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“Well, here we are.”Herewas an old cottage in the middle of nowhere. There was no electricity, but little chance we’d be discovered either.
Dorian peeked through a window. “I think there’s a blanket on the bed. That’s something, right?”
“There should be candles. If we’re lucky, we’ll find an old stash of sweets.” I smiled. “When Eva’s gran went to live with her, we used to come out here. It was kind of like a really awesome treehouse.”
“Except on the ground.”
“Hey, nothing’s perfect.”
“Sounds like you had fun,” he said wistfully.
“You really never had fun?”
He released a soft snort through his nose. “I didn’t know fun existed until I lived with Nathan and Perdita. And now I’m leaving them behind.”
He sounded heartbroken. I could maybe help him if I stopped taking my pills and let nature take its course, but I’d have to give up control of my own body. I’d have to go all in with the one thing I’d been trying to stop my entire life.
“You’re not leaving them behind,” I said decidedly. “If they’re good people, they won’t freeze you out, no matter what.”
“I’m more worried about the punishment for running away,” he said, but at least he sounded amused and light-hearted again. “I hear something. A bicycle, I think.”
“That’s Eva,” I whispered. “But hide, just in case.”
A couple of minutes later, I heard someone call my name softly.
“I’m here,” I said, stepping out of the shadows and scaring Eva all over again.
“I have the key,” she said when she recovered. “And I brought a flask of hot water, a lighter, and as much food as I could carry. The electricity’s cut off from the main line, but the water should still be running through the well because the pump’s set up to the old generator. If you’re lucky, you might find something to light the fire with in the shed out back. Try not to leave a mess.” She hesitated. “Leave the key on the fireplace. I’ll come lock up tomorrow after you’re gone.”
That was a dismissal if ever I heard one. Dorian took the things from Eva. She handed me the key, looking ill when she brushed off my fingertips. “Goodbye, Margo.”
“Eva,” I called out as she left. She hesitated, her shoulders hunched over as though in dread. She used to be my best friend, and now she couldn’t stand to be around me. “Thank you. I’ve missed you.”
She kept going, but she waved as she cycled off. With a little shiver of my own, I unlocked the door and immediately set to work lighting any candles I found.
Dorian prepared a fire in the hearth with some leftover pieces of old wood and coal, and soon, the living room looked almost cosy. There were no chairs anymore, so I grabbed the blankets from the bedroom and arranged them in front of the fire. “Might as well be warm, and these are new enough to make me think Eva’s been coming out here herself on occasion,” I said lightly, but I was only starting to think about the fact we had to spend the night together, alone.
“Calm down,” Dorian said, sorting through the food.
I sat on a blanket and held my hands out to the fire to warm them. “I am calm.”
“I can hear your heart racing from here.” He shot me a wry look. “I’m not going to do anything to do you.”
“It’s not that.” I hesitated. “Maybe a tiny bit that. It’s just weird, being here with you. I mean, we barely know each other. Of course, everything is weird with us,” I babbled. “You’re a werewolf, allegedly, and I’m some kind of death magnet.”
He laughed as he pulled some teabags and a half-full carton of milk from the bag. “Just relax. I’ll make us some tea to warm us up, and you can text or call your parents.”
“I can’t call them, but I’ll send them a message letting them know I’m okay. It might freak them out even more to know that you’re with me though.”
“Don’t worry about me. I won’t rat you out.” He sighed. “We should eat then get some sleep. Who knows where we’ll end up tomorrow?”
He looked miserable, and I knew he was thinking about his guardians again. I was starting to wish we hadn’t left town at all, but I was still afraid of not being strong enough to face the truth about myself. If harbinger meant omen, and I stopped trying to subdue the way I’d been born, then could I really find death before it happened? Was I the warning or the one who caused death to happen?
* * *
We layin front of the fire, facing each other, but I still felt cold. Things were odd between us. We’d kissed a couple of times, fought a couple of times, only to run away together. But we weren’ttogether. Yet I was more comfortable around him than the girl I’d been best friends with for most of my life.
“Eva couldn’t bear to touch me.” I held his gaze. “You were right about people keeping their distance from me. It makes so much sense when I think about it now.”
