“What? You’ve never told me that.”
“Yeah. It sounded like a peaceful place. I bet that’s why your parents left you there.
New Haven
. Has a safe ring to it.”
I smiled and added that to the list of things to thank my parents for at the séance. I might have died in any other town during that time – the darkest year of the war against humans. After searching the Internet, we’d learned that New Haven had a fourth of the deaths as most places. It couldn’t have been a coincidence that she’d left me there.
“Or I would’ve roamed in an orange field and found you, the creep who thought she could live in one, sleeping under a tree.” I pinched his arm, and he laughed. “Seriously, I would’ve stayed there with you. Doesn’t matter the place or circumstance, I think we would always be together.” I wanted to do too many things at once – kiss him, undress him, cry. I loved the thought of us being soul mates. He sniffed the air and hummed. “I … sort of like whatever you’re feeling. Sort of love it, actually.”
I threw one leg over both of his. He closed his eyes and smiled. I gradually pulled it back when I thought about CC and the talk we needed to have.
“You wouldn’t believe the things I saw today, Chris.” His handsome face sank, serious now. “Those people were starving, even before the attack. The shifters can’t work, the witches and wizards do as best they can, and the assistance they are supposed to get from the agents never comes.” He shook his head and sighed. “And there were so many kids. My boss put me in charge of them. I don’t know why, but he did. Even though it was my first day.”
“I know why. You’re great with kids.” I remembered how he’d treated little Kelsey in Kamon’s prison. He was kind and gentle. I wasn’t sure if it was because of the friendly dog in him or the goofy boy who still watched cartoons every day.
“When I grow up, which, incidentally, is in two hours…” He chuckled. “I want to be as giving as my boss. Devin is awesome. He gives every penny he has and every second of his time. I want to help people like he does.” I brought his hand to my lips and kissed the back of it, touched by how caring he was. “What will you
be
when you grow up?”
I hunched my shoulders. I’d never planned my future. Before Sophia came, my only goal was to stay alive. Then I wanted to be with Nathan, like that was a career or something.
“What about … an artist?” he said, throwing out options to help.
“That would be nice, but it’s selfish compared to your goal.”
He gently grabbed my jaw and pulled my face to his. “You’re not selfish. Frivolous, maybe, but not selfish.” He chuckled. “But seriously, babe, even if you were selfish, you would deserve to be. You’re waiting for a man I should’ve sank my teeth into in that chapel to give up on capturing you … to possibly breed you. You have money, but your life is far from easy.”
Nate went on about how he wished he
would have
killed Kamon that night, instead of writhing in pain from his broken spine. I tuned out his heroic delusions as Kamon’s hypnotizing eyes flashed in my mind.
I’d thought I hated Sienna Martin. That was nothing, a childish grudge. I used to hate Remi until my heart started bleeding for her. That was nothing too. Hate was what I felt for Kamon.
I’d give anything to know what he was up to, pull him out of the shadows and into the light. Was he getting close? Did he know who and what I was?
I welcomed the energy that rushed over my skin, and his name echoed in my head.
He was in New Orleans. I knew it for a fact.
I faintly heard when Nate turned off the TV. I didn’t open my eyes, too wrapped up in the buzzing, in the power I pretended I didn’t have.
Behind my eyelids, I saw a blurry picture of my New Orleans backyard.
Kamon chuckled, circling Lydia Shaw near the pool. “
Where is she?
” he asked.
“
That’s not your business, and stay away from this house
.”
“
She is very much so my business. A girl with her potential does not come along every day. I noticed it the first time I saw her. I knew then
.”
Lydia laughed and stepped closer to his face. “
I can’t wait for this to be over
,” she said.
My muscles quivered. Lydia and Kamon shook with me.
“
Me either. I have big plans. I’ve been working on my new title. What do you think of Emperor Kamon? Too much
?” He laughed. “
There’s finally a date after your dash. I guess I’m lucky Leah’s so unstable. I know you’re terrified. It’s getting so close. July 4
th
.
”
I shook even harder and heard a far away scream.
Lydia spun around, and Remi wiggled her fingers at her, a taunting wave. Her jet-black hair dangled to her waist now.
My Master, My Lord
, in a fancy, ancient script, was permanently inked on her stomach, right above her low-cutting leather pants.
“
Remi is one of the best things to ever happen to me. Her first offering brought my nemesis barging through the doors. In time, she’ll bring me Leah. I’ve seen July 4
th
, Lydia. It is your pet’s destiny, and I’m going to help her fulfill it.
