Her mum looked up at her, confused and worried. Her bloodshot eyes were still unfocused, and with a sinking feeling Annie realised she might have done them some significant damage. How long until she could take her across the boundary? Her voice, hoarse, shaky and painfully slow, nevertheless proved that she was at least mostly lucid.
‘I know that,’ she said. ‘And for a long time, I tried to keep my distance when it all got too much, but then I realised … when she’s around I don’t feel so lost. I don’t feel the call to … I’m not so lonely.’
Lucas told her the truth then, his strained voice cracking. ‘Yes. You are. You’re just as lonely, and just as sad. She just doesn’t let you feel it. She steals it away—’
He didn’t get to finish because Harry was suddenly kneeling in front of them, st
