Gabriel shrugged. “He’s in too much pain. It’s worse this time or something.”
Nate raised his eyebrows. “How bad is it?”
“I guess he can’t sleep anymore. But Scarlet only lives ten miles away, so I don’t get it.”
“And you left her in the cabin with Tristan? Alone?”
“Well, yeah.” Gabriel wrinkled his brow. “What was I supposed to do? Bring her with me? Tristan would have been in pain without her. And I certainly wasn’t going to travel with both of them. Airports and big cities aren’t secure and it would have been impossible to keep Scarlet safe in crowded areas.”
Nate blinked rapidly. “Maybe. But if he can’t be away from her, that means their connection is stronger than it’s ever been. His presence could make her really sick.”
Gabriel shook his head. “But not in just two days…right?”
Nate twisted his lips. “No. Not unless they touched a lot,” he looked away, “or something.”
Gabriel closed his eyes briefly, refusing to think about Tristan touching Scarlet. A shiver ran through him. “Maybe it wasn’t the best plan, but I needed your help with the Head Ghost thing. It couldn’t wait.”
Nate nodded.
Gabriel’s gut churned.
Tristan wouldn’t touch Scarlet…would he?
Gabriel swallowed. “We’re almost home. I’m sure Scarlet’s fine.”
Even as he said it, worry filled his veins.
Gabriel started tapping his fingers again.
58
Scarlet was drawing on a paper towel when Gabriel entered the cabin with a guy she’d never seen before.
“Hey.” Gabriel smiled and walked over to where Scarlet sat at the kitchen counter. He pulled her into his arms and started kissing her all over.
Relieved he was home, Scarlet started laughing. “What’s gotten into you?”
“Nothing.” Gabriel pulled back from her slightly, looking at her eyes with interest, followed by a look of relief. “I’m just glad you’re safe. Oh, and I totally forgot to ask you something very important.”
“What?” Nervousness shot through her.
Great. More life-and-death curse stuff.
Gabriel gave her a cheesy smile. “Will you go to the winter formal dance with me?”
Flooded with relief, Scarlet laughed. “No.”
“What? Come on. I haven’t been in high school for years. It’ll be so much fun.”
“It will not be fun. It’ll be lame. And full of dancing people.” She smiled. “I don’t dance.”
“Oh, but you do dance.” He wagged his eyebrows. “I happen to know for a fact that you, Scarlet Jacobs, are a dancing machine.”
She laughed again. “Is that right?”
“It is.” The guy standing next to Gabriel nodded. “I’ve totally seen it.”
Scarlet raised her eyebrows as Gabriel moved to the side. “Scarlet, I’d like you to meet Nathaniel Fletcher.”
Nathaniel was a goofy-looking fellow, with thick hair matted on one side of his head like he’d just woken up, and a haphazard outfit thrown against his body.
He had no fashion sense whatsoever.
Scarlet immediately liked him.
Nathaniel held his hand in the air. “Good to see you, girl! High-five!”
Scarlet awkwardly high-fived him. “Do we…know each other?”
“Yep. You just don’t remember me. But no worries. I’m super awesome and you’re gonna love me.”
Scarlet laughed. “Okay.”
“Anyway. So, your answer is…yes? You’ll go with me to the dance?” Gabriel nodded emphatically.
She shook her head with a smile.
“Pleeeeease?” He started kissing her all over again.
After being stuck in the cabin with Tristan and his broodiness, Scarlet was grateful Gabriel had come back in such a cheery mood. She needed happiness.
“Okay, okay, fine.” Scarlet laughed again. “I’ll go with you. But only if you stop slobbering on me like a puppy.”
Gabriel immediately leaned back and threw his hands in the air. “Ha! Victory.”
“You are such a nerd.” Scarlet shook her head with a smile.
“I’m a nerd with a date to formal.” Gabriel said proudly.
“High school dances. Yay.” Tristan walked into the kitchen, bringing his dark mood with him, and greeted Nathaniel. “What’s up, Nate?”
“What’s up? Well, I’m supposed to be in my cave right now but, apparently, you guys had another one of your ‘emergencies’.” Nate shook his hands in the air, like an intruder in Scarlet’s house was frivolous.
“The cave’s no good for you, Nate. You’ll thank us later.” Tristan stood next to Gabriel.
Seeing the twins beside one another, Scarlet’s heart squeezed. Nothing had changed in their appearances; they were both still ridiculously attractive. But, as she looked at them side-by-side, Scarlet’s soul screamed for the green-eyed brother.
Which made her a traitor.
What is wrong with me?
Tristan’s eyes shot to hers and she instantly looked away.
“Tell us more about the Head Ghost.” Tristan looked at Nate and crossed his arms in front of his chest.
“I’m sorry…‘Head Ghost’?” Scarlet looked around questioningly.
“The black object Tristan commandeered from your intruder is called a Head Ghost,” Nate explained.
“Commandeered? Really?” Tristan lifted a brow.
Gabriel said, “It’s a device designed to draw out memories from the brain. We believe your intruder intended to capture either some, or all, of your memories. Most likely, any memories pertaining to the fountain, or the curse…maybe even about us.”
Nate pulled the black band out of his backpack.
Scarlet swallowed. “Can that really be done? Does that…thing really work?”
Nate nodded. “Oh yeah. I’ve been hearing about Head Ghosts for a few years now. Pretty high-tech stuff. Really only moved underground. See this thing?” He pulled the tiny, sharp crystal from the band. “This is actually a very tiny syringe, holding a sleep serum.”
“Creepy,” Scarlet said.
Nate nodded. “Yeah, well. It’s useful. You can’t put the Head Ghost on a sleeping person and expect them to just surrender their memories to you. You have to put them into a deep sleep first. The sleep serum is injected right behind the victim’s ear, like a shot.” He pointed to a spot just behind his left ear.
“Ouch.” Gabriel made a face.
Nate shrugged. “It doesn’t hurt—the needle point is too thin and sharp, see?” He held the crystal up so they could all look at it. “The victim immediately falls into a deep sleep and remains there for four-to-six hours—or until they’re given the antidote.”
Scarlet’s eyes bulged. “That guy was going to put me into a deep sleep for hours?”
“Probably,” Nate said. “But the antidote is right here,” he pointed to one end of the band where another crystal—a black one—was latched, “so, maybe not. Maybe he planned to pull you right back out of it. I dunno.”
Tristan rubbed the back of his neck as he exhaled.
Scarlet took a deep breath. “Okay, so what does that mean?”
“It means you’re in danger,” Tristan said.
Scarlet swallowed.
“It also means you probably have a memory—or memories—that someone wants.” Nate smiled weakly. “You don’t, by any chance, remember any juicy secrets that someone would be after, do you?”
Scarlet shook her head. “I wish. Trust me, no one wants to know what’s in my head more than I do.”