Page 54 of Elanie & the Empath
“Look at me.” His tone was sharp, too loud, each word ricocheting between my ears. “Elanie, look at me.”
“No,” I cried. “You go look at yourself.” Another shiver ran through me, shaking my bones until they ached. “I thought you were different, but you’re not. You’re just like the rest of them. Just like Blake. It’s always about whatyouwant, whatyouneed. It’s never about me.”
“Fuck.” Another whisper, right behind me. Then, softly, gently, “I’m sorry, Elanie. You’re right. I didn’t mean to shout at you.”
“But you’re angry with me. I can tell.”
His breath hit my neck, a cool, soothing breeze over my skin. “I was just surprised,” he said. “I’m not angry with you.”
When I turned around, he was right there in front of me, that handsome face I’d memorized every nuance of, his beautiful blue body close enough to touch. “Do you promise?”
His eyes roved over my face, studying me, mapping me. He was so close, his lips so full and perfect. I wanted to kiss him. I’d wanted to kiss him from the first day I’d met him, when his touch had been the softest thing I’d ever felt. But when I leaned toward him, his long fingers curled around my arms, holding me back.
“Saints,Elanie,” he hissed, letting me go to place the back of his hand against my forehead. “You’re burning up.”
“It’s you,” I told him, my eyelids weighed down by the gravity of the planet as it seemed to double. “Whenever you’re this close to me, it makes me feel?—”
“Shh. It’s going to be okay. You’re going to be fine.” He tucked me under his arm and marched me toward the cave mouth. “We just need to get you outside.”
“But the voices,” I protested weakly, my joints grinding with each step.
“You’re sick. You have a fever. We need to cool you off.”
“Bionics don’t get sick,” I insisted. “We don’t get fevers.”
“Tell that to your core temp.”
Once we were outside, he made me sit in the snow. It steamed where it touched my skin, tiny clouds of mist rising around me.
“Run a systems scan.” He scooped up handfuls of snow and brushed the freezing crystals over my arms. They made a hissing sound as they melted, icy water dripping down my elbows and wrists. When he gathered my hair off my neck and cupped a snowy hand against my nape, I nearly wept.
“That feels so good.”
“Run a systems scan.” It was a plea this time as he cupped another handful of snow against my throat. “Please, sweetheart. Do it for me.”
Sweetheart. Had there ever been a more perfect word?Uttered by a more perfect being? I wanted him to say it again. Instead, he begged, “Elanie, please.”
The scan lagged, so slow I wondered if something was draining my power. Eventually it revealed twenty-two still-silenced alarms. Temperature abnormalities, pain thresholds reached and exceeded, cognitive malfunctions, synaptic failure. “Something’s wrong. My systems…”
He cupped my cheeks with his frozen hands, and I couldn’t decide whether to lean into his right palm or his left. The cool relief was transcendent.
It’s time, Elanie.The voice slithered into my mind, coiling around me like a snake.You’re sick because you’re not with us. We can make you well again. You need us, and we need you. Come to us. Come home.
I inhaled sharply, meeting Sem’s stare.
“What?” He gripped my shoulders. “What is it?”
“It’s him.”
He bit down, those beautiful jaw muscles flickering. “What did he say?”
“He said he can make me well again. That I’m sick because I’m not with them.” My chin fell to my chest, and I couldn’t lift it back up. “What’s happening to me?”
“Where?” Sem’s grip on me tightened. “Where does he want you to go?”
Closing my eyes, I felt for the voice, for the pull. Then, with a trembling finger, I pointed south.
“Stay here.” He raced back into the cave, emerging thirty seconds later with our satchel slung over his shoulder. Then he picked me up, hoisted me into his arms, and started walking.
