Part XXXV

"Ling, please."

He almost expected her to cross her arms and start tapping her foot, with the look she was giving him. "Absolutely not. What did I tell you?" she scolded as she set a tray of sandwiches, salad, and chips on the bedside table and picked up the mug that he'd emptied twenty minutes ago.

"I know that you have more than enough money to survive. But I'm another mouth to feed, and I'm going to eat you out of house and home."

An unhappy noise, too elegant to be called a grunt, left her mouth. "You are one of us now. I'll simply adjust the grocery budget accordingly. And don't say such things."

Xander tried to expel an exasperated sigh, but it turned into a yawn. "I'm not being mean, just practical. I've been buying my own food for a few years now. I know how much I eat, and I know how much it costs. Please." He held out the check to her again.

"Where are you getting this money, anyway? You're not working, and I'll not have you spending your savings on food when we have a steady income that can easily take care of that for you."

He rolled his eyes. "Both sets of grandparents are loaded. And if I don't spend it by the time I'm thirty, it goes back to them or gets donated to some terrible political organization."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Then buy yourself something fun. And rip up that check. Not one of us pays for our food here out of our own money. Now, I think one more dose after this should do the trick, though I'm going to have you take a less potent blend every night before you go to sleep from now on. This is kind of a long-term thing, I think. You promise the physical symptoms are gone?"

"Promise. You saw the breakfast I put away this morning, and I'm going to clean that tray as soon as you leave. I'm just tired now."

Ling sat down beside him, reaching for his hand. "That's to be expected. And everything else?" she asked gently.

"It's...getting better." He watched his reflection in the mirror as he spoke, noting the round cheeks and the double chin without fixating on them, instead focusing on the color that had returned to his skin and the now-faint smudges of darkness beneath his eyes. "Before it was like...like there was a voice in my head. I mean, it was me, but...the worst part of me. It's quieter now."

Slender arms surrounded his shoulders, and Ling whispered, "I'm so glad." She pulled away from him and quickly brushed a tear away from her eye. "I'm sorry." She laughed. "I'm just so relieved. We were really worried about you."

"Thank you, Ling," he said, "thank you so much for everything."

She smiled. "You're welcome. Remember, you're family. Actually...you even remind me so much of my brother."

"Really? I didn't know you had a brother."

She nodded, and Xander smelled a sudden rainstorm in her energy. "He died."

"I'm so sorry..."

She gave him a small smile. "Thank you. It was six years ago, when he was twenty three. His name was Jake. He was brilliant, so talented...quiet. Sweet. Very much like you." She patted his hand again before rising to her feet. "Okay, I've got to go give Aislin a call to see if she's heard back from anyone. Do you need anything else?"

He shook his head. "What are they planning?"

"We've put the word out to as many hunters as we could, and asked them to do the same. We're waiting to hear back from at least thirty before we begin to form a more concrete plan."

"Thirty? That seems like a lot."

Ling sighed. "It's actually the bare minimum. We're hoping to get several dozen. A hundred would be preferable. Three hundred and I'd be sleeping better. I don't mean to scare you, but this is big, Xander. If they succeed in opening a portal...the Fuom that first brought you to us will seem like a gnat."

Xander swallowed hard. "What about...what about the thing that...took...Cee?" He felt a small swell of pride that his voice barely cracked when he said her name.

Ling gave him a sharp look. "Do you know what that was?"

"Not...really. I mean, I heard one of her brothers...he called it..."

"There's no need to think on it now," she said, her tone reassuring despite the whiteness of her knuckles as she clenched the mug in her left hand. "Just focus on getting better. Eat. Rest. Remember that none of us would still be here if it weren't for you."

He felt an irrational surge of embarrassment at that, but he couldn't stop the next words from tumbling out. "How is she?"

He felt the shift in her energy before she opened her mouth. "She's...alright," she said cautiously. "She and Kai just left to get groceries."

"Oh." The nasty voice broke through - to feed your fat face you huge pig she's gonna know you're eating everything in sight again and getting even more massive - and he bit the inside of his lip to silence it with the pain.

"Xander -" Ling sighed again. "Get some rest, okay? I'll be back to check on you in a few hours."