Tightrope

Come Home

My brain felt like it had been drowned in a toilet, then crushed in a blender before being eaten in a cannibalistic Satanic ritual. McKenna's gentle voice, nervous and guilty; he already found that girl. Austin's tentative words, scared and sad; Cole is gone. The hollow sound of Knight's voice; I didn't mean to cause... I'm sorry.

Today had been confusing, to say the least.

McKenna had left my house about an hour ago with a promise to search for Knight. I could tell she still wasn't sure if she'd done the right thing by telling me Jace's secret, but if she was right—if I'd decided I liked Jace only to discover that I was merely another one of his attempts to get over this other girl—then I was glad to know. Because McKenna had been right; I was really quite bad at picking up hints. A memory came back to me, unbidden. It was the time Jace had told me why Daria had never asked him to kiss her. I... held a bit of a candle... for someone else. I tried to think about who it could be; the girls Jace was close to.

Cady? I mean, she didn't like him all that much—because she didn't really like anyone—but just couldn't see it. Daria? We already knew it wasn't her. Kaelin? I mean, she was deeply and madly in love with her boyfriend, but maybe that was why Jace had been forced to try with other girls, because he knew there was no hope for my cousin.

I groaned and buried my face into my pillow, wishing Knight was here. I didn't know how to come to terms McKenna's words without Knight on my side.

There was a tentative knock on my door. I didn't remove my face from the pillow. "Come in!" I called, my voice muffled by the fabric and feathers. With my eyes covered, I could pretend for a moment that it was Knight, but I was only fooling myself. Knight wouldn't have knocked, and I knew it. But in my mind, I imagined looking up and being greeted with dark hair and a mocking smile.

But it was Liv who spoke. "Hey," she said calmly. I couldn't remove the pillow from my eyes now, because I was crying. There was something caught in my throat, burning me, choking me, and the tears that spilled from my eyes were hot. I hated crying; I was going to kick Knight's arse when we found him for making me cry.

"Did you find him?" I said into the pillow.

Liv was slow to answer. I felt her sit down next to me, her hand coming up to trace comforting idle patterns on my back. At last, she said, "Not yet, Elly Belly."

The old nickname was meant to be a comfort, a joke, but it only made me cry in earnest. I remembered Knight in the car, flashing me a cheeky grin and poking fun at me with that nickname; that stupid nickname. He was so stupid.

But I couldn't blame him, not really. When he'd fought with his parents, they'd thrown him from the house, robbed him of his future. Maybe he didn't want to see a second fight, not on his account. Knight was an idiot, but a noble one.

"Did you check that street corner I told you about?"

"First place we looked, sweetheart," said Liv gently. "I'm sure he'll come back."

It didn't sound like she believed herself.

"Livvy?" I said pleadingly. I hadn't called her that since I was small, when she'd been my glorious big sister—my world—and I'd held her hand and been forced to look up to her, because she was so much taller than me. "Will Mum and Dad let him stay? Because I don't want everyone to try and find him only to send him back to those awful people. I want to find him to bring him home."

"They want to talk to the Knights first," said Liv. When I opened my mouth to protest, she held up her hand. "Mum and Dad want to ask them about Cole."

"They'll never admit it," I said fervently.

"They're not going to ask them to," said Liv. "If the Knights don't want their son back, or if Cole doesn't want to go back, then yes. He can stay with us."