I moved closer, looking over her shoulder at what she'd drawn. Four distinct locations sketched from above, like crude maps, each bearing a symbol that seemed to shift and writhe on the page when I tried to focus on it.
"The binding points?" I asked.
She nodded, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
I circled the couch, sitting beside her close enough to feel her warmth but not touching.
"Let me see," I said, reaching for the drawing closest to me.
"I already know where this one is," she said, pointing to the first sketch. "St. Louis Cemetery, where we fought Marcus before. And this one,"—she tapped another drawing showing water and a distinctive curve—"has to be down by the river in the Quarter."
I nodded. "And the others?"
"I think this is City Park. See the shape of the water? And this last one..." She frowned at the fourth drawing. "Some kind of warehouse or industrial building. Abandoned. Maybe the one I was drawn to that first night when you followed me."
"You got all this from the threads?"
She nodded, still not meeting my eyes. "It's getting clearer. The more I practice, the more I understand what I'm seeing."
"That's good, right? The faster you learn to control it, the safer you'll be."
"Maybe." She gathered her sketches, organizing them with quick, nervous movements.
She was afraid. I could feel her fear skating over my skin. Smell the way it changed her scent. I touched her arm lightly to stop her nervous shuffling of papers. "Talin. Look at me."
She hesitated, then raised those green eyes to mine, and what I saw made my heart ache.
"You're still you," I said firmly. "The power was always inside you. It's just awake now."
"And you?" she asked quietly after a moment. "What's awake in you, Elias?"
I knew what she was asking.
"I wasn't asleep before I met you, little witch. I knew exactly who I was. What I wanted."
"And now?" Her voice was barely above a whisper.
I cupped her face, my thumb tracing her cheekbone. "Now I want you."
She pulled back, breaking the contact. "You don't know that. You can't."
"The hell I can't." I couldn’t keep the frustration from my tone. "I've lived for over a century, Talin. I know my own mind."
Pressing her mouth into a thin line, she looked away.
What the hell was going on? "Are we really still doing this?"
She stood, gathering her sketches. "We should get ready. Judy called while you were sleeping and she's having an emergency meeting at her place in an hour so we can make a plan."
The abrupt change of subject was like a slap. I grabbed her arm, pulling her back. "Don't do that."
"Do what?"
"Pull away from me. Hide from me." I gentled my grip, remembering how fragile humans could be. "Not after everything we've been through."
Something flickered in her eyes. Longing? Fear? I couldn't tell which. Then she stepped back, breaking the contact.
"We need to focus on finding Alex," she said. "That's what matters right now."
