Declan's POV
Fraser has me in the yard before the car even stops. Pack air. That man in it. Rain on stone. Bitter orange leaves. The thorn that is also mine.
Nine. A dog inside the clinic catches the foreign scent, yaps once, and cuts off. Lemon over the disinfectant. Mom's warm smell under it, the one that belongs to this shop and this street. Home. Then he shows up and knocks the balance sideways.
And I already know. Today is nowhere near Sunday.
He just couldn't wait.
After he left on Monday, Mom pulled me out of school for the week. Too much happened. She wants Toby and me to breathe. More than that, she wants me to walk Toby through how this place works, because after this week he's supposed to live here, go to school here. After what they did to him over there.
I feel bad for T
