“What are you doing?”
“I’ll see you soon,” I say.
“What?” But he coughs, cutting off the rest of his question. I put my hand to his chest, over the wound that has opened up and started bleeding inside him again. I’m so afraid this won’t work I almost can’t find my powers, but once I find the thread, it’s easy enough to bring it to the surface.
Jasper jerks as the cold moves over the bruise. “Morgan.”
“It’s okay,” I say. “It’s going to be okay. It’s energy. Enthalpy. Freezing is like going to sleep. And when you wake up, I’ll be there with you.”
“Morgan.” But the cold is seeping over him and his muscles spasm and twitch, trying to keep him warm, even though he’s lost too much blood for his body to function properly, even on reflex.
“It’s okay.” I kiss his forehead. His shivering stops, and his lips are slowly turning blue.
I’m not doing this without him again.
Last time, I protected us. Built a force field so that the bad guys around us froze into hench statues while Jasper and I stayed safe. This time, I don’t. I imagine the whole little bathroom being consumed with ice. It’s like a wave, creeping down one wall to the floor. It covers the tile until they glisten with frost. I open my eyes, and my breath is coming in soft condensed puffs between my lips. Beside me, Jasper’s eyelashes have little snowflakes on them. His breathing is shallow, and he doesn’t protest when I pull him close. I squeeze my eyes shut.
“Just like falling asleep,” I say. Or like falling in love. I didn’t have to do anything. One look at Jasper’s scruffy face and artless grin and I was done for.
My teeth chatter, and still I let the power run free. No more need for control. No need to hold on. The cold envelops me. My joints are stiff, and I’m not sure I can actually feel Jasper against me so much as I know he’s there.
“It’s okay,” I say, though Jasper can’t hear me anymore. “It’s okay.”
When the shivering stops, a heavy warmth settles around me, until it’s all I can feel. I hold on to the mental image of the two of us slowly being covered in ice. Maybe in a few thousand years someone will excavate us and wonder what our story was.
Or in a second I’ll open my eyes and find myself staring up at my mother’s judgement from the ceiling at Wench. Oh boy do I hope it’s that option. I don’t want the two of us to be some archaeological myth. Two men found embracing on the bathroom floor of an early twenty-first century residence. What happened? Were they lovers? Friends? No, wait! Brothers! They were definitely brothers. That’s the only possible explanation. No one would ever be able to guess.
Tomorrow. Please let it be tomorrow.
“I’ll see you soon.”
CHAPTER 20
Any date that begins with?—
I don’t even stay at my table. Vee’s about to ask me if she can’t make me something, but I don’t stop to talk as I rush for the door. When the green cap comes around the corner, I take off running down the sidewalk. Jasper is deep in thought and doesn’t even look up until I’m ten feet away. His eyes widen in surprise as I launch myself into his arms.
“Oof.” He stumbles back as he catches me. “What did you do? How long was I gone?”
“No time. No time. I couldn’t. I couldn’t do it without—” My words are all punctuated with giddy kisses and he laughs.
“Morgan.”
“Are you okay?” I barely have my feet on the ground and I’m pulling at his shirt, fumbling with buttons.
“You’re going to strip me right here on the street?” He’s still laughing, but he grabs for my trembling fingers, trying to keep me from undressing him entirely.
But I won’t be dissuaded so quickly. “The... your chest. The wound. Are you—” When I brush over the spot where the ugly bruise was the night before, he yelps.
“Ow. Shit.” Then he freezes. “What... why does it still hurt? It never hurts the day after for you, does it?”
I pull him across the street. If he won’t take off his shirt in public, the next best option is my car. He tugs both the flannel and T-shirt over his head, groaning as he does it. I hope his modesty will survive as I turn on the overhead dome light, though I hardly need it. The bruise on his chest is ugly and purple.
“Why? It’s bigger now than it was before.” He brushes the edges with his fingertips. “Why is it like that? You don’t have any scars or anything, do you?”
I shake my head. Jasper’s stomach growls.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I say between clenched teeth.
