Page 25 of The Evil Twin

“Hey,” he said.

“I’m sorry I said you were wallowing in your own misery,” I said.

He shrugged. “I’m sorry for what I said, too. And for burning all your research.”

I took that as a sign that it was okay to enter the room. I sat in the chair by his bed, where I’d spent all those nights when he’d been unconscious.

“I haven’t been the greatest friend to you,” I admitted.

He scoffed. “You literally opened a portal to an alternate universe to come and rescue me.”

“Yeah, but like, emotionally, I mean.”

He shrugged again. “You’re not responsible for me.”

I thought about that for a moment. “Yes, I am.”

He laughed, but I was serious.

“No, I mean it. You’re my oldest friend in the world. You’re part of my family, my pack. I’m responsible for you, and you’re responsible for me. We need to have each other’s backs, and I haven’t had yours. And for that, I’m sorry.”

He nodded. “Okay. But I need to be responsible for myself as well. All the things I’ve done…”

“They were things done to you, not by you,” I argued, but he held up his hand for me to let him speak.

“It’s a lot,” he said. “All of it, from the time I was first taken. I’ve tried so hard to be normal, to fit back into normal life, but I can’t. Not even with the rest of the pack. I’m still different. Even before I ki –” He broke off, then shook his head, forcing himself to go on. “Even before that happened, but then they all saw me, saw what I did.”

I reached out and took his hand. I didn’t want to say anything, to interrupt again when he needed to talk, but I wanted him to know I was there.

“The therapist that Tennyson found, she’s good, but it’s not enough,” he said. “Our sessions don’t even scratch the surface. I know I need help, but it’s too much.” He shook his head.

“We’ll find someone who can help you,” I told him, hoping that was a promise I could keep. “People heal from all sorts of trauma. We just have to find what works for you.”

He squeezed my hand. “If the world doesn’t end first.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

They didn’t return that night. By the next afternoon, I was in a panic. Nikolai thought I was overreacting. He said he’d have felt it through the pack bond if anything bad had happened, especially to Tennyson, since he was the alpha. But none of us had felt it when my father had killed the Ellis pack, so that didn’t reassure me.

“I mean, it’s a big ask,” he said. “She’s probably just hard to convince. Like, if someone asked me to melt myself into my evil twin, I’d need some pretty sweet compensation.”

I glared at him. “I’m not the evil twin. She is.”

“Potato, tomato,” he said, with a shrug.

Where ARE you? I asked Tennyson for what felt like the thousandth time. I knew he didn’t want Other-me to intercept anything he might say to me, but a quick “we’re all fine” couldn’t hurt, surely.

They finally got back just before midnight. I stormed out to meet them as soon as I heard the helicopter ready to give them a piece of my mind, but they both looked so pale and exhausted that I couldn’t be mad at them. I didn’t question them until they were safe inside with a hot cup of tea.

“We have her,” Tennyson said, finally.

I stared at him, waiting for more. He sipped his tea. I glanced at Althea. She sipped her tea. Were they actually trying to drive me crazy?

“It didn’t go well,” Althea said finally.

They exchanged a look.

“Nuh-uh,” I said. “I don’t want the edited version, tell me everything.”

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