Page 51 of Heart of Mischief

“No. A real piece of you. Something personal. Something vulnerable.” She paused. “Tell me why you became a mare.”

Elias’s expression froze. His mouth was half-open, his eyes wide with surprise. He hadn’t been prepared for that, had none of his usual witty responses on hand. His eyes glanced everywhere but at her. Slowly, his lips pressed shut.

“That’s what I thought,” she said, shaking her head. “Those who can’t give trust don’t deserve to receive it.”

His eyes flashed with anger.Realanger, deep and piercing. The kind that seemed to set his whole body on fire. Not the fake, sarcastic bullshit he usually plastered onto his face.

Could that mean…?

No. She wouldn’t go there. That “real” anger could easily be another one of his tricks. It didn’t mean he was starting to feel.

Compulsive liar, she reminded herself.Elias is a compulsive liar. Everything he does is an act. He doesn’t care about anyone or anything enough to experience true anger.

Charlie ducked her head, reaching down to open the car door.

Elias snatched her wrist out of the air before she even grazed the handle.

She froze, swallowing a gasp. Aside from the brief brush of his arm against her neck that morning, Elias hadn’t touched her since homecoming. She wasn’t prepared for the feeling of his skin on hers. For the excessive heat that came from being touched by a mare, like being grabbed by the sun.

But it was more than his supernatural heat. Elias’s touch sent a current of electricity up her arm, as if he had cranked a knob that she hadn’t known existed all the way up.

If Elias felt it too, he didn’t let it show. He just leaned in until only a handful of inches remained between them. “Look,” he said, grip tightening around her wrist. “This isn’t about me, okay? This is about you.You’rethe one we need to find whoever is controlling Rattatosk.You’rethe one who can make or break this mission.”

His face was so close that she could make out a faint freckle just over his lip.

“And I can help you. I can train you. Show you how to access your magic. It’s our only hope of stopping Rattatosk, but that won’t matter if you’re not even willing to try.”

She was barely breathing now. He was too close. Far too close. The nearness was clouding her judgment, making it difficult to think. Her eyes kept darting down to that freckle, the one over the soft curve of his lips, even when she told herself to stop. Butterflies were wreaking havoc on her insides. Surely Elias could feel her racing heart; his fingers were wrapped around her wrist at the exact spot where the nurse always took her pulse.

“It’s up to you, Charlie,” he said. “You can stick your head up your own ass like your brother, pretending the truth away and never learning how to use all that power humming within you. Or—” He drew even closer, his voice a whisper. “You can accept the legacy you were born into. You can let it make you strong.”

His face started to lower, and for one terrifying second Charlie thought he was going to kiss her.

And for one terrifying second, she wanted to let him.

Then (thankfully, or unthankfully—whatever; she had no idea how she really felt about it) he ducked his head at the last second, looking down at the car door and reaching for its handle. He tugged the door open for her and stepped aside, putting space between them at last.

He nodded, indicating that she should climb in. “The choice is yours.”

17

Abigail ran the car washthe wayshe ran everything: like a dictator certain her army was on the brink of revolt.

The fundraiser took place in the parking lot behind the football field—the same place where Charlie had run from an angry draugar and nearly died in the process. A draugar that had been summoned by the whistle Elias wore around his neck.

That afternoon, there were no draugar in sight. Instead, a line of cars stretched from one end of the parking lot to the other, surrounded by buckets of soapy water. Parents sat in the driver’s seats, leaning their heads out windows to yell greetings to each other. The line didn’t end at the parking lot; it stretched out into the street, blocking traffic in a ruckus of honking horns. Apparently, no one in Silver Shores wanted to turn down a cheap car wash.

Over on the football field, though no one could see them, a herd of silver-horned reindeer milled about, chewing on grass and generally ignoring the humans. Down around their hooves toddled the creatures made of stone that she’d first seen when hiding beneath the bleachers with Elias. She still couldn’t figure out what the stone men were called; she hadn’t found them in any book or online forum. Whatever they were, Henry seemed to have a beef with them, because he always shot them dirty looks whenever they wandered too close.

In fifteen minutes or so, the football team would emerge fromthe weight-lifting room, and all the reindeer and stone creatures would scatter. Charlie had seen it many times before.

The car wash volunteers were divided into three groups: washers, driers, and admin. The first two groups were self-explanatory, while admin encompassed checking drivers in, collecting payment, and being responsible for replenishment when bottled water and cleaning supplies ran low. As Charlie already knew, she was a cleaner, while Abigail was admin, and Lou and Mason were on drying duty.

Charlie set off across the pavement, headed for the meeting spot markedWASHERS. Henry toddled ahead, off to frolic in the grass or scan the ground for Cheez-Its—the usual Henry things.

Hours had passed since her meeting with Thrym, but Charlie was still shaking. The afternoon had drifted by in a fog. Charlie could think of nothing but Elias’s challenging words.

You can stick your head up your own ass like your brother, pretending the truth away and never learning how to use all that power humming within you.