Page 27 of Spears and Shadows (Defenders of the Light)
9
Three daysafter Nora had left for a simple coffee meeting with Adam, she collapsed back onto her own bed with a sigh. She stretched out, glad for the sense of comfort and normalcy that washed over her. Although she knew there was a guard from the Eteria nearby, Adam had kept his promise and she’d seen neither hide nor hair of them on her trip home.
She took a few moments of comfort in the sound of the traffic outside and the gurgle of her coffeemaker running in the kitchen before her phone buzzed against her thigh.
Sitting up, she pulled it out to see Odelle’s name on the screen and grimaced before answering. “Hello?”
Her sister didn’t even acknowledge her with a greeting before launching into a tirade.
“Where the hell have you been? I’ve called you twenty times and you only pick up now?”
Nora winced, pulling the phone away from her ear so that her sister’s yelling didn’t blow out her eardrum. Apparently, the Eteria had not yet figured out how to get cell phone service in pocket dimensions.
“You were at the hospital after almost bleeding to death, then I go back to see you and you aren’t there anymore. You and Drew just vanished without telling anybody where you were going. I would have filed a missing person report already if Drew hadn’t called me this morning and told me you were safe.” Under the rage in Odelle’s voice, Nora could sense a slight edge of hysteria.
“Well he was right. I’m safe. I just got back to my apartment.” Nora did her best to sound reassuring, but the effort was wasted on Odelle.
“You were safe the whole time, and you didn’t even think to call me and let me know? I’ve been out of my mind over here. I spilled a cup of coffee on myself on live TV during the news because I was so distracted, worrying about what happened to you.”
Nora’s heart sank, and she covered her face with the hand that wasn’t holding the phone.
“I’m sorry, zaika. I didn’t have cell service where I was, and I was really out of it.”
“Of course you were out of it. You ran out while being treated for blood loss and concussion. And where were you that you didn’t have service?” Nora could envision Odelle with her hands on her hips, tossing her hair in exasperation.
“I was…with Adam.” Nora gave the only answer she could think of. She supposed she hadn’t promised anybody that she wouldn’t tell her sister about the Eteria, but somehow, she couldn’t bring herself to burden Odelle with everything that had just happened.
Odelle was far from satisfied with her answer.
“You ran out of the hospital with the professional acquaintance who got you into a car accident? I know I said he was attractive, but I didn’t mean for you to disappear with him right then! How hard did you hit your head?”
“Drew came with us,” Nora offered lamely.
“Of course he did!” Odelle was beyond incensed. “He didn’t want you to die when you decided it was a good idea to slip out of the hospital with a man you barely know!”
“I didn’t decide to leave. It was more complicated than that.” Nora stood and started pacing back and forth from the window to her closet.
“Then explain it to me. Contrary to common opinion, I’m not stupid,” Odelle fired back.
There was a long silence on the line before Nora answered. She opened her mouth, ready to spill the truth to her sister, whom she’d shared everything with for as long as she could remember. The words stuck in her throat. How did one begin when everything they’d believed to be true about the world had just been upended?
Nora thought about how her whole life, everything she had worked so hard for, was in jeopardy. Then she thought of the same thing happening to Odelle’s life, all the obstacles she had overcome to get where she was being for nothing. She knew Odelle wouldn’t be able to stay out of this conflict if she knew about it, just the way she’d run towards every playground fight when they were kids. Odelle was always jumping in to protect Nora and getting herself in trouble, and Nora would be damned if she didn’t try to protect Odelle from this fight.
“I can’t tell you,” Nora finally whispered.
“That’s not true,” Odelle answered in her typical obstinate fashion. “You always tell me everything.”
“Not this.”
There was another long silence and a lump rose in Nora’s throat. Finally, her sister’s voice came through the line.
“Then I guess we aren’t the sisters I thought we were. If you change your mind and need somebody to talk to, you know where to find me.” Odelle’s voice was followed by a faint click, then she was gone.
Nora slid to the floor where she had been standing, not bothering to make her way back to her bed, and covered her head with her arms. It was as if a wall was sliding into place where there had never been a barrier before—not even through all the struggles they had faced together as foster children. Now Nora had placed something damaging between them, and she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to break back through.
As Nora sat on the floor under the window, hot tears squeezed out of the corners of her eyes. They ran down her cheeks, dripping off her chin to form wet pools on her collarbone. For the first time during the ordeal of the last few days, she let herself cry.
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