“How’s it feel? Being back.”
He ran his hands over my—his desk. “Like I’ve been gone too long.”
“Sounds about right.”
“Tanner let me back into my house. He had the keys.”
“We cleaned it. Once a month or so. Making sure it was good for when you came back.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
“You said when.”
“What?”
“You said when I came back. Not if.”
“Oh. I guess.”
“Did you think—”
I looked away. “Maybe. I hoped.”
Gordo cleared his throat. “It felt weird. Standing in there. Like I didn’t remember how I’d got there. Like I was dreaming.”
I knew about dreaming. “That’s how I feel anytime I step back into the old house. Like… I’m not awake. Like it’s not real. But it is. It’ll take some time. Before it’s real again for you.”
“Is it real for you?”
“Most of the time,” I said honestly.
We were quiet for a little while.
He said, “Joe patrols at night. For hours.”
“I know.”
He drummed his fingers on the desk. “Of course you would. Because you can feel it now. Like he can. Maybe even better. You knew, didn’t you? The second we stepped back into Green Creek.”
I nodded. “You touched your wards. To see that they were still up.”
“I don’t understand how this is possible.”
“I don’t either.” I didn’t know if we ever would. It seemed odd to be considered a strange thing in among people who could change into wolves on a whim.
“You need to talk to him.”
“Are you saying that as my friend? Or as his witch?”
He stiffened slightly. “Would it matter?”
“I don’t know.”
“What do you know?”
“I was yours first.” I smiled. “Though I think Mark would disagree with that.”