Almost Midnight (Shadow Falls: After Dark #3.5)(91)

“Tell me, is your sister … how do you say…” He paused. “Sorry, my English is not too good.”

Miranda smiled. “It’s better than my French.” She sighed. “And Tabitha doesn’t have a boyfriend,” Miranda said, knowing what he wanted to ask. “But we’re leaving to go back to the U.S. in two days.”

“Well, lucky for me, I have an uncle who lives in Texas. Is this not where you two are from?”

Miranda smiled. “Yup.”

All of a sudden, voices rose outside of the waiting room. Miranda looked and saw her mom, dad, and Tabitha’s mom all barreling inside. Her mom was yelling at Burnett, Tabitha’s mom was yelling at her mom, and her dad stood there running his hand through his hair as if the two women were more than he could handle.

Miranda looked at Anthony and frowned. “Here’s a lesson in English for you. Ever heard of the saying, the shit just hit the fan?”

“I do not think so. What does this expression mean?”

“Just watch and see,” Miranda said. “Just watch and see.”

*

The doctor had given all of them a clean bill of health, but insisted they all needed a day of rest.

Thankfully, that meant Burnett sent her dad, mom, and Tabitha mom’s away. The talk her father had wanted to have with everyone had to be postponed. Not that Miranda or Tabitha minded. They went back to the apartment and crashed together in the bedroom where Tabitha and Sienna had slept the night before.

Several hours later, Miranda woke up and found Tabitha sitting up, just staring at the wall.

“You okay?” Miranda asked.

“Yeah. I just … I feel sorry for Sienna,” Tabitha said.

“Me, too.” Miranda rolled over and looked at her half-sister.

“Do you think her mom will ever get out of prison?”

“I doubt it,” Miranda said. “She killed Roni Force and Cindy Bryant. And she’d have killed us if Chase and the others hadn’t gotten to us. And just to make sure her daughter was high priestess.”

“I know. It’s just … I keep thinking about how Sienna feels. She can’t help it that her mother is a lunatic.”

Miranda nodded, thinking of her own parents’ sins. “I guess no one should feel guilty about what their parents do.”

From Tabitha’s expression, she knew exactly what Miranda meant. She leaned back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. “I still think they could have told us, or done things differently.”

“Me, too,” Miranda agreed. “It’s so screwed up.”

“It’s love,” Tabitha said. “Love screws with your head and your heart.”

Miranda considered how she felt about Perry. It felt sort of screwed-up, too.

“But…” Tabitha continued. “I still love our dad and my mom.”

“Me, too. They’re our parents. We have to love them.”

Tabitha rolled to her side and put her face in her hand. “Do you think we look alike?”

“Everyone says we do,” Miranda answered.

“I like that,” Tabitha said.

“Me, too.” Something shifted at the window and caught Miranda’s gaze. A bird sat on the sill, looking inside. It was raining and the bird’s feathers were ruffled. The animal looked cold and pathetic. It looked lost.

“I think that’s Perry,” Tabitha said. “He’s been out there since I woke up.” Her sister got out of bed. “Why don’t I leave and let you two talk?”

The idea made her nervous, but it was time. Miranda nodded. “Thanks.”

Tabitha got to the door and then turned around. “I won’t eavesdrop this time.”

Miranda smiled. “I appreciate that.”

Tabitha turned to leave then stopped and glanced back over her shoulder. “You’ll tell me what happens, right? Now that … that we’re okay with being sisters.”

“Yeah,” Miranda said, knowing she and Tabitha were going to be okay. They were sisters and while the circumstances felt wrong, it felt right, too.

If only everything felt that way, she thought, and glanced back at Perry.





Chapter Nineteen


Perry flew in as soon as she opened the window. Wings out, he landed on the bed. In mere seconds he’d returned to human form. He still looked cold and pathetic. His hair was damp; his pale yellow T-shirt clung to him. His eyes were clouded with guilt.

“I’m sorry,” he said before she could open her mouth.

“Perry, you didn’t—”

“I left you up there. I didn’t know there were more rogues around. I swear, I’d die before I let anyone—”

“Stop,” Miranda demanded. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“If I hadn’t left you, he wouldn’t have gotten you. You wouldn’t have had to endure any of that.” He sat up. “You could have died, and—”

“Stop! If you hadn’t left me when you did, my sister would be dead. I didn’t know I had a sister for all these years and if I’d lost her now, I would … I couldn’t have stood that. I’m not mad at you. I owe you.”

She went and sat down beside him, then hugged him. “Thank you.”