Page 2 of The Lost Kings

Presley

G reen stained the tips of my canvas shoes, effectively ruining them.

But I remained seated on the tiny knoll that faced the twins’ section of the manor.

From this vantage point, I could see their back patio and I had a clear shot of Kingston’s garden.

If they were to walk outside, they’d see me right away.

Hell, even if they looked out their living room window, they’d see me.

I could walk up there, knock on the glass and have them open the door but that would require far too much pride. I couldn’t muster it after all the things I learned, and everything they said.

Please come out.

Please come out .

My fingers raked through the longer blades of grass as I waited, staring at the patio furniture outside their kitchen doors.

Lights were strung up, stretching to cover the garden area too.

I had a million memories of playing under those lights, of waiting for them to turn on so we could have s’mores together and plant things under the moon.

Now, I glared as if they were a problem about to disrupt my life. If they came on, it meant my best friends had already left, and they’d done so without coming out here and telling me goodbye.

The blue in the sky turned into a dark pink, then to an orange.

The cicadas sang around me, along with a few bullfrogs welcoming the night.

My heart ached as if I’d physically pulled it from my chest and they’d taken it with them, packed away in one of their messy duffle bags, stuffed under a hoodie and discarded.

Forgotten.

My phone remained dark beside me, fully charged, with the volume up. No one had called. No one had texted.

They’d just left.

The lights around their patio flickered on, and a light inside their living room turned off.

A sob broke free from my chest because this wasn’t real. They would never just leave…not me. Not ever.

The argument we’d had flashed in my mind, but we always argued, and while I was hurt and they owed me an apology, I still wanted a goodbye.

We were supposed to wake up this morning and go renovate the farmhouse.

I was going to give them the silent treatment for a week, and they were going to try and get back into my good graces by visiting the baby Highland cows with me.

We had plans next week to go swimming up in the mountains, and we were going to take a tent and camp.

It wasn’t until the patio door opened that I registered I’d been outside for too long. The sky was nothing but inky black and a tiny crescent moon interrupted the darkness above me. Something felt oddly ironic at the lack of stars being out, as if Gio had taken all of them with him.

The man walking toward me was lit up by the string of lights and looked so similar to the twins that my breath hitched. He was gentle with his daughter, wife, and mother but held a razor-sharp edge with everyone else. I always respected that about him.

Juan dropped into a squat in front of me and searched my face .

“Hey, kiddo. You okay?”

No. I wasn’t okay.

“They’re gone?” I asked as another sob crept into my throat.

He nodded, but his eyes were red, and his Adam’s apple bobbed as if he were holding back emotions just like I was. A few stray tears slid down my cheeks as I processed how different things were going to be for all of us.

“You need to get up and go home, Pres.” Juan held his hand out to me, and I numbly accepted it. He pulled me to my feet and then cradled me to his side just like he had done a thousand times since I was a kid.

“They’ll be back before you know it.” His tone was full of encouragement but deep down I knew better.

Deep down I knew things were never going to be the same. My best friends were lost to me and it was all my fault.