He stares at me for a second.
“Like I said, I think maybe we can help each other.” Zale looks back out toward the distant river. “I saw her dat night,” he admits. “The night she disappeared. I just had this feelin’。 Somethin’ about Elora. And then that storm blew in. So I set out in the rain to make sure she was okay. And I found her standin’ right dere on the dock. Just like the very first time I saw her.”
“She must’ve sneaked away.” I’m thinking out loud. “From the others.”
Zale nods.
“Slipped off while the rest of ’em were playin’ flashlight tag. That’s what she told me. Left ’em out dere lookin’ for ’er.”
And that makes sense. Because it sounds just like Elora. She would have loved the drama of it. Everyone worried and calling her name.
“Did she say anything else?” I ask him.
“Just goodbye. She was leavin’， she said. For good.”
“That was something she talked about a lot,” I tell him. “Getting out of La Cachette.”
“It was more than talk dat night. She was waitin’ for someone.” My insides flip-flop, and I grip the edge of the flatbed trailer. “And she was nervous. In a hurry.”
“Who was she waiting for?” I hear the desperation in my voice.
The longing for an answer. Any answer.
But Zale just shrugs. “She wouldn’t say.”
“Did she at least say where she was going?”
He shakes his head. “We only talked a few minutes. Just long enough to say our goodbyes. And Elora kept her secrets close to her own heart. But she gave me dat blue pearl ring as a friendship token. For savin’ her all those nights.”
I look down at the ring on my finger. The little silver band reflects the bright June sun.
“And then everyone was out lookin’ for her,” he adds. “And I was thinkin’， good for her. She fooled ’em all. Ran off. Like she said she was gonna. Only –”
“Only you don’t think that any more.”
Zale shakes his head. “It doesn’t feel right. Somethin’ tells me she never left La Cachette.”
I think about that bloody Saint Sebastian medal. The ugly picture it paints of Elora’s last moments. With Case. If he found her there – on the dock, waiting for someone else – maybe it doesn’t matter who it was she was running away with.
Maybe all that matters is Case’s reaction.
My breathing changes, and I feel this squeezing pain in my chest. Like my heart is being crushed into dust. But it’s at war with the insistent voice inside my head that’s still telling me this is all impossible. That there’s no way she can be gone.
Dead.
Not Elora.
I know it’s true – some part of me has known it ever since that night back in February when I woke up and felt it, clear as anything – but I still can’t make any sense out of it.
Because if she were really dead, surely I would be, too. How do you go on living with only half a heart?
Suddenly I can’t get enough air. I’m panicking. Gasping for breath. My vision is blurry. I’m trembling.
Zale reaches over to take my hand, and I feel the electric shock of his skin against mine. My whole arm tingles. I pull my eyes away from Elora’s ring. Zale’s hand on mine.
And I find myself in the blue of his eyes.
For a split second, I think about Hart.
Dark curls. Teeth bared against the skin of my neck. Rough fingertips on the small of my back.
That gnawing need.
His.
And mine.
But then I feel the gentle heat of Zale’s touch spreading out through my whole body. It isn’t hot. I don’t feel that burn. Like I did with Hart last night.
But finally, I’m warm again. And I let myself breathe in deep.
I think about something Honey always says when she does a tarot reading.
It may not be what you were expecting, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t what you need.
That reminds me that we’re supposed to go up to Kinter this morning. Honey has a hair appointment. And I’ve totally lost track of time. How long have we been out here?
I don’t have any idea.
“I need to head back,” I say. And Zale nods.
I don’t want him to let go of my hand. But he does.
“Maybe I’ll see you this evening.” Something in his voice sounds hopeful.
“Yeah,” I tell him. “I’ll come back out tonight.”
And I’m surprised by how much I’m already looking forward to it, because I know it doesn’t make any sense. I just met Zale. And he still seems only half-real to me. I’m curious, though. About this stranger who loved my twin flame. This secret friend who sat with Elora in the dark of the night when I couldn’t be here to save her from herself.