赤裸裸的滑稽故事

Chapter 718  Of Course, She Understood

“It’s him,” Ashleigh said with a quiet nod.

“Liam agrees,” Maeve added.

Alice took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

“Five days?” she asked.

Ashleigh chewed her lips between her teeth but said nothing.

“Today makes six,” Maeve replied, looking at her wristwatch, showing that the sun had already risen. Soon the other hotel guests would expect their breakfast to arrive at their doors.

Alice swallowed and lowered her gaze to the floor.

“Why haven’t you said anything?” Alice asked. “To anyone.”

Ashleigh swallowed.

“I needed to be sure he was really him and then explain all that has happened to him. There was no reason to get anyone's hopes up if there was a chance it wasn’t real.”

Alice scoffed and gave Ashleigh a look of incredulity.

Ashleigh took a deep breath and looked away. Even she didn’t believe the words as they passed through her lips.

“I needed time,” she whispered. Then looked back up at Alice. “I lost five years… didn’t I deserve at least a few days?”

“You are not the only one that lost those five years,” Alice stated.

Ashleigh clenched her jaw.

“Are you telling me that if it was you... if it was Axel, you wouldn’t have done the same thing?”

Alice narrowed her eyes.

“Are you telling me you wouldn’t have blamed me if I had?” she asked. “That allowing you to keep believing he was dead even for another hour wouldn’t have been enough reason for you to assume the worst of me?”

Ashleigh swallowed.

“I didn’t mean…” she paused, biting her bottom lip as she looked to the ground. She took a breath through her nose and let it out slowly. “I spent the past three years convincing myself he wasn’t gone by talking to a computer program.”

Ashleigh paused and let out a heavy sigh.

“I just wanted time… for the two of us… before the rest of the world found out. Before all the changes of the past five years caught up to him.”

Alice’s memories stirred. She thought back to the day long ago when she had walked through the wind and the rain, lost in the madness of her broken mind. Traveled miles to him. Finding him in the glow of the firelight from the pyres.

In the light of day, she willingly let Axel go, sending him back to Winter while she went back to Holden. But she still remembered how desperately she sought him that night. How crazed her mind had been. He had stayed by her side as she drowned in madness, and when she finally woke from it, they saw each other for the first time since they were children.

That night with Axel had been beautiful and life-changing. But even as it happened, she was unsure if it was all just a delusion. Another fever dream meant to comfort her through the spiral of her insanity.

It wasn’t until the morning after they had marked each other that she realized it was all real. From then on, every kiss, every touch, every heated moment had been etched into her memory in case it never happened again.

Alice had lived her life knowing that each person she met would leave, die, or be forgotten by the doll. No matter how hard she tried to stay close to those she loved, eventually, they were gone. Even Sofia and Myka had been wiped from her memories for a long time.

But Axel was the one person she had never been able to forget. Some part of her always held on to him, somewhere inside.

Alice understood. Of course, she understood. Ashleigh was terrified of losing Caleb again. She needed to etch new memories into her mind, to keep him close, to confirm his existence, and keep him safe.

How could she not understand?

“I know it’s not fair,” Ashleigh said before taking a deep breath and letting it out with a sigh. “I should have called Fiona the second I saw him on the dock that day.”

Alice observed Ashleigh carefully.

She was right. It wasn’t fair.

Ashleigh believed she was the only person who still thought Caleb was alive. That all these years, she had been the only one who still searched for him, but she was wrong.

She didn’t know, of course. How could she? They had all agreed to keep it quiet. After that first year, no one wanted Ashleigh to fall back into her old habits.

Alice had told her when they agreed to build a bridge between them that there were things she could not tell her, and this was one of the most important of those.

The behavior of Ashleigh and Maeve had been a cause for concern, but it was not the only reason that Alice had made the trip early. In fact, when she received the call about Maeve having taken the meeting with Alpha Rosen, Alice had already packed her bags to investigate the report from Myka.

Alice looked up at the door of Ashleigh’s room. She took a deep breath. It seemed that Myka had been right this time.

“You should have called Fiona,” Alice sighed. “But… everyone will understand why you didn’t.”

Ashleigh looked up.

“We have more to talk about,” Alice continued. “But no more now.”

Ashleigh swallowed and nodded.

“Shall I get you a room ready, Alice?” Maeve asked.

“No need,” Alice smiled, “Liam should have already taken care of it.”

“Liam knows yer here?” Maeve asked with a twitch in her smile.

Alice grinned.

“Don’t worry,” she said, “he didn’t keep it from you. He wasn’t warned ahead of time. We just showed up. I had Axel keep him busy so we ladies could have some privacy.”

Maeve nodded with a grin of her own. While she had hoped not to get caught, she couldn’t help but appreciate Alice’s ability to catch them all off guard.

“Right,” Maeve said. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to hurry to the kitchen before Liam lights the place on fire.”

Alice chuckled and nodded. Ashleigh gave a gentle smile, and a nod before Maeve quickly hurried away down the hall.

“Axel is here?” Ashleigh asked.

Alice nodded.

“We had other business in the area, something he wanted to be here for,” Alice said. “We will talk about it later.”

Ashleigh nodded.

“Go on, get some rest. We’ll see you in a few hours,” Alice said.

Ashleigh nodded and turned toward her room.

“Ashleigh?” Alice called.

Ashleigh looked back over her shoulder.

“She will understand,” Alice said, “but you need to make that call… today.”