Page 54

“Is that okay—”

“Nope, I invited myself. Deal with it,” I say, interrupting Gen, hands on my hips.

Cade stares at me for a moment before rolling his eyes.

“Fine, you can watch.”

I sit on the wooden steps of the back deck. “What am I watching, exactly?”

Cade doesn’t answer, instead he looks over to Genevieve. “Good question.”

“I’m going to place a barrier around you. You should be able to see a slight shimmer; that pendulum you wear allows you to see what the average eye cannot.”

He looks down at the pendulum and grips it gently in his hand and nods.

“Good to know,” he says flatly.

Genevieve puts her hands on his shoulders and begins mumbling. As I watch, her hands begin to glow a radiant golden light. A lining starts to cover Cade’s skin; it almost looks like blue vines crawling all over him.

Gen removes her hands and takes a few steps back, studying her work.

“That should do it. Now, run, see how far you can get before it goes away.”

Without hesitation, Cade turns and books it toward the front of the house and then the road. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him run that fast before. It’s almost funny and I can’t help but start to laugh.

“I do believe you are the first person that man has ever listened to without hesitation.” Gen laughs along with me. I shiver then and say, “I don’t think I wanna sit out here in the cold, waiting for him, so have fun with all that.”

“Suit yourself, I’m going to wait for him in the front.” She turns and begins walking in that direction.

“Good luck!” I call after her as I head back into the warm house and to the library, where I’m greeted by Jack, who I’m surprised to find there.

“Hey,” I say half-heartedly and sit down next to him.

“Hey, you.”

“Are you okay?”

“Are you worried about me?” he asks, cocking a brow and smiling.

“Yes, if you must know.” I push my hair behind my ear. “I know you and Cade haven’t been close lately, and that must bother you, right?”

“Honestly, it doesn’t bother me. I’ve been… preoccupied.”

I’m a bit taken aback by that statement. He and Cade have been like brothers since we came here. And it doesn’t really seem to be bothering Jack much. I hate that they aren’t as close as they were.

“I don’t believe that. But if this is how you cope, then by all means, lie to yourself,” I say with a shrug. “My advice? Try harder rather than being so fucking nonchalant about everything.”

“Damn, tell me how you really feel.” Jack smiles and his face softens. He leans forward, his eyes searching mine. “Try harder, huh?” He looks me over. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Good.” My voice is confident, but my body is stiff. At what point did just talking to him become so hard?

My brows pull together. This isn’t on me. He’s the one that created the distance between us. Jack hasn’t seemed like himself since Cade got back. I assumed it was because he was uncomfortable after Cade found out about our past, but now, I don’t know.

I hear Kai calling my name. I stand, but there’s a tug on my sweater. Jack’s holding on to it. I stare into his blue eyes. He wants to say something; I can see he does. But nothing comes.

“Jack…” I say under my breath.

He shakes his head, releases my sweater, and looks away.