“Gabriel’s right,” Nate said. “Tristan is used to pain. I’m sure, wherever he is, he’s fine. And I’m sure he’d be upset if you found him.” Nate turned to Heather. “Can you run and get Scarlet some things for the weekend? I want her to stay here so I can observe her.”
Observe her? Like she was a lab rat?
Agh.
“Sure thing, Captain.” Heather saluted Nate and headed for the front door.
“I’m going to try to text Tristan again. Maybe he finally has service wherever he is.” Gabriel disappeared down the hallway.
“You,” Nate pointed at Scarlet, “stay put. I’ll be right back.” Nate went upstairs.
After a few minutes passed, Scarlet stood from the couch and winced her way up the stairs.
She wasn’t good at staying put.
Upstairs, Nate’s bedroom door was open, so Scarlet stepped inside his room and looked around. Five computer screens were set up in a semi-circle around a large desk. Four of the computers had video games on them, all frozen on different levels and worlds. The fifth computer had three windows open, all with different maps displayed.
A long table was set up against the side wall, set with sterile instruments and vials of, what looked like, blood. Petri dishes, a microscope and another computer sat on top of the table as well.
A large bed was against the center of the back wall, adorned in Star Wars bedding and matching pillowcases and shelves and bookcases around the big room were covered with small figurines, comic books, and other pop-culture items.
“Nice toys.” Scarlet smiled as Nate turned his eyes from a cabinet he’d been searching through.
“They are collector’s items, not toys.”
Scarlet nodded. “Even the Thor hammer in the corner?”
“Yes, especially the Thor hammer.” Nate shook his head as he looked at her. “I told you to wait for me downstairs.”
She shrugged. “I didn’t listen. What are you doing?”
He exhaled as he pulled some tubing out from the cabinet. “I’m getting everything I need to take a sample of your blood.”
Scarlet looked at the sterile hospital pack he brought over to her. “That looks official.”
“Yeah, well, when your good friend is constantly dying and coming back to life, you get yourself a few medical degrees and learn how to be a doctor.”
“You’re a doctor?” Scarlet asked, although the idea didn’t really surprise her.
“Yep.” He motioned for her to sit in a chair beside the table. “Or, at least, I’m usually a doctor. Right now, I’m on hiatus. Give me your arm.”
“Wow.” Scarlet watched as he tied off her upper arm and started cleaning the inside of her elbow. “So, you really do play with blood.”
He smiled. “I’ve been trying to find a cure, a vaccine, for Tristan’s blood. You know, just in case the fountain thing doesn’t pan out.”
Scarlet nodded as he unwrapped a new needle. “Do you always take my blood?”
“Yeah.” Nate gently slid the needle into her skin, but Scarlet felt nothing except the ache that was pulsing through her bones and muscles. The ache of Tristan.
Nate continued, “I usually do it right after you come back to life, but this time I just got so caught up in how you didn’t vanish, I forgot. But now that you’re feeling Tristan’s pain,” he looked at her in concern, “I’m worried that maybe something significant has changed, you know?”
Scarlet nodded even though she didn’t “know”. She watched her blood pump out of her vein and into the tubing Nate had attached to a vial.
“Are you hurting right now?” Nate asked.
“Yes. Everywhere.”
“And you’re sure it’s Tristan?”
Scarlet inhaled. “Yes, I think so. It’s not me. It hurts like it’s my own pain, but it also feels like an echo. Like it’s far away inside me.”
Nate nodded, watching the vial fill. “Your connection is stronger than it used to be.”
Scarlet bit her lip. “Do you have any guesses as to why?”
Nate glanced at her, but let his eyes fall back to the vial. “I think you and Tristan got a little too close in your last life.”
Scarlet’s heart started to race. “What do you mean?”
He sighed. “I don’t know, exactly. And I don’t really want to know.” Nate looked at her. “Maybe you high-fived each other. Maybe you hugged each other. Maybe more.” He looked at the tubing. “But you touched. And touching makes the immortal blood inside your heart stronger.” Nate looked at her sternly. “Which is why you shouldn’t touch at all.”
Why did people feel the need to keep reminding her of that?
And why did their warnings make Scarlet want to touch Tristan that much more?
Nate continued, “And I also think Tristan’s touch is why you’ve had trouble remembering things.”
Scarlet’s lips parted. “What?”
Nate twitched his mouth. “Witches used to search for immortal blood for spells and potions, claiming that it had the power to erase memories. I never gave much thought to it in the past because you always got your memories back. But with your amnesia as strong as it is, it’s possible Tristan’s touch captured your memories in your previous life.”
Well, that sucked.
Just how much touching had she and Tristan done in her last life? And why?
Scarlet looked down. “How do you know so much about immortal blood? And my connection to Tristan?”
“I know more about witchcraft than I probably should,” Nate capped off the first vial, replacing it with another, “and I’ve performed a lot of tests.” He pointed to a Petri dish. “I’ve done countless experiments with your and Tristan’s blood. If a drop of your blood gets close to a drop of Tristan’s blood, it expands. And over time, your blood cells burst. But if a drop of your blood touches a drop of Tristan’s blood, your blood cells burst at a much faster rate.”
Scarlet nodded. Tristan made her blood explode.
Great.
Nate said, “But if I separate Tristan’s blood from yours for a lengthy amount of time, his blood cells implode, shrinking until they are dead. So you see, there is a delicate balance to keeping you both alive.”
Scarlet’s stomach lurched. “Tristan could die just by being far away from me?”
Nate said, “Only in theory. But don’t tell Tristan that. We both know he has a death wish when it comes to saving you.”
Scarlet’s heart pounded even harder. “Is that what’s happening right now? Is that why I feel him in so much pain? Because I’m…I’m killing him?”
Nate quickly shook his head. “I doubt you’re killing him.”
“But what if I am?” Scarlet looked at Nate intensely. “He’s hurting, Nate.” Scarlet waited until Nate looked back up at her before continuing. “Tristan is in serious pain.”
Nate pressed his lips together. “Tristan will be fine. Pain is normal for him.”
Scarlet shook her head. “No way. This can’t be normal.”
Nate sighed again. “Don’t worry about Tristan. He’s probably just really far away and his body is trying to adjust to the distance between you guys.”
“No.” Scarlet watched her blood flow out of her arm. “I can feel him. He’s close to the cabin. I could probably walk to him if I wanted.”
Nate furrowed his brow. “That doesn’t make sense.” He looked down at the vial. “If he’s so close, he shouldn’t be hurting.”