Chapters (49)
‘I know.’ Lottie marched over to take it. ‘I’m not interested. I have you guys and my Portman job; why would I want to see him?’
‘Why didn’t you tell me?’
‘Why didn’t you tell me about that thing on your ribcage?’ Lottie countered, throwing the postcard in the bin again.
‘This is ridiculous, Lottie,’ retorted Ellie, ignoring Lottie’s accusation. ‘It says he’s selling the house? Where will you live?’
‘Why does that matter?’ Lottie demanded. ‘I live with you.’
They stared each other down, chests heaving. Lottie looked at the wolf pendant that dangled over Ellie’s chest, knowing that as long as they shared it they were bound together. Just as it should be.
‘Because,’ Ellie said at last, sounding colder than Lottie expected, ‘you need a family beyond me. You need to have a place to go if all this stops.’
Lottie felt her stomach drop. Ellie was her family. The idea of there being anything else beyond what she felt for Ellie was as impossible as the sun rising in the west.
‘But I only want you.’ Lottie could hear her voice break.
From the way Ellie flinched, Lottie knew she felt the same way – that there was part of their relationship they’d never acted upon, full of wonderful possibilities.
Ellie looked away first, sighing. ‘Sometimes,’ she began, ‘what you want isn’t what you actually need.’
And, just like that, the fruit of possibility shrivelled into dust.
Before Lottie could ask any of the burning questions she had, a knock sounded at their door. Both of them looked to one another, waiting to see who would answer.
‘Hello?’ Saskia’s voice carried from the other side of the door.
‘Hey!’ Ellie answered, opening the door to reveal not just Saskia but Percy too, and with them a flood of worry so thick they could smell it like smoke from a forest fire.
‘What’s happened?’ Lottie asked.
‘Is it Leviathan?’ Ellie added, both of them already preparing for a fight.
Instead Percy and Saskia looked at each other in slow gloom, totally at odds with Ellie and Lottie’s energy.
Saskia shook her head, putting a hand on Percy’s shoulder in comfort, squeezing ever so slightly. ‘It’s Lola and Micky,’ she said, and Lottie already knew what awful news was coming. ‘Their dad has passed away.’
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