I shivered, recalling the brief meeting with the police Kas had had yesterday. They’d arrived, asked a few questions about where he’d been snatched from, what he could remember, and any other facts he could give before Kas had turned stony and uncooperative.
They’d wanted an interview once we were no longer in the hospital, but I didn’t know how successful that would be this early on. Having the uniformed officers in our room—even for five minutes—had set Kas on a razor-sharp edge.
I hadn’t been able to tell if Kas had been truthful or not. He’d said he couldn’t remember his real name. And, according to Jareth, he’d been a foster kid—same as Jareth—which meant the home he’d been living in before Storymaker abducted him would’ve been transient anyway.
Without a name or location, finding his family (if he even had one) would almost be impossible.
Kas truly was alone.
No, he’s not.
He has me.
My chin arched, answering the doctor’s question. “I’m prepared for it not to be easy. Whatever comes next won’t be nearly as hard as living with him alone in the very same house where he was trapped and hurt. I’ll have my family to help show him he’s safe. I’ll have my home to protect him. And he’ll have me...fighting beside him every step of the way.”
* * * * *
“Gemstone?! Holy frosting on a goddamn cupcake, is that really you?”
I laughed as all my worries and stress from the past few weeks faded instantly at the sound of my brother’s voice. “Hey, Joshy-kins.”
“Oh, my God, I don’t even care that you used that nickname. God, it’s good to hear your voice!”
My eyes stung as I sat on the single bed in our private hospital room and spoke into the cell phone I’d bought from the gift shop downstairs after speaking with Dr. Mary Channing. Kas still hadn’t returned, and instead of panicking that he’d tried to kill someone for touching him, I kept myself busy by reassuring the hearts of those who loved me.
“I’m so sorry I vanished for a while.” I wiped at a tear that dared to fall. “It wasn’t my intention to age you beyond your years.”
“Well, for the record, I have thirty gray hairs because of you, my heart has become a fan of palpitations whenever I get a text late at night, and I swear to God I haven’t had a good night’s sleep since the local news picked up your disappearance and found it highly entertaining to air morbid hypotheses of what happened to you.” His voice switched from the jovial brother I knew into someone serious and sad. “Honestly, Gem, it’s been bad. Your YouTube channel? They have a bounty on whoever can find you. There are comments galore on your videos claiming you’ve been eaten by a mountain lion or grabbed by a grizzly bear. Fuck, some of the stuff people are saying....Some say you’ve been abducted and used as a sex slave. That you deserve—” He let out a shuddery breath. “They’re assholes.”
That last one is eerily close.
“You shouldn’t be reading them, you know that.” I leaned back against the overly starched pillow. “Some are avid climbers and follow me to learn and share what I love, but others are just nasty trolls who haven’t peeled themselves off a couch in a decade, let alone go exercise in nature.”
“Yeah, I know.” He sighed heavily. “It’s just been...hard.” Silence fell for a bit before he muttered, “I missed you. Who would’ve thought I’d miss my annoying sister who can’t bake to save her life and has more cash than I’ll ever have but refuses to buy a damn lawnmower?”
I laughed softly as he sighed again. “Where have you been, Gem? What happened? I’ll admit I was a few days late looking for you, but...I’m so used to you disappearing on some stupid rock hunt that I thought for sure you’d be home, dirty and tired, forcing me to watch unedited versions of your ass climbing some scary cliff.”
He sighed again, his voice quieter. “But there was no mention of a boulder in Mammoth Cave in that group you gave me access to. I asked in the forum, and no one could help. It was like...you disappeared.”
“I’m so sorry. Someone deleted the post. It wasn’t your fault you couldn’t find it. I should’ve screenshot it and sent it to you.”
He continued as if I hadn’t spoken. “I called the national park. The police. They assured me they were running search and rescue parties. I went along on one—took an entire week off from work. Traipsed all over that damn park and didn’t see any sign of you.”
“You came out here?”
“Of course, I did. You were missing. We thought you were dead!”
“I’m so sorry, Josh.”
“Yeah, well...I’m not gonna forget it anytime soon, and I can’t say I won’t have some serious hang-ups next time you decide to disappear on a rock mission.”