Oliver’s face drains of color, as if bloodletting is triggering a past trauma. “We need to get you to the infirmary,” he says quickly, wiping his hands on a nearby towel.
“It’s fine, really…” I start, but blood is already dripping onto the table, and several people are staring. Plus, I can already feel that familiar tingle that means my magical healing is about to kick in.
I need to slow it down.
You control it,Logan’s voice echoes in my head, patient and steady from all those training sessions.It doesn’t control you.
Despite how frustrating it is to always have his voice in my head, I’m able to slow the healing down enough. Not totally, but enough.
“Oliver’s right.” Evie’s on her feet, ready to help. “I’ll go with you.”
“No.” Oliver’s already rounding the table, pressing the pumpkin guts covered towel on my cut. “I’ve got this.”
Avery drops her carving knife and glares at him. “Evie said she’s taking her.”
“I said I’ve got this,” Oliver snaps at Avery, then gives Evie a look that clearly saysback off.
Weird. Since when does Oliver snap at Avery? Since when does he snap atanyone?
Avery’s fingers curl into fists before she forces them to relax. “Of course. Wouldn’t want to crowd her. I’ll just… clean up here.”
My heart breaks for her, but I let Oliver guide me toward the greenhouse exit, mostly because arguing would cause more of a scene. The last thing I need is to cause more of a scene.
“I can walk on my own,” I point out as Oliver tries to steady me. “It’s my arm that’s hurt, not my legs.”
He lets go—grudgingly—and I follow him out of the greenhouse as quickly as possible. Hopefully everyone’s too involved in their pumpkin carving competition to spend any time talking about me. Although knowing this place, there’ll probably be three different rumors by dinner.
Did you hear Jade bled all over her pumpkin?
I heard she fainted.
Someone said Oliver carried her out bridal style.
Kill me now.
By the time we’re outside in the crisp late-October air, I start to wonder—was this intentional? Oliver’s hand “slipped,” even though he’s trained with weapons for years. And he maneuvered us away from everyone else…
No, that’s paranoid. Oliver wouldn’t... would he?
He stops abruptly near the fountain, far enough from the greenhouse that we’re alone.
“Jade.” He takes a deep breath, and I have a horrible feeling that I know what’s coming. “Will you go to the Halloween Ball with me? As my date?”
My heart drops. The hope in his eyes makes this so much worse, especially because every thought of mine leads back to gray eyes, fire magic, and promises made under stars.
“I thought you were going with Avery?” I put as much lightness into my tone as possible.
“No. It’s not like that between me and Avery.” He rushes on, not letting me comment. “We’re just emberlinked partners. Nothing more. But you... you’re different. Special.”
Different.
Special.
If only he knew that “different” meant I could electrocute him if I lost control. That “special” meant I was hiding more secrets than he could imagine. That if the Council found out howdifferentandspecialI am, I’d be whisked away from this place and brought to who the hell knows where to have whatever the hell done to me that they wanted.
“Can we talk about this after my arm stops bleeding?” I hold up my arm, where blood is still seeping through my fingers.
He looks at the wound like he’d forgotten it existed. “Right. Of course. But Jade...” His voice takes on an edge I’ve never heard before. “The ball’s on Thursday. I need an answer by tomorrow night, or I’ll have to ask someone else.”
