I opened my mouth to call out, then paused when the figure stepped out of the shadows.

It was a young girl.

That gave me pause.

What was a teenager doing breaking into my room?

“Adara?” she asked quietly, stepping into the glow from the one lamp that was on.

Those eyes...

Big, tawny brown eyes with curling lashes. Caramel colored skin, wildly curly hair that reached just passed her shoulders. She was taller, thinner too, but...

The past and the present blurred together as I suddenly saw the child in the girl that was almost now a woman. My heart squeezed tightly in my chest.

“Siro?” I asked, taking a step forward, knowing I was right but still in disbelief. “What are you doing here?”

“I...I wanted to come see you,” she said, her voice cracking a bit as she took another step closer. “I’m sorry if I scared—”

Her apology ended abruptly as I pulled her into a tight hug, surprised to see that she was actually taller than me now. I felt another pang at the physical reminder of how much I had actually missed.

She hugged me back just as hard.

That told me everything I needed to know about whether or not she’d started to believe what her parents said was true. Still, the fact that she was literally hiding behind the curtains was a clear indication she wasn’t supposed to be here. I leaned back so I could see her face, smoothing her hair back from her delicate features.

“Siro...do your parents know you’re here?” I asked.

Her mouth tightened and she pulled back. “No. I snuck out.”

Oh no.

“Sirrocco—”

“They wouldn’t have let me see you, just like every other time you’ve been here,” she interrupted. “It was the only way.”

“Siro, you know they’ll worry if they find out you aren’t in your bed where you’re supposed to be.” Not that I was surprised she decided to sneak out. It fit with her personality, even when she’d been a young child. If she really wanted something, she had never cared how many rules she had to break to get it. Sometimes it was an admirable trait. Other times, it got her in a lot of trouble.

She looked away, folding her arms in front of her chest. “Did you not want to see me?” she asked in a low voice.

“Oh, sweetie.” I pulled her unresisting body back into my arms. “Of course I want to see you. I just don’t want you to get in trouble with your parents.” I sighed. “They love you and only want what they think is best for you.”

“Well, maybe they don’t always know what’s best for me,” she muttered.

Since I mostly agreed with her, I didn’t know how to counter that argument well.

We both froze at a knock on the door before I had to stumble through a response.

“Yes?” I asked, raising my voice to be heard through the heavy door. Siro and I had both automatically been speaking in low tones.

“Would you like dinner to be served in your room?” Amna asked politely. “Someone is here from the kitchens.”

Siro slipped out of my arms and hurried back to hide behind the curtain. The fabric settled back into place, easily hiding her slender form.

All right, then.

I cleared my throat. “Yes, please.”

I opened the door. A sweet looking teen aged boy with auburn hair smiled at me politely, looking at Reelin and Amna nervously, his hands resting on a laden cart.

“Come in,” I said, smiling back at him in reassurance and opening the door wider.

He nodded and pushed the cart into the seating area to the side and started to put the food out on the coffee table there. I saw his eyes flick over to the curtain a couple of times.

Hmm. I didn’t think I needed more than one guess to figure out how Siro had managed to get into my room undetected.

As he put the last dish down, he glanced over at me with a slightly guilty expression. I raised a brow at him.

He flushed, quickly standing and setting his hands back on the little cart. “Um, would you like anything else?” he asked quickly, his eyes sliding away from mine.

“What’s your name?” I asked.

“Uh, Lugh,” he stammered, inching towards the door.

“Lugh, how do you enjoy working in the kitchen? Is it something you want to do long term?”

“Uh. It’s okay. It’s just a job to make some money for now,” he said, almost to the door.

“Ah, I see,” I commented, nodding as I went to the door and put my hand on the knob. His eyes jumped to it and he froze. “Thanks for answering my questions. I’m just curious sometimes, you know? I like a little peek behind the curtain.”

His eyes shot to mine as he went rigid. We both heard the muffled sound from the corner of the room that I was now certain we both knew hid Siro.

I opened the door. “Have a good night,” I murmured.

He hesitated, his eyes sliding to the curtain. A flash of concern crossed his face. He was just as sweet as he looked.

“Everything’s fine,” I said with a slight smile, taking pity on him.

He nodded, sending me a tense smile as he finally pushed the cart through the open door. “Goodnight,” he murmured.

Reelin watched him walk away with a little frown. What did he have, a sixth sense?

I closed the door before he decided to ask any questions.

As soon as it was shut, Siro burst out from behind the curtain. “That was mean,” she accused, but her mouth twitched with amusement.

“Friend of yours?” I drawled, moving over to sit down by the food.

She sighed. “Yes. But he really didn’t want to help me do this. I had to twist his arm.”

“Hmm. I have a feeling Lugh wants to be more than just your friend,” I commented.

She colored a little. “No he doesn’t,” she muttered.

“Uh-huh,” I responded, unconvinced. Deciding to give her a break, I changed the subject. “Are you hungry? There’s enough for three people here.”

She looked at the food, nodding. “I had to sneak in when you guys got here,” she admitted, taking a seat across from me. “It was when everyone was most distracted.”

That made a lot of sense.

“I don’t think Aaden would be pleased that it was so easy to get in here,” I remarked as I dug in.

Siro shrugged. “They aren’t protecting this place from the flock,” she said, taking a bite of the chicken with obvious hunger.

That was true. Still, maybe it would be a good idea to let Aaden know he might need to refresh everyone who worked here about the rules. What if I had let Reelin and Amna look through the room first? What if she’d gotten hurt? Accidents happened all the time.

“You need to be more careful about where you decide to sneak in,” I warned. “If I had let my guards look through the room, they might have struck first and asked questions later.”

Her eyes widened. “You have your own guards?” she asked. “That’s so cool!”

