“Let me go to him.” Scarlet watched Nate cap off the second vial.
“No.”
Scarlet licked her lips. “I’ll go really fast, just to make sure he’s okay, and then I’ll come right back. Or...or you can come with me.” Scarlet’s eyes lit up. She could find Tristan and take away his pain.
“No,” Nate repeated. “Tristan left so that you wouldn’t die. There’s no way I’m going to send you out after him just because he’s uncomfortable. Geez. Does everybody in the house have a death wish?” He gently removed everything from Scarlet’s arm and looked at her sternly. “You’re staying here at the cabin, where I can make sure your heart doesn’t split open. Understand?”
Scarlet slanted her eyes at him, frustrated that everyone in the world was trying to keep her safe. “Whatever.”
Nate set the vials on the table.
Scarlet looked around. “What are you going to do with my blood?”
Nate twitched his lips. “I’m going to examine it for any cellular changes since your last life.”
Scarlet hesitated. Then cleared her throat. “What happened with me and Tristan?”
“I told you, I’m not sure how you touched—”
“That’s not what I mean,” Scarlet said.
Nate busied himself setting up a glass plate for the microscope. “What do you mean then?”
“I mean…when I feel Tristan, he’s always conflicted about me. Sometimes he cares, sometimes he’s afraid, sometimes he’s angry. I don’t understand why he can’t just treat me the same way Gabriel does.”
Nate breathed out a laugh. “Because he’s not Gabriel. Not even close.”
“But why—”
“Listen.” Nate stopped what he was doing and looked at her. “Tristan tried to save your life five hundred years ago and, in doing so, he became the death of you. That’s not something he’s ever been able to deal with. Watching you die, life after life….” Nate exhaled. “It does something to him. It breaks him down. He probably just doesn’t know how to be around you safely. And I respect him for that. Usually.”
Scarlet sat still, watching Nate carefully withdraw a tiny drop of her blood and set it on the glass plate.
Her voice was barely above a whisper. “Did I ever love Tristan?”
Nate said nothing for a long time. “You tell me.”
Scarlet didn’t answer, but she could feel the truth coating her insides.
She had loved Tristan. And maybe she still did.
Her heart sank in sadness and confusion and, suddenly, the aching inside her roared back to life, causing her organs to contract and burn. Scarlet doubled over.
Nate cursed as he stopped what he was doing and put his hands on Scarlet to keep her from falling out of the chair.
She could barely breathe through the pain in her body.
Tristan wasn’t just hurting.
He was dying.
49
Tristan didn’t text him back, so Gabriel left the office and met Nate and Scarlet at the foot of the stairs.
Nate was acting like a crutch for Scarlet so she could walk. Her face was contorted in pain. Without thinking, Gabriel walked over to them and swooped Scarlet into his arms, cradling her against his chest.
“Why is Scarlet in so much pain?” Gabriel demanded. “What’s happening?” He directed he question at Nate, but Scarlet answered.
“Tristan’s dying.” She groaned as a look of anguish crossed her features. Scarlet looked at Nate in anger. “You have to let me go to him.”
“He’s probably not dying,” Nate said. His voice was steady, but his eyes looked unsure. “But if your pain doesn’t let up in the next day or so, we’ll all go find Tristan together. Okay?”
Scarlet nodded, but Gabriel’s heart began to race.
Immortals couldn’t die.
…Right?
Tristan couldn’t die. He couldn’t.
Gabriel walked to the living room couch and carefully laid Scarlet down. He sat beside her, stroking her hair away from her face.
Nate walked over and crouched down beside Scarlet. “No.” He leaned his face in. “You are going to stay here. Do you understand?”
The anguish faded from her face as Scarlet gave Nate a cold look.
The front door opened and Heather entered, carrying three large, overstuffed bags.
“Okay,” Heather said. “I packed enough clothes and beauty supplies for Scarlet to last the weekend. Sorry it took so long. Scarlet’s closet is just so overwhelming and she had so many belts to choose from and then I had to stop and pick up some Millhouse coffee because there is no way I’m going to make Scarlet drink whatever black sludge you guys make here in the woods.”
Nate said, “Our coffee is fine.”
Heather smiled sweetly. “Exactly.” She looked at Scarlet in alarm. “Is she getting worse?”
Gabriel continued running his fingers across Scarlet’s face.
“Scarlet will be fine.” Nate looked at Heather. “Have you talked to Mr. Brooks yet? We need to figure out how to read our map.”
Heather set the large bags on the floor and cocked her head to the side. “We have a map?”
Everyone in the room turned to look at her.
“Yeah,” Nate said. “The fountain map.”
Heather still looked confused.
“The map we found in my ring,” Scarlet prompted. She sat up with a wince.
Heather blinked. “The pretty ring from your hair?”
Scarlet said, “Yes, Heather. The map had an apple tree on it? It leads to the fountain of youth….?”
Worry came over Heather’s face as she watched the eyes of everyone looking at her. Then realization hit. “Oh yeah. That’s right.” Heather shook her head. “I guess I forgot for a minute.”
Nate furrowed his brow. “You forgot?”
“Yeah.” Heather blinked several times. “Weird.”
Worry filled Gabriel’s gut.
Nate looked at Heather carefully. “How do you feel?” He walked toward her and looked her over carefully.
Heather let Nate examine her eyes. “I feel fine. I just—”
Nate took Heather’s head in his hands and slowly turned her face to the side. Looking behind her ear, Nate cursed.
Gabriel’s palms began to sweat. “What’s wrong?”
Nate touched a finger to a spot behind Heather’s ear.
“Ow.” Heather jumped a bit.
Nate exhaled and pursed his lips. “Someone used a Head Ghost on her. She has a mark where the sleeping serum was administered.”
Head Ghosts could only retrieve memories from individuals who were put into an induced and heavy sleep. And the sleep serum was injected behind the ear of the victim.
“Are you sure?” Gabriel asked, walking over and gently examining Heather’s ear.
Nate nodded. “That’s why Heather had trouble remembering the map. The Head Ghost must have rattled the memory in her brain.” He looked at Scarlet heavily. “Whoever did this stole the map memory from Heather’s head. Which means—”
“Someone else knows we have a map to the fountain.” Scarlet stared blankly ahead.
Fear rose inside Gabriel. “But who could have done that? Heather was only gone for a short while. She only went to Scarlet’s house—”
“Maybe there was an Ashman at my house.” Scarlet looked pale. “Or maybe…maybe it was Laura.”