“Wake up, damn it,” I say, pumping even harder on her chest. I refuse to give up. I’m not going to let her die. Not now. Not like this.
CHAPTER TWO
Notice: You are now entering the Outlands. Safety cannot be guaranteed past this point. Proceed at your own risk.
—SIGN POSTED AT EXIT GATES TO THE OUTLANDS
Gavin
I pace the hallway in front of Evie’s room. The old worn hardwood floors creak with each footstep and I feel exactly how I felt six weeks ago when I carried her into the hospital. Except at least she was breathing then.
My legs shake as I remember how pale she was this time. Her lips turning blue no matter how often I tried pushing air into her lungs. Her body was as limp as the sacks of flour I used to cart around for Mr. McGreely, and just as hard to run with. I tripped twice in that short run and cut a long deep gash into my arm trying to protect her when I fell. If Asher hadn’t heard my yells and come running, then rushed to get Dr. Gillian … I don’t even want to think about that.
I stop pacing and glance over, scowling at the dark-haired boy leaning against the wall by the corner, talking quietly with my mother. Asher. Former best friend, current asshole. But there’s no doubt that I owe him a huge debt after tonight.
The door I’ve been pacing in front of squeaks open. Dr. Gillian looks exhausted and I know I don’t want to hear what he’s going to tell me, but still, I have to ask.
“Is she all right?”
“She’ll be fine.”
I don’t really hear what else he says—something about a dry drowning and her being extremely lucky—because my whole body sags in relief. She’ll be fine. That’s all I hear. Over and over in my head. She’ll be fine.
“Gavin,” he asks, pulling my attention back to him. “Did you hear me?”
I nod quickly. “Yes. Of course. Whatever you want.”
It’s obvious from the look he gives me that he knows I hadn’t heard a word. With a sigh, he takes off his glasses and polishes them on his shirt. “I’m concerned, Gavin.”
I don’t say anything. I don’t want to hear what he has to say.
“This…” He pauses. “This episode she had, where she walked into the ocean, she says she doesn’t remember any of what you said happened.”
I nod. I expected that. She didn’t remember anything the other times, either.
“She also told me this is the third time she’s blacked out in almost as many days.”
“Um … well, technically it’s only twice. The first time I’m pretty sure she only freaked out because Lucy was running straight at her.”
He lifts an eyebrow. “Gavin, we need to be serious here. You have to realize how grave this is. What she’s having, these blackouts—they’re what’s called a “fugue state.” It’s concerning because I’m not sure if this is a psychiatric issue or a physical one. I can’t even run any of the basic tests like a CT scan to make sure there isn’t some sort of brain damage. I simply don’t have the equipment.” He screws his face up in frustration, before straightening his features. “She needs to go to Rushlake. This is just … beyond what I can do here.” He spreads his hands out in front of him in a helpless gesture.
“You know I can’t go to the city. Not after…” I trail off, my gaze drifting over to Asher. I allow myself a second to glare at him before focusing on the doctor again.
He pats my shoulder. “This will happen again. Will you be around next time? More importantly, can you afford to watch her every hour of every day to make sure that when it does, she won’t walk back into that ocean?”
I open my mouth, but no words come out. He’s right. There is absolutely no way I can be around her 24/7. Even if I could give up hunting and everything else to be around her, I have to sleep sometime.
He nods at me, then at someone behind me before turning back around and disappearing through the door.
“I’ll take her.”
I slowly turn to face Asher. “Absolutely not. If she goes, I’ll take her. This is none of your business and we don’t need your help.” It burns that I already owe him for helping with Evie. I’ll be damned if I’ll owe him another favor.
He touches my arm. “Gavin, come on. Let me help.”
“No.” I cross my arms over my chest. “The last time I let you ‘help,’ I ended up losing everything. I’m not letting you do that to me again.”
My former best friend’s face pales and then reddens almost instantly. “Oh, come off it, Gavin. They’re never going to let you into the city.” He glances at my clothes. “Even if you do manage to clean up enough.”
“We’ll get a visa from the mayor.”
“My father?” Asher barks out a laugh. “Good luck with that. He won’t give you one.”
“He’ll have to,” I say.
Asher laughs again, but this time there’s no humor in it. “That’s where you’re wrong. He doesn’t have to do anything he doesn’t want to.” Then he shrugs. “Go ahead and ask him though. Good luck.” He starts to walk away. “You know where to find me when you change your mind.”
Evie
The air is heavy with heat and humidity. Between that and the exhaustion from almost drowning, my whole body feels leaden. So I just lie here and stare at the spiderwebs of cracks spreading across the ceiling and walls. I imagine them as thin fingers reaching for me, coming to steal me away from this world where I don’t belong. I almost wish they would, so I’ll stop endangering Gavin and his family.
This makes three. Three incidents since I left the medical facility. Three times I’ve hurt Gavin or almost hurt someone dear to him. The first was the day they brought me to live with them. The dog, Lucy, came out to greet me—well, everyone really, but she ran straight for me with her tongue lolling out and her teeth showing. The next thing I know she’s on the ground underneath me and Gavin is prying my hands from around her neck.
Luckily, everyone agreed that they’d have reacted the same way, given the fact that I’d never seen a dog before and it did (kind of, sort of, probably not but maybe) look like she might be attacking. No one, including the dog, seems to resent me for it. Now Lucy follows me everywhere, like a little yellow dog-shaped shadow.
The second time, I don’t even know what started it. I was sleeping. When I woke up, I had broken into the room where Gavin stores all of his hunting gear. I was standing in the middle with an assortment of weapons around me, and one in each hand. When Gavin had called my name, I’d spun around with both weapons drawn, my head screaming at me to kill the Surface Dweller.
Now I’ve almost drowned myself—and Gavin—trying to get “home.” I don’t even know where that is!
I can’t stay here. I can’t stay where I’m going to harm someone because my brain decides to shut off and my body just does whatever the hell it pleases.
With a sigh, I lie back against the pillows and close my eyes against the hominess of the room. I don’t want to see how they’ve made this room nice for me, with soft, sweet-smelling bed linens and the beautiful furniture. They’re a little scratched and damaged, but it’s easy to tell they’re the best in the house. And so is this room. With the beautiful flowers which are changed every few days—by Gavin’s mother no doubt—and the white lacy curtains at the windows that look like they’re almost brand new. Ann Marie’s wedding stuff filling up her side of the room. I don’t want to see any of it, because I’ve done nothing but cause them problems and they’ve done nothing but try and make me feel comfortable and at home.