Chapter 25

25

“Hey. Slowly now. Don’t try to sit up, just lie there.”

I opened my eyes just enough to see a shadowy form leaning over me.

“Where am I?” The marks have resumed their insidious murmuring, but something mutes them, and I can’t understand what they’re saying.

“You’re with me in the backyard of the safe house.” A cool hand pressed to my forehead. “I carried you here so the wolves couldn’t follow.”

“The wolves. I killed wolves, did you see?”

“I did.”

“Did I kill all of them?” I sat up and looked at Thorn. “Did any escape?”

“Yeah, most of them got away. And they’ll take some time before attacking you again, but they will be back.” He takes my hand and turns my right arm over, examining it.” The marks have settled in. What exactly prompted you to do that?”

“I don’t know. I was so scared, and I thought the eye would help me see through the walls or sense the wolves better, I mean, I was reaching, but they were there to kill me.”

“But the heart?”

“It was an accident. It was slipping out of my pocket and I grabbed for it so Kye wouldn’t get it.”

“The stones tricked you. Do you understand that? They’ve chosen you to possess.”

“And whose fault is that?” I snap, slapping his hand away.

He hisses and pulls away as new blisters form on his skin. “Do you think we can talk without you injuring me? I’m the one trying to help you, remember?”

“Fuck. I’m so sorry.” My chest tightens around my lungs, and my guts sink. “I didn’t mean that. I didn’t even mean to snap at you.”

He nodded and slowly reached for me again, pushing my hair back from my face. “You’re a fighter. It’s okay. You just need to aim that fight in the right direction.”

“Yeah, inward.”

He laughed, which surprised me into a smile. “Not exactly. But it’s nice to see you’re still in there.”

“Was that ever in doubt?” Even as I ask, I feel pushed inward, drowning in a power I can’t control. I stared down at my hands. “Did anyone else have this in mind?”

Thorn shook his head.

“The artifacts were made at different times for different reasons and react differently to various forms of magic. There’s a good reason the artifacts were kept separate for so long.”

“Did you take the last stone?”

“No.”

“Why don’t you touch them? Each time you saw one, you stared at them like you were starving, and the stones were the last food on earth. So, why not take them in hand? What did you have in mind once I got the first one for you?”

“I would’ve put it back in its safe, out of the reach of ambitious beasts.” He reached for me, touching my face. “You are something else, though.”

“Is it bad?” I run my hands over my cheeks, searching for veins or sores. “I didn’t even feel the heat of the blaze around me.”

“Yet, you were nearly consumed. I think the last stone missing is the only thing keeping you human.”

“I’m scared, Thorn.”

He sighed. “You’re not the only one. The wolves are hurt, especially the ego of their Alpha. Not only did he fail to gain the strength of the stone, his exile—”

“His ex, no less.” I snickered.

He sighed, not seeing the humor. “You’ve painted a huge target on your back.”

“And yours, huh?” The murmuring in my head grows. “The stones are happy that he’s in danger. He stands between them and—what?” My throat closed, the question dying before I could speak it.

What was I becoming?

“Can you stand? The warding on the house is better. If you ignite again, it would be better if the neighbors don’t see.”

I hissed, jerking away from him. “Who picks a safe house in the middle of a neighborhood?” Instantly, I snapped my mouth shut and bowed my head, “I’m sorry.”

Thorn doesn’t reply. He approached me slowly and picked me up like a child. “You’ve got some adjusting to do, it’s okay.“ He pushed through the back door. “If anyone can handle a little change, it’s you.“

He was wary of me, though. I could feel it.

“I’ve got you scared, Boss.”

He looked at me, eyes wide. “Do you ever not make jokes?“ He set me down on the bed, smoothing my hair from my forehead. “Okay, now where’s the final stone?“

The voices crescendo, sealing my lips. I fight, and the vice grip on my chest tightens until I can’t inhale.

“Oh. Okay, just relax. You don’t have to tell me.” Our eyes met, and I heard Thorn in my head. “Use your eyes, just your eyes. We’re not doing anything, just looking, all right?”

