Page 24 of Bound By Roses

He looks over his shoulder as I move deeper into the room, and he visibly relaxes. “Oh, you’re not Merrick.”

“I’m not, and something tells me that’s a good thing.”

“As long as you’re not here to yell at me for something, then you’re already better company.”

“Do I want to know?”

“No. I wouldn’t tell you, anyway. I can’t talk about it.”

Right. The blood thing. Unless Rhett wants to end up like Jade, he can’t disobey an order. Whatever’s going on, Merrick has sworn him to silence. “I came to ask you something, but it has nothing to do with Merrick. I know Jade lied to me about the veil wraiths.”

There’s a shift in the air and Rhett’s discomfort is palpable. “He didn’t lie. He just…”

“He told me I had a year to live. It’s less than that.” I’m not asking. I already know I’m right. I can feel it in my bones, and in the weight of the phantom sword swinging above my head on a rope that gets more and more frayed with every day that passes.

“Most likely.” There’s defeat in his voice.

“I would have died on that beach had Jade not intervened.” I have to steady myself because this is what I came here for, and it might just be one of the hardest questions I’ve ever had to ask. “But that doesn’t mean he saved me. Does it?”

Rhett is quiet for a long moment, his back still turned to me. There’s a rigidness to it that wasn’t there before and if I wasn’t already certain that I wouldn’t like this answer, I am now. “Jade and I grew up hearing the same stories, but none of them wereabout what happens if someone intervenes. Someone here might know more. Maybe you should ask around.”

“That might be difficult.”

He turns his head in my direction, glancing my way over his shoulder. “Why?” His eyes widen. “You haven’t told Abby.”

“No—and neither will you.”

He shakes his head vehemently. “She saved my life. You can’t just drop this on me and then expect me to forget about it. I can’t lie to her.”

“I’m not asking you to. I’m just asking you not to mention it. If she comes to you with questions, do whatever you want.”

“She’s not going to ask me if she doesn’t know what’s going on.”

“Exactly.”

He shakes his head again, this time spinning fully to face me. As he moves, so does the body he’s helping to keep afloat. “You shouldn’t keep this from her.”

I want to tell him why I have to. I don’t want to keep secrets from her, but she can’t handle the thought of losing me again. Not right now when the pain of last night is so fresh. She’s terrified and I’m not about to add to that burden, at least not until I understand exactly what’s happening to me and find out how to stop it.

I open my mouth to tell him, but no sound comes out. My throat is suddenly dry, and I’m unable to shift my gaze from Jade. This is the first time I’ve seen him clearly since entering this room, and Petra was right.

He’s… Different.

“What is happening to him?” The question floats on a breath laced in fear. He didn’t look like this last night and although I’m no expert on what someone with severe burns across their entire body should look like, I’m willing to bet just about anything that it isn’t this.

“We don’t know. Neither do the healers. They think this is just how he’s healing.”

“You call thathealing?” I mean to take a closer look, but my legs are frozen in place. If Jade recovers from this, he’s never going to be the same.

“You need to tell Abby.”

I don’t know if he means about Jade or the wraiths or both, but the same question applies: How the fuck am I going to explain this to her?

CHAPTER NINE

ABBY

The darkness is so thick I can taste it. It fills my throat as much as it does my vision, the putrid taste of death dancing on my tongue. No matter where I turn, there’s not even the tiniest sliver of light piercing the endless shadow doing its damnedest to smother me.

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