And finally, her words, soft and distant, replace the silence. “I’ll tell you something real.” She hesitates, eyeing me cautiously. Branches crack. Twigs snap and rain down on us. She shoves one from her hair, paying no mind to the way nature reacts to her emotions. Or maybe she did it on purpose.
“I read the last chapter first,” she says.
“Okay.”What in Malachite’s Eye does that mean?
She never tells me anything,Kelter complains. Just when I start to forget about him, he’s back, ruining moments that don’t belong to him.
I was asking myself, not you.
Same thing,he says.
She bites her lip, struggling to continue. But I want to hear more. She’s addictive, and beyond that, she’s letting me in, letting me see past her walls without shutting down. I control her heart, as always, but it’s not needed right now. This isn’t about me or us. It’s her moment, her life. But she turns her head to the side, as if I can’t see her if she doesn’t look at me. The ground trembles as she speaks, a low rumble that doesn’t let up.“Because I’m afraid I’ll die before I finish each book.”
Well, shit. How am I supposed to respond to that? I roll her head back to center with two fingers on her cheek, and I’m rewarded with bright eyes and the smallest smile.
“Look at your freaked-out face. You believe I’m that morbid?” Her smile grows, coy and teasing. “Well, I am, but I read the last chapter first because I’mthatimpatient. And if you wait another second to kiss me, it’s highly likely I’ll resort to violence. Or girl topics. Both would be painful for you.”
Godsdamn, she has no idea how beautiful she is. I can’t stoplooking. The dirt and wild hair only make it better. She’s a little disaster, and I want her all to myself. Maybe I’m letting too much show because warm affection fills her as she watches me take her in. I strengthen my grip on her heart and eliminate every trace of the dangerous feeling.
Her expression changes, the angles hardening slightly. She knows what I did. Shadows without sources stretch across the trees above us. “What’s the point of all this if you won’t let me feel? I want my heart back.”
I tuck her treasures back inside her bra one by one, our eyes locked. “I control your heart, but you own mine.”
Chapter 48
EVER
Ashadow swoops over us. “Are you feeling better?” Atom stares down at me, supine on the ground. His freckles flare in the gray morning light. Bits of leaves and grass stick to his ragged clothes.
“Uh, yeah.” I sit up, dazed despite the hours I’ve been awake. Kaleida stands behind him, her hair springing out in every direction, her dark eyes weary.
Maybe because of all the bodies. It was easy to forget about them with Eli’s tongue torturing me, then his little lesson, which lasted through to the morning. If I didn’t already know something was wrong with me, I’d be sure after that.
“We’re back from Milo’s, and we slept fine, thanks,” Kaleida says, frowning at Eli and me. Coen and Sola huddle together on one side of her, Sypher and Maverick J. on the other.
“I didn’t,” Sypher complains. “The weather was changing every minute and the sky kept lighting up through the window.”
I smile at the memory.
Maverick J. shuffles from one foot to the other. “My socks have been wet for days.”
“At least you have something on your feet. Eli and Ever are barefoot,” Milo says.
Kaleida scoffs. “By choice. All those dead bodies have boots on.”
“I’m not wearing another man’s boots,” Eli protests. “I have limits.”
It’s hard not to notice his concern has nothing to do with the men being dead.
Milo kneels at Eli’s side, giving him a once-over for new injuries and only finding the scratch marks I left on his cheeks. “Look who we found.” He jabs a thumb over his shoulder, pointing at Sola and Coen. They look as disastrous as the rest of us—bloodied clothes, cuts and filth, disheveled everything.
Sola’s coy smile twists her lips to the side. “I can’t believe you guys banged surrounded by corpses.”
Atom covers his ears and puffs out his cheeks.
“I can,” Coen retorts, slicking back his hair and perusing the scene. “But I’m surprised you didn’t bring the damn sky down.”
I don’t bother asking how they know. We probably reek of sex. Then it hits me. They know I’m linked now because of my height. And about the urges that come with maturation. All of them know.
