Glimmerglass

I hadn’t seen or spoken to Kimber since the attack at the boutique. I supposed I should have called to check on her—after all, she’d been hurt, too—but my mom’s arrival in Avalon had driven all other thoughts from my head. Kimber hesitated in the doorway, chewing her lip in a very un-Fae-like show of nerves. The expression on her face was vulnerable, but I wasn’t sure what was wrong.

“Come on in.” I beckoned her as I raised the top half of my bed so I could sit up.

Kimber smiled tentatively and stepped through the doorway.

“I’ll wait outside to give you some privacy,” Lachlan said, and I flashed him a smile of gratitude.

When the door closed behind Lachlan, Kimber came to sit on the edge of my bed. She glanced at the bouquet of roses and raised her eyebrows.

“I see my brother has been here,” she said.

I discovered I could blush even with fever-flushed cheeks. “Yeah. I was asleep at the time.”

Her eyes glittering with mischief, she reached into the tote bag that hung from her shoulder. “I brought you something better.” She pulled out a thermos and gave it a vigorous shake.

It wasn’t hard to guess what was in that thermos, and as soon as Kimber twisted the top open, my nose confirmed the guess. As badly as I’d dreaded having to choke down dinner, the scent of the hot posset set my mouth instantly to watering. She poured me a careful capful and handed it to me.

It smelled so inviting—especially since the whiskey scent wasn’t overpowering—that I wanted to chug it down instantly, but I hesitated. “Is this allowed?” I asked. “I don’t know what meds I’m on, and’”

Kimber gave a haughty sniff. “Hot posset is the best medicine of all.”

“Yeah, but some meds don’t react well to alcohol.” And I imagined she and I both would get in trouble if the nurses came in and smelled booze on my breath.

Kimber chuckled. “I made it according to the actual recipe instead of spiking it like I usually do. There’s one tablespoon of whiskey in the whole batch. Now drink up before it starts to get that nasty hot-milk film on top.”

I took a sip and let out an appreciative “mmm.” It was as rich and creamy as I remembered, and Kimber had obviously used extra honey this time because it was deliciously sweet as well. I’m sure it was just the power of suggestion, but I swear my headache dimmed as I drank the posset down.

I drank the whole capful in no time flat, and Kimber instantly refilled it. She still had that vulnerable, shy look on her face.

“Is something wrong?” I asked, then took another soothing sip.

She huffed out a deep breath, then smiled at me. “I believe Ethan was right and I was being paranoid.” The smile faded, and she stared at her hands. “I was afraid that after everything that’s happened, you’d think I led you into an ambush at that boutique.”

I was genuinely shocked by the suggestion. Obviously, I’m not the most trusting of people, but I’d never once suspected Kimber had any involvement in the attack, and I told her so.

I hadn’t realized just how tense she was until her whole body relaxed.

“Why would you expect me to think you had anything to do with it?” I asked.

She shrugged. “I guess I’m still trying to deal with my guilty conscience about … before.”

“That’s water under the bridge,” I told her, and realized all the anger I’d felt when I’d discovered her and Ethan’s deception had faded away. I grinned. “I let Ethan off the hook because he saved my life. And you brought me hot posset, so you can’t be all bad.”

Kimber answered my grin with one of her own. “I told you hot posset is the cure for everything.”

Maybe it was the placebo effect, but I felt much better after two cups of hot posset. So much so that I was even able to face my delicious evening meal of rubber chicken, instant mashed potatoes, and mushy peas.

By the time I decided to call it a night and go back to sleep, Finn had replaced Lachlan again, and I was beginning to wonder why neither my father nor my mother had visited me. I supposed it was possible my mom was too drunk. She had, after all, been through quite a traumatic experience. But that didn’t explain my dad’s absence, and when I questioned Finn about it, he just told me my dad was a busy man. He didn’t bother to make that sound like the truth. But no amount of questioning would make him change his story.

My parents didn’t visit the next day, either, though both Ethan and Kimber stopped by. (And yes, Kimber brought more hot posset.) I’d half-hoped Keane would come—though probably his attitude wasn’t good for my health—but he didn’t. Silly of me to expect him, of course. And even sillier to be hurt that he hadn’t come. He was just my self-defense instructor, after all, not my friend.

I tried questioning Lachlan about why Mom and Dad weren’t visiting, but he was about as informative as Finn. I had a really bad feeling about all this, although when I asked, everyone assured me that my mom was fine.

My dad finally made his appearance on the morning of my third day in the hospital. I was still running a low-grade fever, but I was feeling much better, and the nurse who’d stopped by first thing in the morning told me I’d be free to go home after the doctor examined me one more time.

Finn was on guard duty when Dad arrived, but he hastily vacated the room and closed the door behind him. I didn’t like the look on my dad’s face, so guarded and almost … wary. I raised my bed so I could sit up comfortably, since I suspected we were about to have a conversation I shouldn’t take lying down.