Authors: Lindsay Payton
“Just a while? How long is that?” he asked, grabbing my hands. He held them up to my eyes. My fingertips were slightly tinted blue.
“Oh wow,” was all I could reply, genuinely surprised but too tired to really care. Linden just held my hands in his, rubbing them to stimulate the blood flow again.
“I guess I got kind of carried away with the ocean and everything,” I said as he put his mouth against my arm, blowing hot air over my skin.
“Only a little,” he replied, angry sarcasm in his tone. I swallowed, not knowing what to say. It was a mistake, and I learned for it. “I was starting to worry there.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, licking my lips and noticing they were on the cold side.
“I’m going to get you some stuff downstairs,” he said, leading me to the bed. He pulled the light comforter off the top and draped it around me, tucking it in. When he kissed me he must have noticed the slight lack of warmth and gave me another look before he disappeared.
I ducked my head into the comforter as well, reliving my projection. I had had a good time while it lasted, until those last panicked minutes. Now, I really wondered about the voices. I speculated that it might have been everyone from the house as the ascended. Did that mean they became part of the water? I seemed to make sense, but I had a feeling that if I asked Linden, he wouldn’t want to answer. Maybe I didn’t want to know.
He came back with a plate of food and a huge glass of water. Kicking the door shut behind him, he insisted I eat right away. I didn’t argue, and he sat next to me in silence.
“Guess you enjoyed it a little too much,” he said after I finished, examining my fingers. They weren’t so blue anymore, and I felt a lot better.
“Have you ever done that? I mean, do you project?” I asked, really wanting to know. If not, I would take the time to describe everything to him.
“I don’t need to,” he said. Vague, but I could deal with it.
“I don’t know why you don’t do it more often,” I went on. “I mean, it’s
amazing.
There’s so much in there, it would take days to even touch on a little bit of it all.”
He nodded, seeming like he didn’t care all that much. Maybe it was common for him, in which case he didn’t need to hear it. So I dropped it and asked him how his whole ascending thing went.
“Same old, same old,” he said, smiling slightly. “It’s nothing new, and I could always do it alone if I wanted to. Rhys just prefers to get us all together once in a while to be in our—you know, just together.”
He almost slipped up, but he caught himself, as usual. Once again, I let it slide. I didn’t feel like arguing.
“So now what? More ceremonial type stuff in store for you?” I asked, untangling my arms from the comforter.
“Nope, that was the bulk of it,” he said. I mean, Rhys still wants us all to catch up and stuff, but we can leave if you want.”
I shook my head. “No, I’m fine here. Nothing’s given me reason to really want to leave yet.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Not even Tally?”
I laughed. “Yeah, not even her.”
“All right,” Linden smiled, “then we’ll stay as long as we want. Or as long as I can stand everyone in this house.”
This was a deal good enough for me, and I wanted to seal it when my phone starting vibrating in my pocket.
“Who is it now?” I muttered, pulling it out. The screen said Hank’s name, which surprised me. I had no idea why he would be calling me. I answered.
There was mostly static from his end, and I couldn’t understand much of what he was trying to say. However, I could tell he was talking very fast.
“Hank? Hank slow down, I can’t even hear you. What?” I looked at the phone, seeing I had full service. “Hello?”
Of course his line was completely full of static, and then nothing. I flipped the phone shut and shrugged.
“Guess the service is pretty bad out there,” I said, putting the phone away.
“Want to use the house one?” Linden suggested.
“No, it probably won’t help. If his service is out, there’s no help in trying,” I replied. “But back to you—are you going to tell me what ascending is?” I couldn’t help it, I really wanted to know.
Linden just laughed and shook his head. “Okay. It’s pretty much like your projecting thing.”
“Don’t make me ask Calder,” I said.
“Oh Calder’s your alibi now? I’ll make sure to tell him to keep his mouth shut,” Linden laughed.
“
You
can’t just tell me?”
He sighed. “Really, it is like projecting. We go onto a different plane and talk, that’s all.”
He was obviously leaving the important details out, and I rolled my eyes dramatically. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know Elementals led such secret lives.”
“Oh, you have no idea.”
I grinned and pulled him close, hoping no one was expecting him to take me downstairs again tonight.
THREAT
Dreams kept me awake most of the night. Some were good, others were bad, and during the worst of them I woke abruptly, feeling someone standing outside the door. I sat up on my elbows and looked down at Linden; he was out, lying on his back with his head to one side. So the presence of someone else didn’t really pull him out of slumber.
I stood and pulled my t-shirt down, glad it was long enough that it hid my underwear from immediate view. I went to the door and opened it, briefly reveling in the way Nerio stepped back in surprise.
“A little late to be hanging around, isn’t it?” I whispered.
“Never too late to be dropping in on one of you,” he replied.
“Did you need something?”
He laughed quietly, a sound that was ominous even in the peaceful white hall. “Keep it up while you can. One of us is eventually going to talk some sense into him.”
My grip tightened on the door handle. “What is your problem with me?”
“What was your problem with Elementals?” he said.
“That’s not the same.”
He shrugged and leaned against the opposite wall. He could crush me if he wanted to, stifle my mouth before I could even make a sound.
“Really, Nerio, what do you want?”
“Nothing else but what’s fair,” he shrugged. “Witches and Elementals—not fair. Linden deserves what’s right, and there are plenty of other undines out there willing to bend to his needs.”
I just frowned, not quite sure if I could believe what he was saying.
He stood up straight, taking two easy steps before towering over me. “Things can be very easy, Riley. I want you out of here. Clear?”
