WHEN WE GOT BACK TO the hotel, I hoped Crow would invite me back to his room.

He didn’t.

“Are you sure you want to be alone?” I asked him, putting my hand on his arm.

He stroked my cheek. “It’s been a pretty intense day. Don’t tempt me.”

Oh, I wanted to tempt him. I really wanted to tempt him a lot, but he was right. It had been intense. If he needed some alone time, I wouldn’t push him. Not tonight.

Instead, I went into my room and changed into my PJs. I wasn’t ready to sleep, so I grabbed my hairbrush and began brushing my hair. That often helped me to think.

The things he’d told me played with my mind. His sister rejecting him like that had obviously really hurt him, and hurt him still, no matter how much he brushed it off. That had been a long time ago, though. About ten years by my reckoning. Surely, in that time, her feelings had changed.

If she regretted it now, what would she do? If Crow had been a normal guy, she could have picked up the phone and called him or sent him an email but being in the Freaks made him far from normal. He had levels of privacy most people didn’t have. You couldn’t just look up his phone number, and if she wanted to contact him, her message would get lost in the piles of fan mail.

From the sound of it, Crow had severed all connections with his family and his home town. There was no one she could ask for help.

Even though I had no siblings, I couldn’t imagine cutting myself off from family. I messaged my mother every day. Sometimes I even talked to a photo of her, telling her things about my day. I’d always been close to Polly and my other cousins, even when Polly was a pain in the butt. That’s what family was like: you got annoyed with them, but it didn’t stop them being family.

I bet Crow’s sister felt like that too.

If only I could get him to contact her. She’d probably be so happy to hear from him. Those kinds of bonds didn’t just die.

How could I get him to do that, though? He was stubborn as hell, and if I raised the subject, he’d just close off. I needed to be much trickier than that.

Could I track her down? I had no idea where she lived, and she might’ve even changed her surname by now, but I had to try. She’d be 24 years old, and I knew her home town. I had no idea where she would’ve moved to.

I opened up my laptop and went online. First of all, I checked the Freaks’ official site to get any details. No mention of a sister on Crow’s bio. But, hey, Elijah had two older sisters. Figured. Guys like him always had older sisters who spoiled them rotten. That was what made them grow up to think they were God’s gift to women.

I’d have to tell him that theory.

After the official site, I trawled through all the fan sites. Even there, no one mentioned a sister, although a few did say that Crow’s father had died of a heart attack.

Then I checked forums. That didn’t help, either, although someone had posted: Forget the Freaks, Wreckage is where it’s at. That chick singer is so hot.

I bookmarked that to read again later. I didn’t get nearly enough fan mail for my liking.

Then I read a reply that wasn’t as nice. Obviously from someone with no taste.

I couldn’t spend the night reading about myself. I had someone to find.

I wondered if she looked like Crow. Obviously, she wouldn’t have the beard. Well, I hoped not. And it was hard to know what his mouth and jawline looked like underneath it. But I imagined she had those same sparkling eyes and dark hair.

I tried Facebook first, but Mom was online and she got chatting to me.

What are you doing up so late?

Trust her to know the time difference. I told her I was about to sleep. I didn’t want to tell her about Crow. I wasn’t sure how much she’d heard from Polly. But then I didn’t want to not tell her, either. I tried casually telling her I we were together, but there was no way I could slip something like that past her without a fuss. She wanted all the details.

I’d grabbed my phone to take a photo of my necklace.

Interesting was all she said.

I told her all about sightseeing in Paris and sent her some photos.

Is he a good person? she asked. That’s the most important thing.

He’s a good person, I replied. He’s the best.

I’d just shut down the window when I heard a light tapping on my door.

It was Crow.

“I didn’t wake you?” he asked, and I shook my head. “I couldn’t sleep.”

He walked into my room, and I wrapped my arms around him, holding him tight.  Then I glanced over to make sure I had nothing incriminating on my computer screen.  I didn’t want him to know I’d been digging into his past.

He held me tight for a long time. I guessed confessing the dark secrets of your soul took a lot out of a person. Finally, I took his hand and led him over to the bed. I couldn’t stand up hugging him forever.

I climbed into bed beside him and curled my body against his. He didn’t try to kiss me or any of that. He just held me tight, stroking my hair, until he fell asleep.