I put down the laptop and turned sideways so I could see him. “I don’t know, really. It was just in my head. I think I was dreaming about it the day you came. ‘Eyes like streams of melting snow…’”
I paused, trying to remember. “‘Cold with the things she does not know’?”
His breath caught and he nodded. “Do you know the rest of it?” I shook my head. “Maybe you can help me figure it out. I’ll—” We both looked up as extra light filled the room from a doorway appearing on the wall. “Are you expecting anyone?”
“No.” I scooted closer to him. We both watched as a figure came out of the door. Reth. “Oh, bleep,”
I whispered. I didn’t have my knife. I didn’t have anything.
“Here you are,” he said, smiling pleasantly.
Raquel hadn’t done anything to stop him. “Lo—” I didn’t even get to the second syllable of his name before he waved his hand and whispered a word, disappearing my voice again.
“There’s no need for that.” His smile didn’t change.
Lend looked at me; I pointed frantically at my throat, mouthing get help.
“Stay away from her,” Lend said, standing and moving in front of me.
“Evelyn is mine. You are irrelevant.” Waving his hand dismissively, he sent Lend flying across the room and into the wall. Lend slid down into a heap at the bottom. I screamed, but nothing came out.
Reth glided across the room and settled down on the bed next to me. I tried to hit him, but he grabbed my arm, laughing. I struggled as he took his free hand and traced a finger down my spine, paralyzing me. It was like one of those nightmares where you have to watch everything happen and you can’t do anything.
Lend was completely still. Tears filled my eyes.
Reth kept his hand on my forearm, encircling my wrist with his long fingers. “I’m sorry for the haste, but circumstances have changed and we can’t afford the same leisurely pace.” His heat crept up my arm. Closing my eyes, I willed it to stop. It slowed, and then stilled. It felt like I was damming the flow by sheer force of will. I couldn’t last long.
“Don’t be difficult. Once I finish, everything will be better—you’ll see.” He smiled at me tenderly, stroking a finger down my cheek and leaving a trail of heat. “We’ve got things to do—what fun we’ll have.” I didn’t stop concentrating. “Evelyn.” He sounded annoyed. “I’m giving you a gift; moving you forward. It was only a matter of time. You belong with me, and this is the best way.”
He squeezed my wrist. The warmth burned hotter and hotter. Now instead of pleasant, it was painful. It was like his hand was searing itself to my arm; in my mind the flesh was sealing, his hand permanently attached to me. I couldn’t hold this back anymore. It was too hot, there was too much. The fire devoured my arm, moving faster and higher, ever closer to my heart. I screamed again, but no sound escaped my lips.
And then sound was everywhere. I opened my eyes. Lend was on the floor in the hall, his body convulsing from the electric shocks shooting through it. “Lend,” I mouthed. He had triggered the alarm —thrown himself out there, knowing what would happen.
Reth sighed impatiently, squeezing my arm harder. “I hate it when people meddle.” The fire was in my shoulder; the first tendrils of it touched my heart, nestling in like a small animal.
“Lorethan!” a voice called out, sharp and brilliant in my pain.
Reth turned his head, murder on his face.
Raquel spoke slowly and clearly over the sound of the alarm. “You will not touch Evelyn.”
A fraction of a second, then his hand shot off my arm as though he were the one being burned. The rest of the fire split—half drained back down my arm to where his hand had been; the other half found its way into my heart. I still couldn’t move or talk. He stood, regarding Raquel with the same cold fury I had seen when he’d killed the werewolf.
“Leave us now,” Raquel said.
Reth was absolutely still, looking like an avenging god in the middle of the white room. I wondered if he would kill us all. After the longest silence of my life, he waved his hand toward me. I collapsed onto the bed, finally able to move again. Without another word Reth walked to the wall and through a faerie door.
Raquel pushed a button on her communicator, turning off the alarms, and rushed to my side. “Evie, hon, are you all right?”
The memory of the pain hurt as much as if it were still happening. I sobbed and clutched my burned arm to my chest.
“Let me see it,” she said, pulling it out. “Oh, Evie, I’m so sorry.” I looked up; her eyes brimmed with tears. “I should have listened to you.”
On my wrist in brilliant scarlet was the imprint of Reth’s hand. But Raquel could see only the burn.
She couldn’t see what my eyes could see.
Beneath the handprint, I was still on fire.
BURN, BABY, BURN
I stared at my arm. Underneath the red handprint golden tendrils swirled, warm and living. “What did he do?” I whispered, crying. What had Reth put inside me?
Raquel, thinking I was talking about Lend, stroked my hair. “He tried to run away.”
I looked up, shaking my head. “No, he didn’t. When Reth—Lend couldn’t—He threw himself over the threshold to trigger the alarm. It was the only way he could help.”
“Oh,” Raquel said, her voice soft. She looked into the hall at Lend’s unconscious form, or at least what she could see of it. He was wearing the shorts I’d given him; to Raquel’s eyes it probably looked like a pair of shorts and an ankle tracker floating in the hall.
Raquel called on her communicator and a couple of guards came, bringing Lend in from the hall. I moved to the end of the bed, clutching my arm. After they set Lend down, I put my uninjured hand on his chest, surprised as always that it was firm and warm. “He’s breathing.” I was so relieved I started bawling.
“It’s okay.” Raquel put an arm around my shoulders. “How did this happen?”
“How did it happen? Are you kidding me? How long have I been telling you that Reth was crazy, that he was doing this to me? How many times have I told you that you guys don’t understand faeries, that you can’t control them?”
“I’m sorry. I should have listened. But it must have been the ‘I need you’ named command you gave him—somehow he twisted it.”
I rolled my eyes. “You think? That’s what they do.”
“Still, he can’t touch you now, so that’s taken care of.”
She really thought it was that simple. She had no idea.
“Let’s take you to the infirmary so the doctor can look at that burn.”
I looked down at my arm; the gold glow hadn’t faded. I couldn’t believe she didn’t see it—it was like I was lit up from the inside. “What about Lend?” I put my hand on his cheek.
“He’ll be fine once he wakes up. It wasn’t a lethal amount.”
I let her take my good hand and walk me to the infirmary. The doctor was a pleasant werewolf in her midforties. I hadn’t been in here since I sprained my ankle two years ago. And, no, it wasn’t in some exciting way, being chased through a graveyard by a vamp or anything. I sprained it while rocking out to my iPod alone in my room. Apparently hip-hop is not my calling. Remembering how embarrassed I was then was a stark contrast to the terror I felt now.
Raquel explained what happened and had me hold out my wrist for the doctor to see. She frowned; for a moment I was overwhelmed with panic, thinking she, too, could see what seethed under the skin. If IPCA was already watching me and considered me a paranormal, there was no telling what they would do if they thought I was changing.
“That’s odd,” she said. “It’s a burn, but it doesn’t look like it happened five minutes ago. It looks older, mostly healed now.” My skin felt so hot to me I expected it to burn her as she ran her finger over it, but she just shook her head. “Still feels quite warm.” She put her hand to my forehead and looked up. “You’re freezing.” If she gave me that concerned frown one more time I’d freak out. I didn’t feel any colder than normal. In fact, I felt warmer. Especially inside my heart.
“Can I talk to you in the hall?” Raquel asked and the doctor followed her out. Trembling, I got off the table and walked over to a mirror hanging above the sink. I took a deep breath and unbuttoned the top three buttons of my shirt, pulling it wide. I sighed, relieved. My reflection was completely normal; just my pale skin, barely-there cleavage, and pink bra.