“It matters tome.” Ellory reached for him before realizing that touching him would only hurt him further. “My dorm is closer. Let’s go.”
***
As if the universe knew that she needed a victory, Ellory’s dormitory was empty when they arrived. Clothes were strewn across Stasie’s bed, which meant she would be gone for hours, as she usually only put that much effort into her outfit when she had people to show up. Maybe Ellory had gotten really lucky and Stasie was on a date, one that would keep her from making eyes at Hudson and giving him whatever he asked for.
Not that Ellory was any better.
“Sit there,” she said, pointing him toward her bed. “I’m going to wet this cloth and come back.”
When she returned from the bathroom, Hudson was sitting on the edge of her bed. He’d shed his coat and his sweater, leaving him in just a slate-gray button-down. One sleeve was rolled up to his bicep, the cuffs dotted with rust-colored stains. He stared at his folded hands instead of any of her things, though she wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d already gone through her books. Hadn’t she done the same thing to him at that party back in September?
She couldn’t believe it had been four months since her perspective on Hudson Graves had first changed. She couldn’t believe it had been four months and she still didn’t know where they stood.
“I’m going to clean the blood, and then I’m going to put on some antiseptic, and then I’ll bandage you up, okay?” she said, pulling her desk chair over so she didn’t have to join him on the bed or kneel in front of him. Both things were far too intimate after the last few weeks. She needed to keep her hands steady and her thoughts focused. “This shouldn’t take long.”
“Shockingly, I know how first aid works,” Hudson murmured, though he presented his hand without further complaint. “I could have done this myself.”
“Just because you can do it yourself doesn’t mean you should have to. You’re hurt because of me.”
“I’m hurt because of a poltergeist in the rare-books room. I don’t see where you fit into that.”
Ellory bit the inside of her cheek to keep from arguing with him. Letting him bait her into snapping at him would only make her feel worse. She wiped at the blood as gently as she could, her eyes flicking up every now and then to make sure she wasn’thurting him. He watched her intently but didn’t flinch. He didn’t even seem to blink.
She swallowed and moved on to the antiseptic.
“I think,” Hudson said, his voice barely above a whisper, “something we did in there triggered a protective spell. Spells fall under the realm of incantation, which might mean Bailey Library once housed that school.”
“We’re not going back there,” said Ellory. “Even if I wanted to, they’re going to cordon it off until they can fix the rare-books room.” She smiled up at him. “Nice job using money to get us out of trouble, by the way.”
“What else is it for?” Hudson returned her smile with a hint of mischief. “Money will make the greatest skeptic to ever exist swear there was an earthquake even when there’s no such thing in the news. She’ll spread our story for us, and we’ll be in the clear.”
“You disgust me.” Ellory smoothed the bandage over the last cut and sat back, admiring her handiwork. “Maybe I should have gone into medicine. I have at least six nurses in the family, you know.”
“I couldn’t see you as a nurse. Your bedside manner is poor.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re incredibly bossy.”
“That’s a good skill for a nurse. And you’re patched up now, aren’t you?”
Hudson laughed. “I think nurses are kinder about it.”
“I’ll rip this bandage off and send you to a nurse right now.”
He caught her wrist before she could pretend to make good on her threat. Ellory had leaned closer in the process, and now she froze, waiting to see what he would do next. His free hand hovered by her face, not quite touching her cheek but close enough that she could feel the warmth of potential. That intense, unblinking gazehad returned, but there was something soft about it, as if he not only saw something in her but liked it more than he knew how to express. It should have scared her, this closeness and her reaction to it, but it felt right. Normal.
She wanted to pull away, to reject him like he had rejected her at the party. But she was suspended by how being close to him made her feel a belonging that she struggled to capture anywhere else. The déjà vu that had led her down this path roared back to life.
There’s something to the concept of people who feel like you knew them in another life, Aunt Carol had said.Maybe you did. Our brains can only store so many memories, and we’re already losing the earliest ones from this life before we’re even halfway through it. Who’s to say this is the only life we’ve ever had?
If that was what all these echoes of memories had been telling her, that this was not the first life she had ever lived, then she was sure Hudson had been a part of the prior one. It was the only thing that made sense.
“Did we know each other,” she mused, “before I lost my memories?”
Hudson’s eyes had been tracing the curve of her cheek in an invisible caress. Now they snapped back to meet hers. “What do you mean?”
“Sometimes, it feels like we’ve had conversations before, gone to places together before. Like I know you better than I should. Like—” She pressed her lips together before she could tell him about her daydream. “Like we should know each other better than we do. Is it just me?” A pleading note had woven its way into her voice, and she cleared her throat to be rid of it. “I can’t be the only one feeling like this. Am I?”
