Page 120 of Find My Way Down to You

Two older women peek from behind their cubicles, blatantly eavesdropping.

“Workis such a misleading word,” Henri says. “I preferinfluence.Inspire.I liven this place up. Right, Carol and Betty?”

Both women give unconvincing hums before disappearing again.

Henri leans in with a conspiratorial gleam in his eyes. “It’s a glamour. They can’t see my true form. To them, I look like an overly tanned white man with blond hair and the brightest teeth they’ve ever seen.” He flashes a winning grin. “I have places like this all over the mortal realm.”

“You do?”

“Hello! Deathless of travelers. Did you not read my Wikipedia page?”

My eyes narrow. “You told me not to!”

“Exactly!” He fixes his shirt cuffs. “So, what’s wrong?”

“I never said anything was wrong.”

“No, but this”—he flaps a hand at my tense posture—“did.”

I sigh, then tell him what happened. From leaving the masquerade ball to discovering the truth about Lethe to my fallout with Max. I omit the parts about kissing Cary. And all the details that followed. But, for whatever reason, I confess to feeling like I don’t belong anywhere.

“I just…” I trail off.

I need someone to talk to.Who isn’t Max. Or Cary.

For his part, Henri rubs his chin, nodding. “Have you considered—” He halts. “Never mind.”

“What is it?”

He smiles sympathetically. “You never felt like that while in Aides.”

I hesitate, scratching the back of my neck.

“Think about it, August—there’s a reason you kept coming back. Maybe something’s waiting for you? Something you can’t find in this realm.”

My fingers tug on the straps of my bag. The ruined blue-and-yellow bracelet sits at the bottom. Therewasa reason I kept going back. One that I didn’t mean to forget. Another aftereffect of Lethe.

I wanted to find London. Tell him everything I couldn’t two years ago. Everything I’ve felt since.

A cold emptiness shifts through my sternum. “There is a reason.” I glance at the tattoo on my forearm. “But I don’t know how to get back to Aides without Cary.”

“Well, there might be a way.”

My head snaps up.

Henri frowns. “It’s not exactly easy. And it comes with a heavy price.”

Images flood my mind: Sunlit skin. Aloe green eyes. Wavy brown hair. Warm hands on my face. That weird, contagious smile on his lips.

Quickly, I say, “I don’t care. Get me away from here.”

Henri claps his hands. “Fantastic!” He hooks his arm with mine. “But first, we need something very important. Or the ritual won’t work.”

“What?”

“A peppermint latte.”

I jerk to a stop. “Is there a magical coffee shop nearby run by another Deathless?”