The Mapmakers Union (The Doorknob Society Saga Book 3) by MJ Fletcher

about you.”
    “I get it.” I actually did and it bothered me.
    “I hope you do.” He stood and walked down the porch steps.
    My mind was reeling with guilt for hurting those I loved and annoyance at my own foolishness.
    “One more thing,” I glanced over at Morgan who was standing on the stone path leading to the house. “I’m sure you’ve heard about the incident that caused the truces to fail.”
    “Who hasn’t,” I said trying my best to remain nonchalant.
    “Would you happen to know anything about that?”
    There was the look again, as if he peered into me searching for the truth. I kept my voice steady and stared him right in the eyes as I lied through my teeth.  “Nope, not a thing.” “Well if you hear anything let me know.” He turned and walked off without another word.
    I let out a long sigh and dropped my head back against the chair. Man that was just way too close for comfort. I needed to be careful with Morgan; I got the feeling he wasn’t going to let it go. Nothing was going to stop him from hunting down the person he was after. And sooner or later he’d discover that person was... me.
    I shivered, the cold having settled in my legs. I grabbed my school bag and went into the house. The smell of food wafted down the hallway and I walked into the kitchen to find my friends at the island and Gran feeding them.
    “Everything okay?” Slade asked over his shoulder.
    “Yeah, fine.” I pulled open the fridge, pulled out a water bottle, threw my school bag on the counter, and leaned against it taking a drink.
    “Do you know where the book is?” Edgar asked between mouthfuls of food and I shook my head having completely forgotten why we’d come to my house in the first place.
    “Let me go look for it,” I said and headed up to my room. I passed Jess’ room on the second floor, the door was closed and I wasn’t even sure she was home. With her being finished with school, it wasn’t exactly easy to keep up with what she was doing. I hesitated for a moment and considered knocking, but thought better of it. I continued up the stairs to the attic taking them two at a time.  My room was a mess as usual. I yanked off Nightshade’s leather jacket, tossed it on the bed, and looked around trying to remember where I had stuffed my DS Handbook.
    I went to work searching through my drawers or anyplace else I thought I may have put it. After a few minutes I leaned back on my bed and let my thoughts drift to where I had last left the book. I glanced around the room and realized that after spending so many years traveling the world with Dad, living out of hotel rooms in one city after another, I’d finally found a home here and the mess confirmed that I had really settled in. I was completely clueless as to where I might have left my damn handbook.
    I rested back against the headboard, pulling my knees up to my chest, and looked over at my dresser. The picture of Nightshade and me at last year’s school dance stuck out from the edge of the mirror. I smiled at the image of us happy, him looking down at me with such intense emotion and me completely oblivious. I closed my eyes and imagined his face near mine, his smile crooked as always.
    Maybe I was going off the rails, but what else was I to do? How could I explain to anyone that in a weird way Nightshade had been one of the few people who had totally understood me? Maybe it was because we were both overloaded with issues, my mom deserting me and him losing his dad and girlfriend so violently. I’d come to rely on our arguments and his annoying habit of calling me on my bull. Nobody else but him had the guts to do that or even recognize it.
    How was I supposed to live without him? Someone who loved me in spite of it all. Someone who didn’t mind all the broken pieces that were me. What scared me more than anything was that the already broken pieces had shattered yet again and I worried that I would never be able to piece any of them back together.