chapter 28
Paul, Sid, and Minhi didn’t notice Alex at first when he wandered into the cafeteria and hung near the entrance. He took a moment to watch them, and saw that Sid was making them laugh with some extended story where he needed to pantomime being hung upside down. Minhi and Paul were holding hands, and Alex searched himself for the jealousy that so recently had tinged his soul whenever he saw them, and couldn’t find it. For a moment he touched his neck, feeling the tenderness of the injury there, already almost healed.
Astrid came around beside him and leaned back against the door frame, holding a stack of books.
Alex turned toward her and smiled. “Astrid.” He felt his chest brim with something like shock and relief at once. “I thought you went back to the Orchard.”
“You went back to the farmhouse,” she said with a laugh. “We both have these places. We work there; we don’t have to live there.”
“Thank God for that,” Alex said, watching her bright eyes shine. For a moment it was strange seeing her without an army of vampires trying to tear them both limb from limb. He wondered if her expandable staff was hidden in the pack she had slung over her shoulder. He found himself looking down and said, “I was afraid you weren’t coming back.” It sounded like a weak thing to say, but he said it just the same.
“Really?”
“Yeah, you know, weird stuff happens around here,” Alex said. “Icemaker’s still out there. And you never know when the chess team might suddenly all get cursed and turned into…giant…spiders….”
“A giant spider curse?”
“Right, and I’m just guessing but I’m pretty sure we’d have to go to Egypt for that, and I hate to fly alone. Plus there’s Elle—”
Astrid took his hand and patted it with her other hand. They both looked at each other and Astrid leaned over and kissed Alex on the cheek.
Alex smiled and looked down for a moment, then turned back to watch his friends, still clowning at breakfast.
“What are you looking at?” Astrid asked.
“I think I’m looking at the rest of my life,” he said. Astrid threw a glance around the cafeteria and tilted her head, as if considering.
“For now,” Alex clarified.
Astrid smiled, and together the pair walked to the breakfast table and began the day. There may well have been evil things watching, but for the moment they lay only in wait.