”
My backyard trembled like an earthquake was ravishing New Orleans, and someone screamed, “Emma, hold her head!”
Nate.
“Wake up, Chris,” Emma said.
I opened my eyes. Nate and Em were shaking me and swatting at my cheeks. Blood was everywhere – on Nate’s hands, his chest,
my
pillow.
I’d had another fit. Correction. I was still having a fit, shaking and bleeding and buzzing.
Em’s
thoughts were frantic and in fluent French.
But understandable.
I had a feeling she could speak Chinese, and I would understand it right now.
She snapped and disappeared, leaving me alone with Nate. His face vibrated as I shook, and he braced me against his chest.
After a moment, his body tensed against mine, and he drew his arms away, no longer holding me. My nails were in his sides, and they didn’t want to let go.
Embers blew around us, and found their way to his head, circling and sparkling, crowning him with fire. I coughed from the smoke tickling my throat. He didn’t seem to see them at all.
A deep voice I’d never heard screamed, “
Dali
!” It echoed several times after. With each repeat, Nate clutched his head tighter, in pain.
All day I had been questioning where I belonged. Now I knew. I belonged in a cage, not allowed to roam freely around my enemies.
I didn’t want to hurt him. Or myself. I needed to listen to my body. Someone had told me that. Someone …
A flash of light blinded me, and Sophia and Emma appeared when it cleared.
Sophia pried my clenched jaw open. Something warm filled my mouth and slithered down my throat.
Then there was nothing but darkness.
I woke up to sounds I’d only heard on TV shows and movies, hospital sounds – a constant beep over my head and hissing from a tube tickling the base of my nose.
I blinked a few times to get the room into focus.
Blue walls, white curtains.
Not my room. A television flickered an array of colors around the blue room. Cartoons were on, and Nate was knocked out and snoring in the recliner next to the bed.
“Babe,” I said. His snore caught in his throat. He jumped up and scurried to me.
“You’re up!”
“What happened?”
“You had a … well Sophia told us to call it a seizure. I don’t know if it was. She stopped it, but Lydia wanted you to get a brain scan to make sure you hadn’t hurt yourself.”
I stretched in bed and pulled at the tube under my nose. “Lydia? She was here?”
He nodded. “She brought us here.” I pouted, not because I was in a hospital bed. I’d missed a visit from the famous woman.
“How long have I been out?”
“About three hours.” He leaned in to kiss me and left his face pressed against mine for a long minute. “Chris, please don’t scare me like that again.”
“I’m sorry. I guess … I can’t help being a copy sometimes.”
I jerked away, remembering that I’d hurt him in bed. He pulled my face back to his. “You’re not a copy, baby. And I’m not afraid of you.” He paused for a moment then chuckled. “Especially since I have your kryptonite now.”
“What?”
“Sophia has a potion to turn your powers off. That’s what she gave you.”
I stirred in bed, my body heavy and tired. I stared at the blanket, trying to lift it without my hands. It didn’t budge. “How long does the potion last?”
“You had a lot. Sophia said it would be a few more hours.”
I crashed back onto the pillows, dazed and wondering how the potion worked. Did it shut my brain off? Make me weak? And because I wasn’t currently psychic, those questions did nothing in my head. “Where are we?”
“New Zealand, in some swanky hospital Lydia brought us to. I think it’s for the military. There are lots of people in uniform walking around. Sophia didn’t come in just in case someone recognized you from the news, and Lydia left half an hour ago. Em and Paul stayed home because they said you were totally fine.”
I looked over his shoulder to the window. The sun peeked through the bottom of the thick curtains. Lydia had brought me to a hospital on the other side of the world. Odd.
“I’m sorry you have to spend your birthday here.” He pushed me over in bed and made room for himself under the blanket.
“Where else would I be? I’m your next-of-kin on your records now, by the way, in addition to being the keeper of the kryptonite.”
I smiled. I shouldn’t let myself get so worked up about missing my family. Family was right here in bed with me.
I sang him a terrible version of the birthday song as the monitors beeped and hissed in the background. A nurse with a friendly face walked in and fanned at Nathan, telling him to stay in bed.
I assumed she was human, I couldn’t hear her thoughts to know for sure. Before, I’d ignored my powers and didn’t ask too many questions so I didn’t have to be psychic. It was a different feeling entirely not having them at all. I felt very human.
