I had to leave her life up to them. I had to.” He huffed out a breath. “I couldn’t do a thing to help her. I felt so. So helpless.”
“Sir, please settle. They will bring her back in good time.”
“Will they?” He stopped in front of Raven. “What if she stops breathing again? What if she dies and I’m not there? What if she dies and they just haul her straight to the morgue? What if—”
“Sir.”
“I can’t. I can’t just stand here. I need to move. I need to—-to—-”
“Sir, please.”
“I need to call Hildreth. I need him to talk me down. He always does, you know.”
Raven didn’t really know, but he responded anyway with a noncommittal, “Mm.”
ambroseandelsie 