Page 51 of Finn's Solace

"Nope. He wasn't answering his phone or replying to my texts, so I got worried."

Jai's face went tight with worry, and he waved at me to follow, then led me to the living room, where Raphael took one look at his face and shot to his feet.

"What's wrong, babe?"

"Did Finn tell you where he was going?"

"I just assumed..." He trailed off when he spotted me, and sighed. "He didn't come to you, did he?"

I shook my head, and Raphael swore under his breath.

"Okay, we need to calm down. Finn's not a kid. He probably just wanted some time to himself," I said, hoping I was right. I understood myself enough to know I was reacting from a place of trauma, and I needed to calm down.

Finn wasn't in any danger, and he'd be home soon. I was sure of it.

"You're right," Jai said, then glanced at Raphael, who nodded in agreement, albeit reluctantly. "Would you like to wait for him, Levi?"

"If that's okay."

"Of course, but you have to stay for dinner," Jai said, and I smiled.

"Sounds good to me."

"You also have to help with dinner," Raphael added, and I grinned.

"That's better. Where do you need me?"

Jai smiled, then led me into the kitchen, and I tried to focus on the tasks he handed me instead of worrying about Finn. He'd be back, safe and sound. He had to be.

Finn

Since Dr. Griffin's cabin was in walking distance—like most things in Mistvale were, if you had the time—I left home early and decided to go on foot so I'd have some time to myself to gather my thoughts. I wanted to be honest today, and I knew it wasn't going to be easy.

I hadn't told anyone where I was going. Not my dads, not my siblings, not even Neel or Ames, and certainly not Levi. I wasn't sure why. Maybe because I was afraid I still wouldn't be able to open up, and I didn't want to have to admit that failure to anyone. Or maybe it was because I'd been pretending everything was okay for so long, and I didn't want them to find out it wasn't.

Dr. Griffin's cabin was exactly as I remembered, covered in vines and climbers and one with nature. They were fae, and I didn't know if it was their magic that made the earth practically swallow their cabin, or if it was just nature being nature. Levi would be able to tell.

Shaking my head, I took a deep breath and climbed the steps to the front door, then knocked.

Dr. Griffin opened the door themself—while I'd talked to their assistant a few times, I'd never seen her—and smiled. Dr. Griffin had an ethereal sort of beauty—thanks to their fae heritage—and as a kid, I'd sometimes thought they ought to be an angel of some sort.

"Finn, it's good to see you. Come on in."

I stepped into the cabin, and they closed the door behind me. While the outside of the cabin hadn't changed, the inside definitely had. For one, there were very few of their tchotchkes lying around. The tables and shelves used to be full of them, but now there were barely a dozen of them in the whole room.

Dr. Griffin must've noticed my preoccupation because they paused on their way to the door that led into their office, and glanced back at me, making the beads in their many braids clink against each other.

"I don't live here now," they said, which certainly explained things. I hadn't heard anything about them moving away through the gossip mill, but then again they and their mate, Hector, tended to stay on the sideline when it came to clan involvement.

"Sit. Would you like some water?"

"Yes, please. Thanks," I said as my nerves came back tenfold now that I was in their office. I'd spent hours in this room, and yet it never felt comfortable.

Dr. Griffin placed a glass of water in front of me before settling in their usual chair, their deep purple gown spread out before them. Their pale green eyes scanned my face, lingering on my eyes—or maybe my glasses?—for a long moment before moving away.

"What brings you here today, Finn?"

One of the things I liked about them was that they never beat around the bush, and they didn't let me do it either.

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