Starlight in Crystal City (Book 2)

23: Dealing With the Internal Desire for Revenge

The water spilled from the showerhead, swirling in circles around my feet as it drained. I watched it through my detached, unfocused eyes. It was tinged red from the cut on my arm, along with a bit of dust and a few days' worths of grime.

The past five hours had been a blur. I'd talked to the police while Taliyah did the same in the opposite room—going over the events in detail, being asked about the others who were kidnapped, and going over the events for a second time. By the time I got back to the hotel, I was, to put it simply, fed up.

I sighed and sponged the shampoo from my hair. The suds crackled in my ear like distant thunder. Steam covered every inch of the hotel bathroom, fogging the mirror next to me until I couldn't see anything.

Kidnapped. I had been gone for a week and a half, and I didn't know how to feel. I brushed a finger through my hair to untangle the knotted mess it had become.

I took my time in the shower, trying to wash the evidence of the past few days. Trying to rewind time. But my head kept thudding and thudding, and thoughts kept flinging around in the husk of my brain like a million tiny explosions shattering around me.

I shut off the water and wrapped a towel around my waist, savouring the soft fabric against my skin. I needed a hug, or maybe a year-long nap. Either would do, right about now.

I chewed on my lip as I got dressed, pulling on a pair of lounge pants and a loose sweater that belonged to Eleni. It smelled like coconut body wash and perfume, and for some reason, I was hit with a wave of emotions again. I willed myself to focus—to calm down—I was safe now. I had gotten Taliyah out. With her, we could figure out a plan.

My mouth tasted like metal. Belatedly, I realized I had chewed so hard it had started to bleed.

I dabbed my lip with the towel to clean it, my eyes flickering to the bathroom mirror. Taliyah had explained that her mind-link became a string of visions and colours when she contacted me from further away. The sensation of familiarity I'd felt were Taliyah's feelings breaching through the connection, and not a superpower showing itself. Wouldn't that be nice? (It'd be like an apology from the universe: 'Sorry you got kidnapped or whatever, but here's an ability! That should make it better, right?')

I lifted a finger to my hair. When it was wet, it looked practically black, like Aunt Halley's did. Only the frizzy curls drooped over my eyebrows and stuck out at the sides. I scanned the hand towels and Nia's travel kit. A pair of scissors shone in the light underneath a bottle of nail polish remover and mascara.

I glanced at myself, challenging the reflection. Without giving it too much consideration, I grabbed the ends of my hair and sliced it off. Clumps of brown fluttered into the sink until I'd gotten it to shoulder length.

With a sigh as if letting go of something heavy, I exited the bathroom. Sitting around the double beds was Aunt Nia—who'd finally got on a flight as soon as she could—Jax, and Taliyah.

"Hey!" Nia smiled softly at me and ushered me over, tossing both of her hands around my neck to squeeze me into a crushing hug. I folded into her body, fighting the urge to cry again. I didn't think I was going to last much longer without breaking down. "I was worried about you, Kacie. I am so sorry. I should have been there. If I hadn't... if someone had been there to..."

I sat at the edge of the bedsheets, smoothing them between my shaking hands. I knew what she wanted to say, even though she didn't cement it into existence. Someone to protect me.

I'd been helpless. Powerless. So many words to describe it. I had faced my fears with Midnight, and I was such a fool for thinking that meant it was over. That my worries would magically disappear, and I never had to think about it anymore. As if I had left my hopelessness behind; locked it in my enclosure of a glass case.