His heart is racing so fast I can’t distinguish it from my own. It’s 5,000 degrees in the air between us. His fingers are at the dip right below my hip bone, teasing the small piece of fabric keeping me halfway decent. “Juliette . . .”
“Adam?”
My neck snaps up in surprise. Fear. Anxiety. Adam stops moving, frozen in front of me. I’m not sure he’s breathing. I look around but can’t find a face to match the voice that called his name and begin to panic before Adam is slamming open the door, flying out before I hear it again.
“Adam . . . is that you?”
It’s a boy.
“James!”
The muffled sound of impact, 2 bodies colliding, 2 voices too happy to be dangerous.
“I can’t believe it’s really you! I mean, well, I thought it was you because I thought I heard something and at first I figured it was nothing but then I decided I should probably check just to be sure because what if it was you and—” He pauses. “Wait—what are you doing here?”
“I’m home.” Adam laughs a little.
“Really?” James squeaks. “Are you home for good?”
“Yeah.” He sighs. “Damn it’s good to see you.”
“I missed you,” James says, suddenly quiet.
One deep breath. “Me too, kid. Me too.”
“Hey, so, have you eaten anything? Benny just delivered my dinner package, and I could share some with y—”
“James?”
He pauses. “Yeah?”
“There’s someone I want you to meet.”
My palms are sweaty. My heart is in my throat. I hear Adam walk back toward the tank and don’t realize he’s popped his head inside until he hits a switch. A faint emergency light illuminates the cabin. I blink a few times and see a young boy standing about 5 feet away, dirty-blond hair framing a round face with blue eyes that look too familiar. He’s pressed his lips together in concentration. He’s staring at me.
Adam is opening my door. He helps me to my feet, barely able to control the smile on his face and I’m stunned by the level of my own nervousness. I don’t know why I’m so nervous but God I’m nervous. This boy is obviously important to Adam. I don’t know why but I feel like this moment is important, too. I’m so worried I’m going to ruin everything. I try to fix the ripped folds of my dress, try to soften the wrinkles ironed into the fabric. I run haphazard fingers through my hair. It’s useless.
The poor kid will be petrified.
Adam leads me forward. James is a handful of inches short of my height, but it’s obvious in his face that he’s young, unblemished, untouched by most of the world’s harsh realities. I want to revel in the beauty of his innocence.
“James? This is Juliette.” Adam glances at me.
“Juliette, this is my brother, James.”
Chapter Thirty-One
His brother.
I try to shake off the nerves. I try to smile at the boy studying my face, studying the pathetic pieces of fabric barely covering my body. How did I not know Adam had a brother? How could I have never known?
James turns to Adam. “This is Juliette?”
I’m standing here like a lump of nonsense. I don’t remember my manners. “You know who I am?”
James spins back in my direction. “Oh yeah. Adam talks about you a lot.”
I flush and can’t help but glance at Adam. He’s staring at a point on the floor. He clears his throat.
“It’s really nice to meet you,” I manage.
James cocks his head. “So do you always dress like that?”
I’d like to die a little.
“Hey, kid,” Adam interrupts. “Juliette is going to be staying with us for a little while. Why don’t you go make sure you don’t have any underwear lying on the floor, huh?”
James looks horrified. He darts into the darkness without another word.
It’s quiet for so many seconds I lose count. I hear some kind of drip in the distance.
I take a deep breath. Bite my bottom lip. Try to find the right words. Fail. “I didn’t know you had a brother.”
Adam hesitates. “Is it okay . . . that I do? We’ll all be sharing the same space and I—”
My stomach drops onto my knees. “Of course it’s okay! I just—I mean—are you sure it’s okay—for him? If I’m here?”
“There’s no underwear anywhere,” James announces, marching forward into the light. I wonder where he disappeared to, where the house is. He looks at me. “So you’re going to be staying with us?”
Adam intervenes. “Yeah. She’s going to crash with us for a bit.”
James looks from me to Adam back to me again. He sticks out his hand. “Well, it’s nice to finally meet you.”
All the color drains from my face. My heart is pounding in my ears. My knees are about to break. I can’t stop staring at his small hand outstretched, offered to me.
“James,” Adam says a little curtly.
James starts laughing. “I was only kidding.” He drops his hand.
“What?” I can barely breathe. My head is spinning, confused.
“Don’t worry,” James says, still chuckling. “I won’t touch you. Adam told me all about your magical powers.” He rolls his eyes.
“Adam—told—he—what?”
“Hey, maybe we should go inside.” Adam clears his throat a little too loudly. “I’ll just grab our bags real quick—” And he jogs off toward the tank. I’m left staring at James. He doesn’t conceal his curiosity.