“Oh.” For some stupid reason, I suddenly thought about the kissed we’d shared right before all hell had broken loose. It 253/695
could barely be considered a kiss, really soft and brief like the touch of a butterfly’s wing.
Still, I could almost feel the lingering sparkle of electricity where his lips had brushed against mine.
I carefully eased my coat off, wincing as the glass shifted.
Alex took off his gloves and coat and pushed up the sleeves of his long-sleeved black thermal shirt. Then he reached for me.
“What are you doing?” My muscles tensed as I leaned away from him.
He pointed to my side. “Looking at that.”
“Oh.” I said stupidly. I took a deep breath and held as still as I could.
He lifted the edge of my shirt up just enough so he could see the piece of glass sticking out of my blood-covered skin. He examined it, gently tracing a circle around the cut with his finger.
I held my breath, trying to hold in the gasp that desperately wanted to escape my 254/695
lips. It would end up being the good kind of gasp—the kind of gasp that might get him thinking I was okay with everything. And I wasn’t. Not by a long shot.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he moved his hand away. His face looked dead serious. Worried even. It made me anxious.
“Is it bad?” I asked in a high-pitched voice.
His mouth curved into a grin. “No, it’s not that bad at all. The piece of glass is small, and you’re barely bleeding anymore. I should be able to get it out and stitched it up without any problems.” He rested back against the couch and glanced at the door.
“Just as soon as Aislin gets here.” I tugged down the corner of my shirt and frowned. “That wasn’t funny. You had me thinking I was seriously hurt or something.” He laughed. “Actually, it kind of was.” 255/695
I glowered at him. “Do you even know how to do stitches?”
“What, don’t you trust me?” I chose not to answer that. “How about you answer some of my questions?” He frowned. “I’d rather not.”
“But you said you would,” I protested. “I mean, is it really that bad that you can’t tell me”
“Yes,” he said.
A shiver crawled up my spine. “Well, I still want to know.”
He locked eyes with me. “Are you sure about that?”
I swallowed hard and nodded. Good or not, I wanted to know.
“Fine.” He waved his hand. “Go head.
Ask your questions.”
“Okay…” My mind suddenly seemed blanked. “Um…where are we?” 256/695
“Laylen’s. He’s a friend of Aislin’s and mine.” He drew back the curtain that was behind us. “He lives in the Nevada desert.” If it wouldn’t have been for the sunlight, lighting up the sky, and the golden-brown sand, dusted with cacti, that stretched as far as my eye could see, I wouldn’t have believed him. But there it was, right outside the window. There was no denying it. We were in the desert.
“How—” I stammered. “I mean—how?” He let go of the curtain. “That’s where allof this becomes confusing.”
“Becomes confusing? It’s already been confusing for quite awhile.”
“Has it?” he muttered.
I wasn’t sure if it was a rhetorical question or not, so I didn’t answer. “So…how exactly did we get to Nevada in just a split second’s time?”
He hesitated. “Aislin transported us here.”
257/695
“Transported,” I said very slowly like the word was foreign. But the way he’d used it was foreign. “I remember hearing you guys say that word back on the bus, but what does it mean exactly?”
He hesitated again. “It’s a form of magic.”
I couldn’t help it. A burst of laughter escaped my lips. “Are you being serious? Because, just so you know, magic isn’t real.”
“It isn’t, huh?” He gestured around the room. “Then how do you explain this?” I shrugged. “A delusion brought on by the trauma of those things—those Death Walkers things trying to kill me.” He stared at me, astounded. “So, let me get this straight. What you’re trying to say is that you believe in something like the Death Walkers who, by the way, are demons, but you don’t believe in magic.”
“Umm….” Okay, so he had a point, but still, it felt like I was just going insane. It was 258/695
all just too strange—too straight-out-of-asci-fi-novel strange. “I don’t know what I believe in.”
“Well, if you can’t believe in something as simple as magic, then there’s no point in me even trying to explain the rest of it. Because, out of everything, magic is probably the sanest sounding thing of all.” I thought about what he was saying for a moment, but still…he was trying to convince me that magic was real. “So what you’re trying to say is that Aislin’s a witch?” He nodded. “But by your sarcastic tone, I’m guessing you’re still not buying it.”
“I’m trying.” I really was. “But it’s kind of hard to accept something that sounds so…crazy.”
He eyed me over, causing my skin to electrify. “So tell me this. How can you accept the feeling that I know you’re feeling right now, but you can’t accept that Aislin’s a 259/695
witch? Because on a crazy level, they’re both about the same.”
“What feeling?” I asked, knowing full well what he meant.
Before I could stop him, he rested his hand on my cheek. Electricity sung through my blood veins, and under no control of my own, I let out a gasp.
“That feeling,” he whispered, the palm of his hand still cupping my cheek.
Growing up with Marco and Sophia—the two most unaffectionate people ever—I’d never come close to even getting a pat on the back. So him touching me like that felt very strange. Yet somehow, at the same time, it felt very familiar.
He dropped his hand, and we both just sat there, staring at one another.
“Okay,” I finally said, breaking the silence. “I believe you so you can go on.” He forced a fake smile. “Can I?”
“Yeah, you can.”
260/695
He shook his head, looking like he was trying hard not to smile, then he turned to face me. “Look, I’ve broken a lot of rules here.”
I tilted my head to the side, confused.
“What rules?”
“Nothing. Never mind,” he said quickly.
He ran his fingers roughly through his hair
“God, how the heck am I supposed to explain to youhow important youare?”
“How important Iam?” I gave him a doubtful look. “Trust me, there’s nothing important about me. At all.”
“You have no idea how wrong you are.” The intensity in his eyes made me shrink back.
I gulped. “I don’t understand what you mean—”
“Here it is,” Aislin announced, as she strutted into the room carrying a first aid kit.
261/695
Alex practically leapt off of the couch and met Aislin in the middle of the room.
“Took you long enough.”
Grimacing, she shoved the first aid kit at him. “It took me a minute to find Laylen.”
“Sure it did,” Alex said, his tone insinu-ating something. Something I was almost certain I’d rather not know.
“Whatever Alex.” She flipped her golden blonde hair from her shoulder. “And just so you know, Laylen's going to stay away until…” She glanced at me, then leaned in and dipped her voice quieter.
After that, I could only make out half of what she was saying. Being able to lip read would have came in handy right now. All I was able to catch was something about “staying away” and “blood.” Maybe Aislin couldn’t stand the sight of blood…I don’t know. But really, did I ever know what was going on.
No.
262/695
“I guess, but she’s not bleeding that bad,” Alex’s voice rose loud enough for me to hear him. He tucked the first aid kit underneath his arm. “Why don’t you go try and get a hold of Stephan. Let him know what’s happened and see what he wants us to do.” Stephen. Why did that name keep popping up?