When I arrived at the hotel, I went straight up to our joined rooms. Reine looked up from her laptop on the desk when I walked in, and the tightness around her eyes and lips dimmed her smile. How much had the soul-eater taken from her in its attacks that morning? And what did it want in the end? More than just to weaken her. We still had so many questions without answers.
"Any news?" she asked. "Is Ted going to help us?"
"Yes, he'll let me know when he hears back from Ashlee or Rae."
"Good. I guess we wait, then." She glanced out the window, and her expression turned wistful.
"You don't do waiting well?" I asked.
She laughed, and the sound reminded me of water running over pebbles in a stream—young and happy, but with a cold edge. "I do waiting too well. That's part of my problem."
"