My body was concrete, held to the bed by its weight, but I did as he said and glanced down at my left boot. Right boot, knife. Left boot, the thing that will steal the last piece of my humanity.

Or was that left boot, knife? The malicious goblins in my head chattered at me, reminding me of every time I’ve been wrong in my life. I trusted Kye. I took the job from Thorn. I let my guard down for Moira.

“Moira.”

He stared at me. “What?”

“Moira.” It’s all I could get out.

“Let me take your shoes off so you can relax, okay?”

I tried to nod and managed a little head wiggle. He removed my boots, and I closed my eyes, resting my head on the pillow, ignoring the tugs as he loosened my laces and removed each boot and knee-high socks.

The obsidian knife fell from the bed and clattered to the floor. Still, I ignored it, and the marks stayed calm, menacing, but not overwhelming. Thorn touched my left ankle through the sock and rolled it down to trap the stone in it before shoving the whole sock into the bookshelf.

The moment the stone was off my body, the pressure dissipated, and I could move my limbs again. “Y’all need to stop hiding things in bookshelves, though, for real.”

Thorn grins and runs his hands through his hair. “Better?”

“Much,” I bit my lip and pushed myself into a seated position. “But the voices, or sounds, they’re still there. I don’t know how to stop them from taking over, or when they’ll try again.”

He sat next to me, one hand stroking my thigh. “I don’t know what to do about that. What you did is unlike any other creature we’ve seen here. Pyrokinetics are not real, Lena.”

“Lena, huh? Are we friends now, giving each other nicknames?” I’m teasing, but the way he said it has my pulse skipping and a different kind of heat building low in my body.

Thorn leaned in, hands on either side of me, his chest nearly pressed to mine. “Is this you, or the marks talking?”

Fuck. Good question. I close my eyes and focus and realize something I hadn’t. “Our mark is muted. It feels nearly—erased.”

“That’s no good.” I roll to the side and let him look at my back. “Let me see your palm, Moira’s mark.”

I turn my hand over, and it’s the same. The mark is nearly burned away. “What does this mean?”

“It means that you’re right. We need Moira and likely your friend, too.”

“She won’t help with this. She’s still mad that I got myself into this mess, this position. Well, whatever she thinks my position is.”

He touched me once more as if I kept him grounded. “I need to re-mark you, but now, it will hurt.“ He broke off, then sighed. “And the binding will be stronger. I won’t always be able to control when we’re in each other’s heads.”

“But I’ll have more control?”

He shrugged. “That’s the hope.”

“Do it.”

I don’t know what I was expecting, but when his lips pressed against mine, every thought and alien voice left my head. He opened me to him, his tongue delving deep into the cavern of my mouth as he moved to straddle me, his hips pressing me to the bed, his hands handcuffing my wrists above my head.

He pulled back only far enough to nip my bottom lip, then his tongue tangled with mine again, swallowing the tiny, helpless sounds he urged from me. He pushed my knees apart with his and settles between my legs, pressing hard and ready against me.

Light exploded through me, my hips lifting to him, my ankles locking behind as I strained closer to him, to the glow I could feel building between us. From his reticence, I expected it to be painful. But unlike Moira’s brand on my palm, all I experienced was pleasure and a desperate need to feel his skin against mine.

He pulled away, and I sank into the mattress, aching for more.

“Wow,” I said. “I’m sorry I turned you down last time. Why did you let me?”

He cleared his throat and exhaled slowly. “Protecting you seemed to be the most important thing at the time.”

“And now? Do you still think that, or are you wishing that you’d just killed me and taken the stone back?” The voices in my head remain silent, but the weight of the new power still pulls me down.

“I think that there are enough creatures out there that want to do exactly what you did, that we need to learn more about it, and protect you in the meantime.”

I sighed and closed my eyes, thinking about the life I’d spent the last few years making for myself.

“Okay, Thorn. I know you’re right. But tell me this. Who exactly is going to protect you and everyone else, from me?”