Page 40

* * *

We’re back in the caves behind the falls. It’s nearly daybreak but, all the same, Luther has taken Kole’s spot up on top of the falls. The extra shift has left the professor exhausted, and he’s sleeping by the fire. Only me, Nova, and Kole are awake.

She is sitting between us—the tip of our triangle—with a hand on each of our thighs. Kole hands me a mug of hot valerian-laced tea. As he does, his face shimmers. The cave dips in and out. Flashes of light scorch my eyes. Then everything is normal again. At least, for now.

Both of them watch me for a moment, not pressing me for details, just staring at me as if they’re worried I might disintegrate.

Finally, I say, “I’m not sure what to do now. I found him, but what I saw… I don’t know how it helps.”

“Talk us through it again,” Nova says, tucking her knees up in front of her and wrapping her arms around them.

For the second time, I tell them what I saw and what I felt; the hall, the figure, the pain. “He was crouched underneath some stairs. In a basement. The guy came for him.”

“His foster father,” Nova mutters. “It had to be his foster father. The one who sold him to Spine.”

“Wherever he is, he’s reliving his worst memories.” I shake my head, but the movement sends a sharp pain to my temples. I suck in a deep breath then add, “I need to go back. I need to stay longer, so I can figure out where exactly he is and how to bring him back.”

I expect Nova to be nodding. Instead, she looks at Kole with worry etched around her eyes.

Kole puts a firm hand on my shoulder. “Rest. We’ll talk about when you’ve slept.”

I’m about to object when Nova stands up, fetches a sleeping bag, and tells me to get inside it. “If we’re going to try again, you need to rest,” she says, crouching to kiss my forehead. When I’m inside the sleeping bag, she takes my mug of half-drunk tea and places it by the fire. Then she strokes my cheek and whispers, “Sleep now. We’ll figure it out, but sleep now.”

26

KOLE

Nova and I move into the cave just behind the falls. She leans on the slick rocky wall and stares out past the fast-moving water. Her free hand goes to her neck and traces the mark that Tanner and I left on her.

I’m calmer now I have tasted her. It took every ounce of willpower I possessed to stop myself from pushing Tanner out of the way so I could taste her myself, but the act of her surrendering herself to me again—forgiving me—has satiated The Hunger. At least, for now.

“He’s not okay,” I tell her. “I’ve seen him like this before.”

“After he found us both at the hotel?” she asks. “Or the first time he found Sam?”

I shake my head. “Neither.”

The sound of the water tumbling over the rocks mimics the sensation in my veins when I look at her, so I look away.

“When I first found Tanner, he was being held captive by the League. He was with them for fifteen years. They took him when he was at college, sealed him in a concrete prison, and deprived him of water so they could amplify his empathic talents.”

Nova takes a sharp breath. “He never told me that.”

“I had a vision. I was high, living in Europe at the time. I called Mack and Luther and told them we had to rescue him.”

“Why?” she asks softly. “Why did you feel like you had to do that?”

“Because I knew he was part of the prophecy, just like you know Sam is part of it.” I glance sideways at her. Shadows of dancing water move across her face. “The League taught him how to jump into other peoples’ heads. Humans and supers. They used Tanner to help them track and manipulate their victims. Worse, sometimes. My hunch is they hoped he could one day find you, but jumping only works if you already know the identity of the person.”

“I had no idea. Fifteen years? How is he so… okay?” Nova looks back in the direction of the orange glow coming from the second cave.

“He wasn’t. For a long time, he had trouble keeping his grasp on reality.” I pause, wondering how much information she needs about exactly how I managed to pull Tanner back from the brink. “I was suffering too. Recovering from the FHB. That was when Luther built the cabin. It became a kind of therapy. The four of us going out into the woods to work on it together.”

Nova steeples her fingers together and turns to face me. “You’re worried Tanner’s going to return to how he was before?”

“Wherever he’s just been, it took more power than he’s ever had access to before. Who knows what will happen if he tries it again.”

As Nova’s eyes moisten, and she presses her lips together in an attempt to keep her tears inside, I open my arms. She stares at them for a moment then, with a heavy sob, falls into them. Clinging to my upper arms, she whispers, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have blamed you.”