Here I thought I was getting through to her. Silly me.

“Not when you can’t go anywhere without them,” I retorted. “It’s no picnic. Trust me.”

She sobered. “It’s good you have them,” she said, her face serious. “When I heard you’d died…” Tears gathered in her eyes.

“Hey,” I said gruffly, reaching across the table to cover her hand. “I’m fine.”

She turned her hand to grip mine. “Yeah,” she said, clearing her throat. “I’m really glad you’re okay.” She met my eyes. “After that… I wasn’t going to miss my chance to see you this time.”

How could I admonish her for the risk she’d taken now?

“Also, side note, it’s really weird that you literally came back from the dead,” she added.

I chuckled, shaking my head. “Tell me about it,” I said. “It wasn’t exactly a picnic for me either.”

“What was it like?” she asked, her expression fascinated. “Was there anything on the other side?”

I shrugged, uncomfortable with the subject. There might have been, but… “I don’t remember anything clearly,” I finally said, honestly. “Mostly I was just confused when I woke up.”

“I bet,” she murmured.

Figuring that was enough of that morbid topic, I switched to something less… iffy. So I got to know more about Siro and her life now, about school, her future plans.

“I want to be an engineer,” she said with a conviction I had definitely lacked at her age. “I’m good with math. Numbers make sense, you know? There’s always a right answer.” She reached out to grab one of the small cakes. “And I like the idea of building things.”

I nodded. “Sounds like a good plan,” I agreed, impressed with her maturity. “You have a much clearer idea of what you want than I ever did.”

“Yeah, but you’re the Internal Liaison to the Crown!” she countered. “That’s so interesting! And I’ve heard a lot about everything you did, under Emberich,” she added, frowning. “I don’t know why Mom and Dad are so stubborn about this. It’s clear to anyone with a brain that you were never Emberich’s flunky.”

It warmed my heart that she’d actually been following me like that. That didn’t mean I wanted her to harbor resentment towards her parents.

“They have their reasons,” I said obliquely. Time to switch the subject to something I had to address. “You have to call your parents, Siro.”

“They’ll just make me leave,” she said stubbornly. Siro looked at me, her eyes pleading. “Please don’t tell them—I won’t be able to leave the house again ever.”

Siro saw me wavering and leaned forward to push her advantage. “I’ll go straight home from here.”

I sighed. I knew I shouldn’t give in, but I missed her too. Who knew when I’d get to spend this much time with her again?

“Fine,” I sighed, to her delighted squeals.

So I gave in.

I spent most of the night getting to know this grown up version of Siro. One I found I was really proud of. She was smart, level headed, funny, someone I could be friends with.

I did mourn the loss of the little girl I knew. But we all grew and changed. I wasn’t the same either, and I wouldn’t be the same five years from now.

I thoroughly enjoyed that time with the new Siro.

Eventually, the night had to come to an end. “The sun is going to be coming up soon,” I commented.

Siro immediately popped to her feet. “What time is it?” she asked, just as there was a knock at the door. “That must be Lugh,” she whispered. “I told him to come back with snacks or something if I didn’t call him.” She hurried over to the curtain and gestured at me wildly to open the door.

All right then.

I went over and did so. The guards on duty now were Jermaine and Newman.

“Just got a little hungry,” I explained with a tense smile. Everyone already thought I was weird, what was one more oddity?

They nodded at me—consummate professionals that would likely wait until I was out of earshot to discuss my weird snacking habits—and Lugh pushed his cart into the room. I shut the door behind him and Siro popped out right away.

“I have to leave the snacks here,” Lugh said almost apologetically, moving over to set down some plates and pick up the used ones.

“Thanks for coming back, Lugh,” Siro said. “I owe you one.”

“You do,” he agreed, giving me a careful look.

I rolled my eyes. “I’m not going to tell anyone. But don’t do it again,” I added over his sigh of relief.

He nodded. “I won’t,” he said sincerely. “This already took ten years off my life.”

He seemed like he really meant it which made me add a few points for intelligence. Siro could use someone a little more careful.

“Maybe I should walk you home,” I said, frowning at how dark it still was outside, a sliver of the night sky showing through a crack in the curtain.

“I’ll be fine,” Siro reassured me. “You’ll draw more attention if you come with me. And you’ll have to bring guards, so Mom and Dad will definitely find out what happened then.” She came up to me and gave me a tight hug. “I promise to go straight home. It’s less than a five minute walk.”

She had a point. The place was safe enough; we were in the heart of our flock’s territory. I still wasn’t completely comfortable with it, but I also didn’t want to get her into trouble. Also, she was around the same age I was when I moved in with her family. Not a young child.

Against my better judgment, I conceded. “Straight home. And you have to message me when you get there or I’m coming to check on you,” I warned. “I won’t care if your parents find out then.” I’d given her all my contact information now that she was old enough to have her own devices.

“Got it,” she agreed, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek. “Maybe I’ll see you next time you come home?” she asked hopefully.

I hadn’t thought of my flock as home for quite some time. But now that I had an incentive to visit...

“We’ll have to figure out a way that doesn’t involve you sneaking out at night,” I said.

She nodded, grinning as she ducked into the empty bottom of the cart. “I’ll work it out somehow,” she agreed, then let the white cloth drop to cover her as she left.

Lugh rearranged it to make sure she was covered.

“Be careful,” I told him.

He nodded. “I will.”

Feeling a little out of control—Siro was turning out to be a master at manipulation—I opened the door to let him out with his contraband. Giving Jermaine a little wave when he looked over at me, I shut the door once again.

Grabbing my phone, I got onto the bed and went horizontal. I didn’t have much time at all before we had to leave, and it was sure to be a fun flight home after no sleep.

I smiled to myself. Totally worth it.