AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I tightened the prickly blanket over my chest.
“Charlie, I felt myself dying.” He stood, moving off the bed toward the opposite cot. “I was slipping, away. I was ripped apart, lying on the canyon floor, and then you did something to me.”
I understood why Logan didn’t want me to touch him, but it stung. He thought I was a freak, but it felt like more than that. He seemed like he couldn’t stand to be next to me. Did my light hurt him? Is that why he wanted to get as far away from me as possible?
“What did it feel like? Did I hurt you?”
“It felt like I was drifting away, then suddenly a wall went up around me, around my thoughts, and something pulled me back into myself, shielding me from everything.” He ran his hands over his forehead, tensely rubbing at his eyes.
“It’s not possible, but I know what that creature did to me.” He looked at me and bent down. “That thing attacked me. It opened my chest with its teeth. I can still feel it burning if I close my eyes. And then it all gets blurry.”
I studied his tanned skin. It glowed under the florescent lights. If possible, he appeared more vibrant than the first day I’d met him.
What did I do to you?
“Do you know who these people are?” I asked, leaning away from his gaze.
I felt Logan’s stare bearing down on my face.
“They think you’re dangerous,” he said. Logan flicked his eyes to the ground at the black hood. “Are you?”
He fears me.
I thought Logan might be the only man who could accept this strange part of me, but I guessed I was wrong. He thought I was dangerous, or worse, killing people on purpose. I didn’t really know what my light could do. It might be deadly, but it didn’t feel menacing.
He studied my eyes without blinking, waiting.
“No, I don’t think so. Are you okay?” I stared back at Logan, denying the urge to brush a hand over his beard.
Logan shrugged his shoulders, then nodded. “As far as I know. Did they hurt you?”
He reached for my arm, above the marks on my wrist.
I flinched when his fingers made contact with the skin. It was what I wanted him to do more than anything, but not if he feared me. It soured everything he did if he thought I was a killer. Why was he touching me if he thought I was dangerous?
He started making little circles with his thumb. He stared at the purple and blue blemishes blending with the scrapes.
That small movement made me want to cry. I wanted him to want me, like he did before.
My eyes followed the streaks of blood on the polished concrete to my mangled bare feet. I shook my head. I would heal from the cuts and bruises. “Not really. Met a guy named Anderson. He’s pretty awful.”
Logan kept his hand on my wrist. Rage and pity flashed in his eyes.
I didn’t want his touch to come from pity either, but I hated being alone so much.
Something is happening to me, and I can’t make it stop. I’m so tired, so cold, so freaking hungry, and the gnawing won’t ease. I need someone to hold me.
I sagged into Logan’s chest face-first.
The words were a muffled cry. “I don’t know what’s happening to me.” Tears slipped from my eyes.
I shouldn’t be here.
After a few moments, Logan craned his head down. The brush of his warm lips over my forehead made me peer up at his face.
Logan supported my body against his chest. Gently, he pulled back to look at my face.
I blinked and rubbed at my swollen eyelids. Using the rough blanket, I wiped the dampness away before turning back to him.
