Fear lances my chest. “So, you don’t know.”
“Not yet.”
“I’m sure she’ll be all right. If she’s with a family, then she’ll have some extra protection around her.”
The comment notably relaxes her muscles, causing her to slump in my arms. I clutch the card in my palm and then tuck it into my pocket next to mine. Two cards. Two threats. We’re from completely different worlds, Evelyn and I. What would our shadow figure want with her?
When I release her, I wipe her tears and cup her face. “I’ll keep you safe, okay? Go straight home. Lock your doors. I’ll call you later.”
“Can you come with me?”
“I’m sorry. I have somewhere to go first.”
For a moment she seems like she might protest, and her nostrils flare slightly. It reminds me of something Soren said about me. I push the thought out of my mind as I give her one last hug. As I watch her walk away, I notice how similar Evelyn is to me. Petite frame, long hair, dark eyes—if she were to dye her hair a shade darker than the gold it is now, she might look like my twin.
Her mother used to work for us, I think as I recover my bag from the ground. And she quit when she got pregnant. And my father had a bad habit of fucking his way around town.
Realization dawns on me as soon as I connect the small dots in my brain. Soren mentioned my nostrils flare when I’m upset, like I’ve smelled something bad but I’m trying not to show it. That’s exactly what Evelyn just did.
And she looked exactly like me when she did it.