He would have walked in the middle of the road, but Jay’s group was out there at the fire drinking, and Rain didn’t trust them or many of the others to have headlights on and their eyes on the road.

Erin was there, sitting at her window on the second floor. She was keeping an eye out for him, still wearing the shirt with the cross on the front from earlier. The light from her television cast the shadows around her in various shades of green.

She raised a hand in a wave as he drew close enough for the light from the house’s windows to illuminate him. He raised his own hand.

With the house being at the end of a path, and Erin being on the second floor, her voice was almost inaudible as she asked something. She pointed with him as she asked it, then raised her hand in a barely-visible okay sign.

Was he okay?

Rain stood a very real chance of dying.

He was standing there, not responding, his thoughts tearing through his brain. He had options but none of them were options. If he went to the Wardens for help he would become embroiled in something bigger, because he knew things and he’d be expected to share those things. The Fallen would target him and there was no guarantee the Wardens could keep him safe. There was a chance it would push away Erin and pull him away from the group, as he was taken to safe custody and expected to testify. There was a chance the revelation would mean Victoria pushed him away, or Sveta did, or even Chris or Kenzie.

He could share with the group, but for many of the same reasons he couldn’t go to the Wardens, there would be a price. Things would change.

The person online—no guarantees.

Mrs. Yamada—she could offer support, she could help him ask others for help, but there was a limit to what she could do.

Erin repeated the question, calling it across to Rain.

A moment later, she put her book, down, holding her hand out. Telling him to wait.

“I’m okay!” he called out. He wasn’t.

Erin reversed direction and put her head out the window. In the background, one of her parents—her mom, it looked like, stepped into her room, standing behind her.

Rain raised a hand in a wave, and Erin’s mom waved back.

“I’ll talk to you tomorrow!” Rain called out.

“Yeah!” Erin replied.

Rain adjusted his bag at his shoulder, then resumed the trudge. The false normal and the lie that he was okay was something that felt almost real, he could hold to it for a short while.