Very vulnerable.
“You’re finally awake, Cecilia,” she said. I nodded. Apparently, I was Cecilia Neal today. Her accent was unfamiliar. If I hadn’t known we were in New Zealand, I wouldn’t have guessed it from that. “Want another blanket, Nate?” she asked, like they were old friends.
“No thanks, Wendy.”
She peeked into my gown and unhooked me from the monitors and oxygen cord. She waved at us on her way out, the patient and her best friend.
“What’s a date after a dash?” I asked, recalling what I’d heard Kamon say to Lydia before my fit.
“It sounds like a tombstone. Like date of birth to date of death.”
For a moment, the world stopped spinning and everything made sense.
First, the dream of the child singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” as I sank with another person.
Then, seeing Kamon tell Lydia that it was my destiny to give her a date after her dash on July 4
th
. According to him, I would kill Lydia Shaw in less than a month. That was why he wanted to capture me. He wanted to help me kill her.
I’d thought of myself as unstable and murderous my whole life. But killing the woman who saved the world, the woman who saved me, would be beyond anything I ever thought I was capable of.
In the loudest voice I could manage, I told Nate about what I’d seen. He smacked his lips and chuckled. “You fell asleep when I was talking about work. Your eyes were closed. And he wouldn’t really call himself an emperor in real life, no one would. It’s silly. It was just a dream.”
“It felt like more.”
“It wasn’t. You like Lydia. Why would you kill her or anyone? There’s no Sienna or Whitney or anyone to bully you. You don’t have a motive, so it must be just a dream, babe.” He pressed his nose against my cheek. “Stop worrying. You’re going to give yourself indigestion. And this room is too tiny to escape a gas attack from you.”
I laughed and denied ever having gas a day in my life. It was just like Nathan to say something perfect to lighten the mood and make me forget about July 4
th
. He was probably right. I liked Lydia. The mere mention of her name could make me smile. My affection bordered on creepy – peeking at her stolen shoes once a week, creepy. I wouldn’t kill Lydia. It had to be a dream.
A really over stimulating, seizure causing dream.
“Does the name Dali mean anything to you?” I asked, because that part of the night was certainly not a dream. He shook his head. “I heard someone scream it when I was … hurting you. And I saw embers, kind of like we were around a campfire.”
“Weird,” he said, and nothing else.
I dropped it. He obviously didn’t want to discuss his past and the possibility of it involving crowns made of fire.
The phone on the nightstand rang as we watched an episode of Family Guy we’d seen before.
“Hello?” Nate said. “Yes, ma’am. She came in and unhooked her a while ago. She’s up. Hold on.” He gave me the phone and mouthed:
Lydia
.
My heart jumped to my throat. “Hi,” I said.
“Hi. How are you feeling?”
“Fine.” For a moment, I considered telling her about my dream, but I remembered she probably didn’t have time to hear about my nightmares. She had a world to run.
“Sophia will be there to bring you two home in fifteen minutes. Meet her outside.”
“Okay. Um … why did I have to go to a military hospital?”
After a long pause she said, “More privacy. People like us need that.”
I smiled and twisted my lips to hide it. People like
us
. I was like Lydia Shaw. That thought warmed me and made me giddy inside. So giddy that I missed her goodbye and listened to the dial tone for a few seconds before I realized she’d hung up.
Nate slid out of bed and walked to a closet I hadn’t noticed in the corner. As I sat up and placed the phone on the receiver, he unzipped a duffle bag and pitched me a pair of jeans and a thick sweater I’d never seen before. He pulled a fluffy white jacket from the bag and threw it on the bed. He smirked at whatever was left inside.
“What?” I asked.
He pulled out a pink knitted hat with a goofy pom-pom. “This is adorable,” he said. “Sophia really thinks you’re a toddler.”
I rolled my eyes, and he turned his back as I changed.
I saw his reflection in the mirror on the wall. He was watching me through it with his mouth hanging open. Our eyes met, and he bowed his head.
“Sorry,” he whispered.
I chuckled. “It’s fine. You didn’t have to turn away.” He spun around in a blur as I pulled the sweater down the rest of the way. I thought the hospital room would catch fire as I pulled my jeans up. Nate’s eyes glazed over at the sight of me in my underwear. He’d seen me in a bikini countless times, but somehow this was riskier, sexier.
I kept my distance. It was not the right moment to kiss him and tempt him anymore.
