Page 7 of Dragon in Denial
“Yeah.” Ketu cleared his throat. “I, uh, joined another colony. Up north. Detroit area.”
She leaned back in her chair, taking her drink with her. She definitely needed it right now. “So that’s where you ran off to.”
He shrugged and rested his elbows on the table. “I didn’t have a plan when it happened. I just needed to get the hell out of this place. Not like you, I see. You stayed here all this time?”
“Where else would I go?”
“Anywhere that wasn’t here.” He glanced around at the patio with its mismatched wrought iron tables and chairs and colorful umbrellas. Sure, the furniture had been upgraded over the years, but it didn’t look much different than it had when they were kids. “Too damn many memories,” he murmured, his gaze far away.
She blew out a breath. “Yeah, well, I guess staying and wallowing was easier than leaving and forgetting.”
“I haven’t forgotten. Maybe that’s what I was trying to do when I left, but I realized a long time ago that I’ll never forget.” Those pale eyes of his were all but drowning in despair. “Trust me. She’s with me, in everything I do, every single day.”
Ouch. That was about the most Ketu had ever said about Eulalie since she died. Antoinette cleared her throat. “So, um, have you seen your parents yet? How long have you been back, anyway?”
“Yes, I’ve seen my mom but not my dad yet.”
Did that mean he’d already met Henri?
“I just got here late last night,” Ketu continued. “Although I was here briefly in October, but it was literally for a few hours and then we got back onto a plane and returned to Detroit.”
Antoinette hated the twinge of annoyance that hit her. Hell, he probably wouldn’t have bothered to look her up this time around either if they hadn’t accidentally bumped into each other.
She abruptly stood. The dragon figurines clattered together in the front pocket of her hoodie. Ketu’s sharp gaze dropped and stared, which for some reason gave her goose bumps. He reached for her; she took a step away.
And then he was on his feet, his beefy hand wrapped around her bicep, holding her in place while he shoved his other hand into her pocket.
“Hey! Knock it off,” she shouted, struggling to get out of his grip.
He extracted a tiny glass dragon and lifted it to eye level, staring hard at the red liquid swirling inside. After a few seconds, his gaze shifted to her face. His brows furrowed, his lip curled, and he all but snarled, “What the fuck, Antoinette? After what we went through with Eulalie, you’re messing with this shit? Are you fucking insane?”
He waved the figurine in her face, and she snatched it out of his fingers and stuffed it back into her pocket. “It’s not what it looks like.”
“Yeah, Eulalie used to give us that same song and dance.”
“Trust me, I’m nothing like Eulalie.”Eulalie was weak.She hated herself every time she thought it, but it was true. Antoinette wouldn’t touch the stuff with a ten-foot pole, no matter who was offering it, whereas Eulalie had been willing to doanythingto keep Darius’s attention.
“Could have fooled me.”
She pulled a small wad of bills out of her pocket and tossed a couple of them onto the table. “You know what? I don’t need this shit. Goodbye, Ketu. I hope you’re heading back to Detroitsoon.” Then she hurried away, slipping out through the wrought iron gate and walking at a clipped pace up the street, toward home.
She needed a shower. And to dispose of the drugs in her pocket.
And she needed to figure out how to stop the flood of memories before they left her drowning in a pool of her own despair.
Again.
