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EIGHTY | SEA OF STARS
“Callie?” My name, sleep-worn and grumbled, sounded like a lifeline. My heart thudded loudly in my chest.
“Dad. I – God, they’re there.” I turned to Cyrus and mouthed, “Where did you find me?”
He squinted at me, deciphering my words, before mouthing back: “Below.” He added a jaunty point to the ground, and I shook my head at him, hoping I understood.
There was nothing sleepy about my Dad’s voice. “It’s almost four in the morning. We thought you’d got carried away dining with your vampire beau. What happened?”
Thank God they hadn’t come for me; thank God Cyrus had. But my lips stilled. Four in the morning? I squinted into the night, searching for a glimmer or peach or tangerine to mark the first rays of the rising sun. The midwinter sky was still dark, with not even the merest shade of pale blue to suggest
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“Dad? Paps?” I shrugged off Cyrus’s coat, holding it close to my chest for a moment before hanging it on the rack. It looked out of place beside mine and my Dads’ familiar coats, long and dark and sweeping, carrying his arrogance with it even though it had long since left his body.“Callie? Oh – thank God.” Paps swarmed me, wrapping me tight in his arms before stepping back and patting me down, checking for any wounds. “You’re okay. Oh, you’re okay.”I grinned, one side of my mouth tugging up further than the other. “I’m okay.”“We were worried,” Dad said, his voice low and croaky. I wondered how much sleep either of them had got last night.“It – it didn’t exactly go to plan,” I mused, toeing off my boots.Paps raised an eyebrow. “You can say that again.&
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The smile froze on my face. I wobbled, and stuck out a hand towards the counter to catch myself. The work surface was cool, and it pooled beneath my palm, making me shiver.I had to get her out. The humans here weren’t safe. I looked around, my breath hitching, counting heads and recognising familiar faces. I could see Dal, his broad face broken in two by a grin; I could see the Town Trio, tucked into a corner and gossiping noisily; I could see Tony, and Bill, and –My heart stopped. Sat at the counter, next to Alice, was Harper.I held my breath. I had to focus, had to think. But fear and exhaustion were swirling in my head, clawing at my brain and making it impossible to do anything more than stand and stare at the two of them.“You alright?” Grace caught me by the elbow and towed me into the back room, her eyebrows raised at me the whole way. I sagged against her,
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