Tightrope

Come Home

"Really?" I asked, my eyes wide.

"Yeah," said Liv, smiling. "Mum and Dad will convert the pool house, maybe. He can go to university with you after school."

I shook my head. "Let's leave the pool house," I said. I nodded towards the adjoining study. "He can sleep in there."

If I did get Knight back, he was not leaving my sight ever again. After all of my puppy dog jokes, it seemed that I was legitimately going to have to buy a leash. I would have to deal with many kinky jokes from Knight, but it would be worth it. I just had to get him back first.

My phone buzzed next to me, and I sighed and lifted it up. Jace. Well, shit. How could I sound normal? He was in love my cousin, potentially, and I couldn't think until I'd found Knight, couldn't make sense of that.

"I'll leave you be," said Liv, patting my shoulder. "Call me if you need me."

I grabbed her hand. "Thank you," I said quietly.

Her smile was soft. "Anytime."

As she closed the door behind her, I picked up the phone. "Hi," I said carefully.

"Elle." His voice was gentle, sweet, a little bit rough. Like a gentle caress. "Are you okay?"

The sound of his voice calmed something within me, dried my tears. I wanted him here, with me; I wanted his arms around me as he whispered comforting words in my ear, wanted it so badly I could barely breathe.

I shrugged, even though he couldn't see me. My voice was small when I said, "I just miss Knight."

"I know," he said. "Daria and I are out looking, you know? We're going to find him."

"Yeah," I said, though with every passing hour, my hope seemed to fade. Because even if I found Knight, would he come back with me? If he didn't, I knew I would fall apart.

"We're just looking around near his school," Jace explained. In the background, I could hear passing cars and the sounds of the traffic lights. Knowing that Jace was out there, searching for my best friend, warmed my heart. "I mean, it's a familiar area. He's going to want to go to somewhere familiar, right?"

Somewhere familiar. Something rose within me; something like excitement. "You're a genius! You figured it out," I said.

"I know," said Jace. "A regular Albert Einstein. But uh, what exactly did I figure out?"

"I think I know where Knight is," I said. "I'm going to go have a look for him. I think I can bring him home." The smile that split my face was grateful, was radiant, was tinged with tears and desperation, but sunny nonetheless. Jace couldn't see it, not really, but I knew he would render in perfectly in his mind, because he knew me, every inch of me, down the exact curve of my smile. "Thank you, Hartley. Jace. Thank you so, so much, Jace."

I hung up the phone and hugged it to my chest. I was going to bring Knight home.

I didn't ask my dad to drive me. He had already spent hours in the car, searching. Besides, if I was being honest with myself, I had wanted to be the one to find Knight. Alone.

He hadn't answered any of my calls or texts, hadn't read any since that very first message. But Jace was right; Knight would gravitate toward something familiar. That was what people did, when they were upset or stressed or lonely. And if I knew him, he had gone to his familiar; though it also happened to be the loneliest place on Earth.

The Knight residence was massive. I was wealthy to an extent, but Carl and Daniella Knight were in another echelon of rich. Their vast lawns were meticulously manicured, the ostentatious gates straight out of a fantasy palace and the house itself; well, it was a work of art. It looked like one of the mansions from Newport; old-timey architecture that screamed old money.