He finally recovered as we left the room and navigated the sterile hallways of the hospital. He pulled on a blue tweed jacket Sophia had packed for him and mumbled about how he hated the feel of it, even more than shirts.
“Goodbye, Wendy,” Nate said, waving at her behind the nurse’s station.
“Bye, Nate. Feel better, Cecilia.”
“Thanks,” I said.
The automatic door opened to a snowy wonderland, mounds of it as far as my eyes could see. There was nothing else but pure, untouched snow. The hospital was in the middle of nowhere. I tucked my hands into the furry pockets of my new jacket, freezing already. It felt like I was trapped in a snow globe, in the arms of the person I wouldn’t mind being trapped with.
Nate exhaled loudly and shut his eyes. I didn’t think he noticed himself smiling, like the snow and the cold had touched something in his heart. I imagined that was how I looked with an orange to my nose.
He slowed his steps, lingering on purpose, and leaned his head back. The snow fell on his face and rolled away like rain as it melted instantly on his warm skin. The black of his hair drained from the roots, sending stark white streaming to the tips. I snatched the hat from my head and threw it on his.
He opened his eyes and smiled.
“My hair?” he asked. I nodded, tugging the hat over his ears. I stretched it as far as it would go over his forehead, trying to cover his now white eyebrows. “This is probably the worst place to shift.” He yanked his head toward the roof. An armed guard marched into view then headed back in the opposite direction, luckily not seeing anything strange. His gun looked powerful enough to strike us from up there, and seeing the magic in Nathan’s hair would be enough for him to pull that trigger. “I’m fine. Don’t worry.”
He shivered and pulled off the cap, hair black and back to normal. Nate hated talking about his past, so I treaded lightly. “It seems like you like the cold,” I said.
He hunched his
shoulders,
face still slightly angled more to the air than to me. “I guess. Winter is my favorite season. I also take a lot of cold showers.” He chuckled and looked down at me. “But that one doesn’t have anything to do with being a shifter.”
I laughed and pecked his lips.
Sophia honked the horn as she slowly drove through the snow, the street barely visible under the tires. We drove for a while. Nate stared out of the window with a longing in his eyes that I was dying to ask about. But I didn’t. I just rubbed his hand and pretended he wasn’t looking at the snow like he belonged in it until Sophia brought us back to our side of the world.
At home, I immediately went from healthy to terminally ill. Sophia tucked me in bed like I’d had the flu and not a psychic seizure.
“I can call my boss and tell him I can’t come. He said we couldn’t miss training, but he’s cool. He might understand,” Nate
said,
dread weighing heavy in his tone.
“No, I’m fine.” I pointed at Sophia as she mixed things with her back turned
to us, smoke and magic wafting around her
. “She’ll be hovering all day, I’m sure.”
“I sure will. Nathan, get in bed. I’ll wake you in time to leave for work, dear.”
He kissed
me and left,
and Sophia got to work on me, pouring potions down my throat and rubbing scented oils on my forehead.
“I told Lydia bringing you to the hospital would be a waste,” she grumbled. “And I was right. They found nothing because the potion worked perfectly.”
It seemed like Lydia had more authority over me than my pretend grandmother-slash-witch. Made sense; I was the hidden child of an ex-hunter. My mother would’ve answered to …
“Honey!” Sophia yelled. “Can you hear me?”
“Huh?” I checked my nose. I’d spaced out but hadn’t had another nosebleed, thankfully.
“I said … don’t think I didn’t notice that Nathan was in your bed shirtless when I got here.”
“We weren’t doing anything, Sophia.” I sat up to tell her about hurting Nathan and the dream, and she dipped her finger in a bowl of crushed flowers and oil she’d been stirring and drew a star on my forehead. The corners of my mouth curled up.
She chuckled.
“What are you doing to me?” I asked, beaming for no reason, no natural reason.
“Simple charm. Helps you relax.” She guided my weak body to my pillows. “Pleasant dreams, my love.”
My eyes closed on command. I dreamed of Nate running through the snow on four legs, happy and free. His eyes were the only part of him that didn’t blend with the world around him.
Even as I slept, I could feel the difference between dreaming and having a vision. This was a dream, fantasy. It wasn’t blurry, and I didn’t have to strain to see it.
“No,” I said, as soon as my eyes popped open. “Last night was just a dream.”
I chanted that a few more times as I unfolded the note propped up on my nightstand.
My heart, something came up. I’ll come back to see you all off to dinner. Your lunch is in the microwave.