The light was back in his eyes now. “And send you off alone with Joshua and Tyler? Not a chance.”
I leveled a stare at him. “Seriously? In case you didn’t notice, Joshua and Cece have a thing going now.”
“Oh, I noticed.”
“And Tyler . . .” How could I explain Tyler?
“Yes?” he prodded. “Go on.”
“Well, you know how he is. All talk. And you know what? He’s been a good friend to me these past couple of months.”
“I’m sure he has been.”
I shook my head. “Not like that. He needs us, Aidan. I’d really like you to get to know him better. He is working on your cure.”
“Indeed he is. I can’t for the life of me figure out his ulterior motive. I’m certain he has one, though.”
I decided to ignore that. “Are you ready to go back in?” I asked instead. “In case you didn’t notice, I’m freezing my butt off out here.”
He rose, offering me a hand. “God, Violet, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay.” I stood, wrapping my arms around him. “Warm me up?”
“Always,” he said, lowering his lips to mine.
“I heard Aidan went back to class yesterday,” Matthew said, leaning against his desk. “How’d that go?”
Early for our usual Saturday-morning coaching session, I slumped into the chair across from him. “It was too soon. We took a field trip to MoMA, and I think it was too much for him. I mean, he mostly seems fine. But then someone will say something that just . . . I don’t know . . . affects him weirdly. It’s almost like PTSD or something. He gets this distant look in his eyes, and then he just withdraws. And when I try to drag him back . . .” I trailed off, shaking my head. “He’s suddenly all broody and depressed. You know, like I’m going to die and it’s all his fault. That kind of stuff.”
“Well, there’s no telling what they did to him. You’ve got to expect that he’ll be somehow damaged. For a while, at least.”
I reached up to rub my temples, fighting off a headache. “Yeah, I know. It’s just that we don’t have that much time. Together,” I clarified. “You know, before they send him off to do his Dauphin thing, or whatever.”
“Well, spring break starts next week. Maybe the time away will do him some good.”
“I hope so,” I said on a sigh. Truthfully, I was worried about the trip now. Worried that seeing Whitney would somehow set him back, sending him into a spiraling depression; that Lupe would react badly to his presence; that Aidan and Matthew staying together was a really, really bad idea. There were at least a half dozen things I was worried about, and yet I was excited, too. Talk about crazy.
“You look a little pale,” Matthew said, pushing off his desk and circling around to his chair. “Headache?”
“Yeah. I took something when I got up, but it isn’t helping much.”
“We don’t have to do any training today,” he offered.
“Thanks. I’m feeling a little run-down.”
His dark eyes flooded with concern. “Yeah? Have you seen the nurse? Maybe she can give you some vitamins or something.”
I fought back a smile. “I don’t think vitamins are going to help. But thanks. For the suggestion, I mean.”
He folded his arms across his chest. “Are you up for trying something new today?”
“Depends.” I sat up straight, eyeing him curiously. “What did you have in mind?”
“Just testing out our psychic connection. Your birthday’s coming up, after all.”
“Nine more days,” I said with a nod.
“So maybe the bond is strengthening? For starters, I can feel your headache.”
“You can?”
“Yeah, I can. Right here”—he rubbed the same spot on his temples that I’d been rubbing just a few minutes ago—“but worse on the left side. Kind of a pulsing throb.”
He was right. Gooseflesh rose on my skin. “Okay, that’s weird.”
“Right? And I think I’m more in tune with your emotional state, too. Take yesterday, for example. I’m standing there teaching a class, and suddenly for no reason, I feel . . . frustration. For no reason whatsoever.”
“What time? Do you remember?”
“It was the beginning of fourth period. Maybe one-ish?” One fifteen?”
“I was at MoMA then, sitting outside with Aidan. Frustrated that he was all doom and gloom, when fifteen minutes earlier he’d been laughing and joking.”
“Well, I guess that explains it. It was fleeting, though.”
“Yeah, I got over it pretty fast.” We’d stood there in the cold kissing for a good ten minutes before we’d gone back inside and found our group. I hoped Matthew hadn’t felt that.
“So it seems pretty one-sided, doesn’t it? I’m seeing your visions, feeling your pain, and experiencing some of your emotions. But on your end . . . nothing?”
I closed my eyes, searching my instincts, looking for something—a feeling, a sensation—that wasn’t entirely mine. I came up blank. “Not that I’ve noticed. But I don’t know. I’ve been a little preoccupied lately. Maybe I’m just missing it?”
“Well, we can test it. You turn around and close your eyes, okay? Tell me if you feel anything.”
With a nod, I started to turn my chair around before stopping and turning back to face him. “Wait, what are you going to do?”
“If I told you, it would defeat the purpose of the exercise.”
“Yeah, right. Just . . . you know, don’t do anything crazy, okay?” I was feeling suddenly unsettled.
“Hey, you’ve got to trust me, remember? Besides, do I look like I’d do something crazy?”
Before I had a chance to respond, my vision began to tunnel. I gripped the chair beneath me as the room fell away, Matthew’s voice drowned out by the deafening buzz in my ears. Oh no . . .
I was outside, in the woods—a small clearing in the woods. I was disoriented, unsure if I was there at Winterhaven, down by the river, or somewhere else entirely. The sun was just beginning to set between the treetops, cutting wide orange swaths between the shadows.
“Someone call 911!” a voice shouted. “C’mon, we’re losing him!”
It was Matthew shouting, I realized. I took several steps forward and glanced down, saw my friends surrounding a prone form on the ground. Cece was leaning on Sophie’s shoulder, sobbing.
I moved around the crowd, straining my eyes in the fading light, trying desperately to make out the identity of the body lying on the ground, unmoving. Covered in blood. I could smell it, I realized, gagging now.
But whose blood? Panic rose in my breast, cutting off my airway as I struggled to see, watching as Matthew ripped a T-shirt into long strips and tried to stanch the bleeding, cursing as he did so.
Tyler was on his cell, screaming into it, but I couldn’t make out his words. And Kate . . . Kate was kneeling beside the prone body, sobbing.
“C’mon,” she cried. “Stay with us, Jack! You’ve got to stay with us. Don’t leave me, damn it. Don’t—”
And just like that, I was back in Matthew’s office. “Oh my God!” I cried. “Jack. That was Jack.”
“I know,” Matthew said, his eyes slightly wild. “I saw. We won’t let it happen, Violet. We’ll do everything we can to stop it, okay?”
I just nodded, unable to utter a single word.
This couldn’t be happening. Not now, not ever.
Not to one of us.
17 ~ Marked
Rubbing sleep from my eyes, I reached for my cell there on my bedside table. There was a text from Aidan, which meant I hadn’t imagined the buzzing noise that had awakened me just as the first silvery light of dawn streamed across my bed.