I wanted to say no, to spit in his face or punch him in the stomach. Either of those options would end up badly for me. I settled for stepping back into the room and closing the door. I took a few steps back and waited, staring at the handle to see if it would turn. I could still feel him standing out there, and it was a few minutes before I finally heard his footsteps on the stairs.
I let out a quiet breath and leaned against the bed. Was it all really this petty? How badly could Nerio hate me? Apparently enough to semi-threaten me in the middle of the night. Classy.
But I was determined not to break under him. There was no way I could ever give him that satisfaction. Glancing back at Linden, who was still asleep, I wondered if he knew how much animosity was really coming from Nerio.
I had just sat on the edge of the bed when I heard the quiet vibrating from my neglected jeans on the floor. I sighed, reaching for them; I was awake enough to try to answer a phone call.
This time it was Hunter’s name on the screen. Trying to be quiet, I answered quickly.
“Hunter?” I whispered.
“Finally,” he nearly yelled. “Why haven’t you been answering?”
“I’m sorry, I haven’t had good service. Hank tried to call, but—”
“I know. You should have tried calling someone else,” he said, his voice harsh. “Alysana’s sick. Nobody knows what’s wrong with her.”
“Sick?” I didn’t think they would call me about this unless . . . “Well hasn’t Rene tried—”
“You don’t think she would have tried everything by now? We can’t take her to the ER, she knows it’s not something like that.”
I bit my lip, trying to keep calm for now. “How bad is she?”
“Bad. High fever, can’t eat anything, and her breathing just got bad tonight.”
Now my mind went in a frenzy. Was this Nerio’s doing?
“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” I choked out, already shaking Linden. “Tell her, okay? Tell her I’ll be there by tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
He hung up and I threw the phone down, concentrating on Linden. “Wake up—Linden, wake up.”
I kept shaking his shoulder until he stirred, moving sluggishly. “Wha’ happen?”
“Alysana’s sick, she’s really sick. I have to go back home, please,” I begged. This roused him a little more, and he sat up, reaching for his shirt.
“She go to the hospital?” he asked.
“They can’t take her there, it’s not . . . it’s not normal,” I replied. The words sunk in and he nodded once, out of bed in a second. I started throwing my things in my bag while he did the same, saying he’d be right back; he had to tell Rhys. I was ready to go in minutes, and I waited downstairs in the hall for him to return. He came out soon after and ushered me to the door.
“How long will it take us to get there?” I asked, trying not to trip on the stairs.
“It takes most people ten hours. I’ll go as fast as I can,” he promised. I thanked him over and over again as I got in the car, keeping my phone cradled in my hands. As we pulled out, I could see Nerio standing in the window, watching with a smug look on his face.
We drove all night and watched the sun rise over the hills as we neared the town. Now I was in a permanent state of anxiety; I couldn’t get a hold of anyone I called. I just hoped this didn’t mean something worse had happened. Linden tried to assure me things would be okay, but I just nodded, hardly listening.
When the town finally came up looking as gray as the sky, I almost breathed a sigh of relief. Linden had bolted down here; it was 7:30.
There was a veil over everything I looked at. Either it was because of being around the sea or because of my bleak attitude, but I hated it. Even the house had no warmth to it when we pulled up, and I had the door open even before Linden stopped. I didn’t even ask him to come in. I knew he would.
I walked into the house and was already looking around for her. A few people were in the living room and kitchen, and they all looked at me in surprise as I hurried up the stairs. She had to be in her room.
The bedroom door was open and I let myself in. Healing candles were all over the room, creating a warm glow. Everything smelled like sharp salves and crushed minerals. Rene and Hunter stood over the bed, and both looked at me with wide eyes when I walked in.
“Hey,” Hunter said quietly as I took another step.
“Is she okay?” I asked, going closer. Neither one of them said a word as I stood between them and my breath hitched in my throat. Alysana’s eyes opened slowly, and she looked up at me, smiling weakly.
“Ri,” she said in a crackling voice, “how’d you get here?”
I didn’t want to accept what I was seeing. Alysana’s face and neck were flushed bright red, and under that I could see her skin was ashen. She lay under a very thin blanket, her arms over the covers. Rene had been running a cool cloth over her. It didn’t seem to be doing much good, and there were dark red markings on parts of her arm. They were burns.
The shallowness of Alysana’s breathing scared me, but I tried to hide it. “I came back as soon as I got the call. What—what happened?”
I watched her struggle to swallow, and Rene just pulled me aside, handing the cloth to Hunter. I wrenched out of her gentle grasp and repeated my question.
“She doesn’t know,” she replied lowly. “No one does. She was fine a few days ago, then she woke up with the burns on her body. Everything’s gotten worse since then.”
“And you can’t do anything about it?” I asked, unbelieving.
“I’ve tried everything I know, Riley,” she said angrily. “Nothing works. The hospital is
out,
this isn’t anything a doctor can help.”
I wanted to argue this, but it was true. Burns just didn’t appear.
“I’ve been calling everyone I know for help, and so far they haven’t been able to figure anything out either,” Rene went on, wiping her forehead. She froze when another person stopped in the doorway, and I looked at Linden, slightly relieved. He glanced at Rene, nodding once as he stepped in.
“Stay with her,” she said when she regained control and looked away from Linden. “I need to keep calling.” She left the room swiftly, but I was happy that she was gone.
Linden had drifted towards the bed, and I couldn’t read the set expression on his face. Alysana smiled when she saw him too, apologizing for being sick and having us drive back.
“As if it’s your fault,” Linden scoffed. Hunter just stood there dumbfounded at Linden’s presence. He finally put the cloth in a bowl of water and excused himself. I took over his job.