Page 156 of Graves

I can barely bring myself to open the app.

“Hey! How are you?”

I stare at the words suspiciously.

Is that all?

What does that mean?

“Are you okay?” I type back. “Is everything all right?”

“I asked first ;) Or am I interrupting? Bad timing?”

My pulse slows down again and I wonder if I overreacted.

All right then…

“Just finished an interview and we’re waiting to go on stage. Nothing special.”

“And how are you feeling about that?”

I pause, thinking. It’s surprisingly hard to answer. “Now that I’m texting you… actually pretty good.”

“That’s nice. I’m doing okay too. I got myself together again. Had my first therapy session yesterday.”

“That’s good, right?”

“Yeah. Thank you for calling Selene.”

“It was the least I could do. I’m just sorry I couldn’t help you myself.”

“You did help me. More than anyone else.”

I don’t know what to say to that, but it feels good to know he’s doing better.

“I still haven’t told Levi everything,” Koh continues. “He would’ve lost his mind :) He was pretty pissed that I ignored his calls.”

“I was already close to tracking him down,” I write, smiling.

“Be glad he didn’t get to you first. He talked about torturing you.”

“Excuse me?”

“Don’t worry. He likes you. At least that’s how I interpret it.”

“Where are you right now?”

“Standing in my new place. Moving in over the next few days. It’s… okay.”

“Just okay?” I press.

The three dots appear, then disappear again.

“Aran! Look who’s here!” Liam calls excitedly.

In the doorway stands Alex, Liam’s son. Same honey-blond messy hair as his dad, wearing a Grave Sinner T-shirt. He looks like a miniature clone of the drummer. The last time I saw him, he was still a baby. Now a seven-year-old is standing in front of me, shyly hiding behind Liam’s leg when he sees me.

“Don’t worry, Aran won’t bite,” Liam laughs, dropping into the armchair across from me.