37 – Hi. Hi.

Eventine ripped that stupid Care Bear poster off the back of the door with all the vigor she could call up in her exhausted state. It had been almost thirty-six hours since they’d arrived at Burton’s farm. There had been no sign of Burton, but every other Citlali in the country was trying to contact her. If ruhi didn’t work, they called her on Harlan’s phone. When that didn’t work, they texted Harlan. He’d taken to responding with dick pics. It was the only thing that made them stop.

The way Wade was supporting Harlan’s crude response made Eventine wonder what kind of an us vs. them culture they were creating. Serenity cops against the world? It hadn’t happened the first time. Would letting it happen this time change anything? Eventine leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. This, right here, this was what she was trying to spare the rest of them. Knowing what had happened, and how it had happened, it messed with her mind, it made her run over the minutiae of each upcoming battle scenario endlessly. What if that happened differently, what about that?

If everyone knew what she knew, she would lose the benefit of their untainted opinions about how they should proceed forward from whatever came next, which was something she could not afford. So how to deal with it? Refuse to answer or claim she didn’t know? Her heart wanted to refuse to answer, to hold onto her own integrity even if doing so caused more problems, but her head wouldn’t let her. Everything she did from here on out had to be in the best interest of the shiften as a whole, not her as an individual. So she would lie. Even to her mate? She didn’t know. His was the opinion she valued the most.

Eventine stared at the Care Bear poster on the floor. She stomped on it once, twisting her feet, ripping it in half. Then she picked both halves up, strode to the open window, and popped the screen out with her foot. She pitched the poster out the window, then looked around for more to grab. Pink pillows. Out the window. Pink pens and poufs. Out. Pink fucking stuffed animals. Ridiculous.

Eventine grabbed the pink chair at the tiny, useless desk by the back of it and slammed it against the wall. The seat splintered and a leg flew off. Slam. Again. Another leg splintered off. Another slam and then the seat fell on the floor. Perfect. She carefully fitted it out the window, then dropped it to the ground two stories below. All this pink had to go, and then she would sleep.

“Evie?” Harlan said from the doorway. “Want help?”

She waved him away. “I got this. What about Jaggar and Leilani?”

“They’re still sleeping. I put some drinks and food on the table by their bed.”

“Is she claimed yet?”

Harlan laughed, stared blankly at her, then laughed again. She waited patiently for him to come out of his head. “Not sure, want me to wake him up and ask him? He’ll appreciate it, I bet.”

Eventine threw a pillow at her mate, then kicked over a pink garbage can, motioning at all the ‘little girl’ crap in the room. “I can’t believe I’m only just now throwing this crap away. I can’t believe I let Burton put me in that box for so long.”

Harlan crossed the room and grabbed her around the waist. “Bigger picture, Evie, remember that bigger picture we’ve been talking about. Can we really blame any of this on him?” He motioned around at the room. “This is just a side effect of what was going on in his head. In his mind, the only way to keep everyone safe and not sacrifice you was to keep you a little girl forever. It didn’t work. It never had a chance.” He shrugged. “But hey, he gave it a shot, you know?” He smiled and kissed her lightly. “The deck was stacked against him from the word ‘go’, we all know that. He still tried. He still did something. I can only admire him for that.”

Eventine let her mate fold her into his arms. She hooked her fingers into his beltline and let her head rest on his broad chest. He was right.

“He’s downstairs,” Harlan whispered, kissing the top of her head. “Sitting at the table.”

“How does he look?” she asked. She’d been expecting this, but she did not know if she was ready to face him. Not without some idea of his state of mind.

“Like shit. I can’t tell how lucid he is because he’s not talking much. He won’t say where he’s been. He just stares. I think he’s waiting for you.”

Eventine gathered strength from her mate. “I’ll go talk to him.”

“Want me to come with you?”

“No.” She kissed his chest, just over his heart. “I need to go alone. You throw something pink out the window and get us a new bed.”

She left the room, not hearing if her mate answered her or not. She made her way quietly down the stairs, listening for Burton, wondering just what in the hell she could say to him.

But when she reached him, she didn’t say a word, only slid into the booth next to him. It seemed easier than facing him.

“Hi,” he said.

“Hi,” she said back.

They sat that way, father and daughter, until Evie’s head drooped on the table and she fell asleep. Her mate came to her, picked her up, and put her in a bed somewhere.

Her father stayed at the table.