Page 35 of Demons of Eden

“I’m sure he doesn’t. He’s helping you, isn’t he?”

“Only because Daion and Torrin outvoted him. They’ve both been really kind. More understanding than I’d imagine anyone in this situation being, honestly.”

“I’m sorry,” Suvi says quietly.

“Don’t be, it’s hardly your fault. You were right to send me to them. I’m sure I’d never find Ash without their help. It’s proving hard enough with their assistance. They really have been good to me, and not just with helping search for Ash.”

“Still, I’m sorry anyway. I feel like I should have seen this coming, but I’ve always been much closer with Torrin than the other two. Not because of anything stupid like him being the only one to share my DNA, mind you. He was just the closest to my age when we were little. Torrin is a couple months shy of being two years older than me, and Daion’s about six and a half years older, I think? And at four years old, ten seemssuperold.” She grins to herself as if recalling a fond memory for a moment before her expression sours. “Rio wasn’t adopted until he was about eleven, I think. He didn’t really care to talk to me much back then, despite the fact we were closer in age than Torrin and I were.”

“How could anyone have not loved you as a kid?” I tease, recalling the awkward but treasured pictures she has of herself as a child. The good memories behind them clearly outweigh her embarrassment at her younger self, and so they sit displayed on practically every surface of her home. There’s no doubting the love Suvi grew up surrounded by, and I wonder if any of those pictures feature her cousins. If I’ve seen their younger faces before and simply haven’t realised it. “You were the cutest little witch.”

“Shut up. I was gangly and had to wear an eyepatch.”

“Totally adorable,” I insist, enjoying the torment of my bestie, especially because she never thought to introduce me to her attractive cousins. The audacity of her to call herself my friend and not help a girl out. All the times I’ve complained about the lack of interesting guys in this city, and she’s been hiding them away!

What would have happened if I’d met the three of them normally, not while pregnant with a demon’s baby and in desperate need of their help? Would we have clicked? Would Rio not have instantly hated me? Torrin better still have shared his pie in whatever alternate existence that meeting occurs in; otherwise, I fear for his safety from the other version of Eden.

“Lost in thought?” Suvi says, jolting me out of my own head.

“Just pondering the multiverse,” I reply, brushing her off and forcing myself to take a sip of my coffee. Buzzless and practically lukewarm by this point.Ugh.

“Hmm, yeah. In at least one of those other universes, I probably was cute. Why couldn’t I have been born in that one?” she asks jokingly.

“Because,obviously,I need you in this one.”

“Damn fucking right you do.”

“Speaking of…can we maybe ditch this place?”And this awful, soulless coffee.“We could take those photocopies to thepark and read over them together. There’s still so much I need to learn about all this, so why not start now?”

“Of course we can!” Suvi agrees brightly, clearly pleased.

We stand to leave, but in my eagerness to get moving, I send my coffee cup flying with my elbow.Shit.I reach out a hand without thinking, pausing the cup and its contents in midair with a silent mental command. It wavers suddenly, colours and lights flashing in my vision as I start to sway on the spot, desperately willing everything around me to be still.

“Eden?!” Suvi gasps, her hands grabbing my shoulders as the cup and I both fall. Thankfully, I have a friend to catch me. The shattering crash indicates the cup was less fortunate. At least no real coffee was lost.

The world starts to spin faster, and my stomach churns. I suddenly feel so empty, like a void has opened up inside of me and needs to be filled. A cold hand presses on my forehead and I try to pull back, only to be tsked at as I feel Suvi's mental presence poking at my own.

“Shhh. Let me help you,” she mutters.

“You can’t do that again,” I manage to grumble. “Especially not here.” Even while half-lying on the floor, half-resting against my friend with my head pounding as it spins, I can feel all of the eyes in the cafe on us.

“You need help,” she protests.

“Not like this,” I insist, shutting my eyes to try and ward off all the discomforting sensations assaulting me at once.

Did someone turn up the brightness in here or something?

I hear someone approach and ask Suvi something, but I can't string together all the words they’re saying into something understandable in my brain. I catch her reply, though. Her familiar voice sharply tells them she’s a healer and has the situation under control.

“Eden?” she asks worriedly, her concern managing to pull me back into reality a little more. I have no idea how long I’ve been on the floor.

“Still alive,” I answer, forcing the words out.

“Just hold on. You’ll be fine. I’m going to call for some help, okay?” Suvi promises reassuringly.

“Nobody can help,” I protest, but either she doesn’t hear or chooses to ignore me.

The next thing I’m aware of is a pair of strong arms lifting me up.

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