Page 93 of Origins of Eternity

“I don’t need time. I need to go,” Arwen replied. “Don’t follow me, Iro. Don’t call me. You and this Cassia woman deserve each other, and I hope you leave DC and never return. You leave me and the people I care about alone, or I’ll tell everyone about you.”

“Arwen, don’t…”

But Arwen didn’t listen. She walked past her and out the door, slamming it behind her, and Iro was left standing there, trying to remember how to breathe.

CHAPTER 27

Zara

Zara rushed to Iro, knowing she couldn’t stop Cassia and all the people in that house on her own but hoping that Iro could talk some sense into her and keep Arwen safe. She took her chance at the café, when Cassia had asked for the check, but she hadn’t paid attention to much else other than Cassia and Arwen since being turned. As a result, when she looked down at her gas gauge, she noticed it was on empty, and her gas light was on.

“Fuck,” she said.

She thought she could still make it if she didn’t hit any traffic, but DC was full of traffic, and it didn’t take a break for the weekend. Tourists flocked to crosswalks, not always paying attention to streetlights, and she nearly hit a woman and her two kids as they walked slowly, looking around at the buildings they were heading toward instead of for the cars on the road. Zara yelled at them and got stuck at the next light. She had to make a decision. There was only a mile left to Iro’s house if she walked and cut through alleyways and streets. Her car appeared to be sputtering and running on fumes, so she found a parking garage, took a ticket, parked her old car in the first spot she saw, and ran. She ran as fast as she could in her ballet flats until she took them off and ran barefoot the rest of the way. When she arrived at Iro’s door, she knocked hard and yelled.

“Iro! Iro!”

Nothing. She had to be home, though. Arwen had told her that they were meeting here after Zara and she had coffee, so Iro had to be there. If she wasn’t, Zara didn’t know what to do. She’d spied on Iro and Arwen here, yes, but she didn’t know where Iro worked or where else she might be. She supposed she could try the corner store, but that would be a stretch, and she didn’t have time to go anywhere else.

“Iro!” She pounded on the door. “Come on. Be here.”

The door swung open then.

“Oh, thank God,” Zara added.

“Zara?”

“I need to… come in.”

Iro moved aside, and Zara hurried in through the door without further invitation.

“What is going on? Are you okay?”

“No, I’m not okay. I… have to… talk to you.”

“Why? And how did you know where I live? Did Arwen tell you?”

“No, I’ve been… spying on you both… for Cassia.”

“What? How do you know that name?”

Still catching her breath, Zara sat on the sofa, not waiting to be offered to do so, and said, “Iro, Cassia has Arwen.”

“Arwen was just here.”

“She was?” Zara asked.

“Yes. She just ended things with me, actually, and I was drinking my sorrows away when you started beating down my door.”

“Arwen ended things? Why would she do that?”

“She… said she doesn’t want me.”

“But she’s in love with you,” Zara said.

“Apparently not.”

Iro sat down next to her and picked up a glass of what Zara guessed was bourbon.