Re: 6:17 Carmina Thorne
Throughout the day while she’d been preparing for tonight, Cassie’s thoughts had frequently turned to Carmina. The one Thorne who wouldn’t be at this party. The missing sister. The space where she should have been whenever Cassie imagined how the evening might go ached less like it was empty and more like there was a hole. Getting the six of them all together was never easy anymore, and Cassie knew that if she waited until she could coordinate a time when Carmina, and Ren, and Nico could all be there that Raj would find out about vampires by being bitten on the neck. It wasn’t practical to wait. Still, Cassie missed her sister. She thought about her.
Her sister’s face had come to Cassie’s mind so many times that when she heard Carmina’s knock the sound seemed natural at first. She turned,just as her sister, dressed like a corpse bride, collapsed into a chair. Cassie’s jaw dropped with her spoon.
A split second later, she dashed forward. “Alex, handle the food.” Her head turned. “Jackson, if you could get the girls?”
Lena moved toward her aunt, eyes wide. “Aunt Carmina! Why are you so muddy right now?” The bulldog looked up at the two of them and panted.
Cassie moved to her sister’s side and slipped her head underneath Carmina’s arm, before she supported and half-carried Carmina in the direction of her bedroom. Once inside, she helped Carmina sit on the bed, before she knelt. Carmina needed clothes. Water. Hair help. But first.