“Tendrils,” Alastor barked back, as if that explained everything.
“But whatwere—”
My question was cut off by the arrival of Octavian and Radven, who’d caught up with us a lot faster than I was expecting.
“We’ve driven them back for now,” Radven said. “But they’ll be back.”
I heard the beep of a car unlocking, and the next thing I knew the world flipped back around again as I was lowered off Alastor’s shoulder…
And right into his lap.
I pushed my damp hair out of my eyes. Alastor and I were sharing the backseat of a sleek sports car, and our current position was the only way both of us would fit. Radven was in the front passenger seat, Octavian at the wheel, and the moment the doors were closed we were squealing out of the parking lot.
On that very first turn, I was thrown to the side, and it was only Alastor’s arms coming up around my waist that kept me from flying through the window. He held me stiffly but firmly on his lap, in a way that made it obvious he was as uncomfortable as I was about this arrangement.
It would be less awkward if he didn’t smell so damn good, I thought. Sitting in his lap, it was impossible to ignore that cedar-and-citrus scent of his. This close, it was clear that it wasn’t any sort of cologne or cheesy body spray. Those earthy, woodsy notes were one hundred percent him. The scent wasn’t even that strong, but it was all-enveloping, and I held my breath so I could think straight.
The car soared over a speed bump, and I bounced in Alastor’s lap, his stiff grip keeping me mostly in place. It was impossible to ignore all the places we touched—my back against his chest, my legs tangled with his, his muscled arms encircling my body, and my butt pressed right against his crotch. I could even feel his breath against the back of my neck, a whispery, tickle-y rush of air that stirred the hair at my nape.
Wait, I thought, realizing that that was theonlyweird sensation I felt, despite being so closely pressed against him.Why isn’t my skin all shivery?Looking down, I saw that in most places where we touched, there were at least a couple of layers of clothes between us, but one of his hands gripped my arm, skin-to-skin.
If I concentrated—and tried to ignore other distractions, like his scent or the shape of his crotch against my butt—I noticed that familiarshiverysensation that I’d come to associate with the “essence” of their world or whatever they wanted to call it. But it was so faint I probably wouldn’t have felt it at all if I hadn’t been looking for it.
“Why can’t I feel you?” Were my bad reactions a thing of the past?
I hadn’t realized I’d uttered any of that out loud until Alastor grunted a “Hm?”
“We’ve got trouble,” Radven said, cutting off any further clarification. He was twisted around in his seat, staring past our heads out the back windshield.
I turned my head, too, trying to ignore the fact that my face was now inches from Alastor’s. Behind us, rising from the road, were more of those shadowy Tendrils, writhing and reaching toward us.
Octavian slammed his foot down on the gas, and my head knocked into Alastor’s, but we both pretended not to notice.
The Tendrils disappeared into the asphalt as we sped away, but it was obvious we weren’t in the clear.
“Are those things following us?” I demanded. “What are they?”
Fortunately, someone finally decided to give me a straight answer.
“We believe they’re a failsafe,” Radven said, still watching the road behind us with his sharp eyes. “The curse knows we’re close to unraveling it, and it’s fighting back.” He lifted his hand, and I realized he still held his knife in his fist, as if he expected one of those things to burst into the car at any moment. “The Tendrils aren’t sapient, but they can always sense when we get too close to breaking free.”
“Always? You mean you’ve gotten close before?” I realized the implication of that and added, “I’m not the first one you thought could help you?”
Radven made no attempts to soften his response. “No, you aren’t.”
I was pretty sure I didn’t want to know the answer to my next question, but I asked it anyway. “What happened to the others?”
This time, Radven hesitated, and then he leveled his gaze at me, his mouth set in a grim line.
“They’re dead.”
13
Always a Choice
Iknewthatanswerwas coming. I should have been ready for it. But instead, I went very cold. When I spoke, it was like I was hearing my own voice from far away.
“So those things, thoseTendrils…they killed the others?” I didn’t even want to think about what that sort of death would look like.
