Page 67 of Avelina

“Do you want to come with me?”

“No, I’ll stay here. This book is all about bridges and their effect on your reservoirs. I think this could be useful. I’ll catch up with you later.”

“Okay,” I said. I finished tying my shoes, but I didn’t get up. Was it safe to leave him alone? I sat there, trying to decide whether to press the issue with Ward. He appeared engaged now, not withdrawn, as I’d seen him before.

“I’ll be fine,” he said, ignoring my stare.

I stood but still didn’t move toward the trapdoor. Ward finally looked up from the book, then rose and came over to me, taking my hand. “What is it?” he asked.

I eyed the hand-shaped burn on the left side of his face. I could have lifted my right hand up and fit it right into that handprint. I wondered why it hadn’t healed when I brought him back.

“When I drifted out of my body yesterday,” I said, “I experienced a feeling of almost giddy well-being. It was really nice, and I didn’t want to come back. Now Spirit tells me that being dead is worry-free. I’m just afraid that you might prefer that feeling over being here with me. I hope you know that when I couldn’t find you before, I was distraught. You’re my family, Ward. I need you here, and I would miss you if you . . . decided to leave again.”

Ward pulled me into a hug. My head barely came up to his rib cage, and I could smell his armpits a little, but I didn’t care. I clung to him.

“I’m not going anywhere, Lina,” he said. “At least not yet. I’ve decided that I need to search for my brother at some point, but I won’t do anything drastic.”

“Promise?” I asked, looking up into his face.

“I promise,” he said.

I relaxed a little. “Good. I still have your leash and collar, you know.”

“Not even a little funny,” he said.

“Too soon?”

He smiled at that. “You’re not as funny as you think you are, Lina. Most of the time, it’s just you laughing at your own jokes.”

“Good enough for me,” I said, grinning up at him. “I don’t need validation. I know I’m hilarious.”

He shook his head. “You know what I miss?” he asked.

“What?”

“Our bed.”

I nodded. “Yeah, me too,” I said. “Don’t tell Aaron.” I hugged him one more time, then let go and turned around to head toward the trapdoor. “I’m gonna go find him.”

“Be careful.”

“I will. The last thing I need is a ladder injury. I’d never live that down.” I stepped onto the first rung of the ladder, peering down with slight trepidation. I’m only technically an athlete. In real life, I’ve been known to trip over air. Marti once suggested that I wear a helmet to my ultramarathon.

“No, I mean be careful with Aaron,” he clarified.

I stopped, looking back up. “Why?” I asked.

“Fragments all have a downside, Lina,” he said. “Some people overcome them, and some don’t. I don’t know that much about Evocation since it’s an Unspeakable, but I have a feeling it might be one of the harder ones to transcend. I think he accidentally Connection-spiked you yesterday. It’s something even those with lesser Protection can do. It’s basically a recoil from a broken Connection link that flies back and strikes the connector. If you didn’t have Protection yourself, it might have killed you. I doubt he knew about it, and I doubt he intends to do it again, but his good intentions won’t mean anything when your heart stops and you fall over dead.”

Ward lifted his hand to the scars on his face in what I guessed was an unconscious gesture.

“I don’t think he can hurt me in that way, Ward. I’m pretty sure I’m impervious to that sort of thing. He’d probably have to cut my head off like a zombie.”

Ward didn’t smile at my light tone. “I was with him once when two men attacked the cottage. He and I went out for firewood, and when we got back, they were hiding inside. He burned one of the men alive and slit the other one’s throat with his heated dagger. It nearly cut the man’s head off. They took him by surprise, and he still slaughtered them in under ten seconds. Now, I’m not saying that he would do that to you, I’m just saying that he’s capable of extreme violence at a moment’s notice. He’s dangerous. Beautiful, but dangerous. Just . . . be aware.”

I nodded. “Okay, I’ll be careful.” I climbed down the ladder. I appreciated Ward’s warning, but I knew Aaron would be more careful with me now. If we stayed together, he would need time to work through his jealousy, but I was confident he would eventually grow more secure in his attachment. A few more nights like this last one and how could he not? It had felt like he’d connected his very soul to mine.

“Jeez, two days as a man and you’re already telling me what to do,” I said lightheartedly, knowing it would echo up the ladder to him.

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