Chapter 79

I tried to call the number back, but there was no answer the first or second time. I couldn’t do much with just my phone, so I headed home to try and get online using Moon Shadow. Maybe I could trace the number and narrow down an area from where the call came. If it was just a prank or someone trying to lure me, it would be one thing, but my gut told me that wasn’t the case. With Francium still missing and her body gone, it could have been her.

But how? Did that mean she wasn’t dead? Did that mean she had been revived somehow? But how? And why? My stomach lurched at the thought. I had to cross that bridge when I got to it, not right now. I tried to call the number again, but there was no answer. Quickly, I snuck back into the condo and stripped out of my clothes, and changed into some loungewear. Before I could get to my laptop, the doorbell rang.

It was too early for anyone from school to be here, and what would they want with me right now anyway? More than that, the security team wouldn’t just let anyone come up to my condo without good reason.

It turned back, worrying my lip. I pressed the call button to see who it was and gasped as I saw Candido there. He looked freshly showered but tired. He was carrying a cup of coffee in one hand and two boxes in the other. Despite myself, I flung the door open. Happiness and grief twined and bloomed in my chest, but I found myself smiling up at him. The relief on his face echoed through me as he smiled back.

I hadn’t realized how much I was missing the simple comfort of knowing he was nearby. I was still upset, but after hearing Armageddon talk, I wondered if… if, just maybe, I should try to understand where Candido was coming from. He was just as caught up in all of this as I was. While he believed in this fate, that didn’t mean he wasn’t suffering through it.

And maybe, just maybe, I could convince him that whatever he feared just didn’t have to be as bad as he thought it would be.

“I… had hoped you would be up,” Candido said and lifted the box. “I… just wanted to check on you and… bring you breakfast if you wanted. I know you’re still settling in and…”

He sighed, and I stepped aside, opening the door wider. “Would you like to come in?”

His lips twitched into a soft smile, and he nodded. He walked in. His cologne filled the air, and I felt myself relaxing. Last night had been wild. I still hadn’t processed seeing Bella again and how I should feel about seeing her in that cage, but I wasn’t going to dwell on it. Whatever was happening to her, however, she had ended up there, had all been her own doing like all the rest of the miseries in her life.

I went into the kitchen to grab plates and silverware as he set the box down on the table. He went into the kitchen to grab glasses, and he helped set the table. He pulled the chair out for me and ushered me into it before sitting.

“Please, eat. I… got your favorites.”

“Thanks…” I opened the box and started to unpack it. There were breakfast sandwiches on buttery croissants, pastries, and a small flight of juices, but the best part about it was the box of hot chocolate at the bottom. I could still taste the shake I had finished barely an hour or so ago, but I was still hungry enough to eat and I would probably have a cup of hot chocolate too.

More than that, it was all fresh. The café that served all of my favorites was only open in the morning. They had only been open for half an hour. He had to have been standing in front of the café at least ten minutes before they opened to get all of this and bring it here while it was all still hot and fresh out of the oven.

My heart wavered. It wasn’t an apology. It wasn’t even an acknowledgment that he’d hurt me with everything he’d done, but it was a show of care I hadn’t expected. I glanced up at him, tracing the dark bags under his eyes before lowering my gaze to my plate.

“How are you, Hedy?”

I glanced at him, picking up a sandwich and considering the question. My stomach grumbled a bit at being hungry. My body was tired from running around all night.

“I still don’t want to be around you much,” I said. He winced. “I… still don’t think you understand what you being here… means to me.”

To be honest, I wasn’t sure if he would ever understand.

“I could—”

“But…” I said, glancing at him. “I am glad you’re here.”

He smiled softly. “I… Everyone’s missed you… Even Colin. I--”

He grimaced and looked away. “I hope you like it here.”

I couldn’t tell if I was more upset that he didn’t tell me he missed me or that I wanted him to say it even though I knew how much it would hurt. Maybe it would have made me want to come back and give up this attempt at a distance, but maybe not.

I felt able to pull back from Candido more easily than before since I had left. I could feel my mind turning everything over and starting to reconcile with our fate.

“Claire called me.”

He went pale and still. His eyes widened as he stared at me. Then, his expression turned to tender. He reached out to take my hand.

“It’s normal for you to be dreaming about—”

“I wasn’t dreaming,” I said, stiffening. “I told you; she called me.”

He shook his head. “What else could it have been? You remember when you had that dream about your mother—”

“For just a moment, could you try not to write me off because I’m younger than you?” I hissed, pulling my hand away from him. “And that was totally different. I didn’t say I was running through a field with her or lounging by a river. I said she called me.”

I set my jaw, glaring at him. The anger I thought was simmering down was boiling again.

Candido sat back. “I’m not trying to write you of, Hedy, but Claire is dead. The coroner—”

“Who lost her body?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at him. “That coroner?”

Candido lifted his chin. “Francium is still a suspect for her missing body. I understand you’re grieving a lot of things are happening right now, but Claire is dead.”

I set my jaw, glaring at him and pulled out my phone. I opened my call recordings and opened the last call I received.

“Hello?” My voice came from the speaker.

“…please help me.”

Candido said nothing, staring at my phone then slowly lifting his gaze to meet mine.

“Still impossible?” I asked. I narrowed my eyes at him. “You don’t… seem surprised.”

Candido stood. “I have to go.”

“Once,” I said, stopping him. “Once I thought it was cute how often you did that.”

He frowned. “What?”

“How often you cut off conversations when didn’t want to have them. How you always said I shouldn’t worry about it because I was young. I thought it was cute.” I shook my head. “Now… it’s just insulting.”

Candido stiffened. “Insulting?”

“You want me on the call with Francium’s father, but I tell you that Claire called me, and you didn’t even bother to try and believe me. Now that you can’t deny it or brush it under the rug, you’re leaving without a bit of explanation as to why you’re not surprised that she called me.”

Candido’s brow furrowed, and we stared at each other. I knew he was trying to find something to say, some way around my words, some way to get out of this without doing what he always did and proving my point.

I took another bite of my sandwich and turned away. “Are you more uncomfortable that I’m calling you out or that I’m right?”

Candido stood his full height and turned.