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“This is the best spot on the farm,” I tell Ellister with certainty.
“It’s very pleasing to look at,” he observes, standing next to my wheelchair. “Smells nice, too. Fresh and alive.”
“I took my first steps in this meadow. Lost my first tooth out here. It’s where I got my first kiss.”
“You were kissing men out here?”
Smiling, I furrow my eyebrows at his sharp tone. “Just one. And he was a boy, then. We were young. Teenagers.”
“Before Faith lured him away.”
“Yes, before that.” I don’t want to talk about Cooper.
I don’t want serious or heavy. I want light and fun.
And I want… wonder and romance. I want to pretend Ellister’s mine, even if it’s just for a brief moment.
“Ellister,” I start slowly. “I’m going to ask you for something. Something really important.”
“Another favor?”
“You might like this one.” At least, I hope he will. I hope the attraction I’m feeling isn’t one-sided. “It could be for both of us.”
Gripping the arms of the wheelchair, I push myself up. Ellister watches me with a confused expression as I put most of my weight on my left leg, get my balance, and square my shoulders.
“Since I had my first kiss out here, I feel like it’s fitting if it’s where I have my last, too.” Forcing myself to be bold, I let my gaze linger on his lips to let my meaning really sink in.
ELLISTER
Everything is wrong. This is all wrong. I came here today looking for a sickly child. A boy.
Instead, I found Hannah.
Upon meeting her, I’d sensed the illness in her, but I refused to believe it. My target was supposed to go by the name of Bobby Wildwood—it had been prophesized, written in the terms of the bargain I made.
Ages ago, I bartered for a life, and a life I’m going to get. Just not the one I thought it would be.
Hannah doesn’t realize it, but there’s a reason her symptoms improve when she’s around me. My presence is supposed to be comforting. Enticing, even.
It’s an illusion.
Like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, I’m luring her to the other side. Killing her.
The more contact we have, the better she’ll feel… and the faster she’ll die.
I can feel the power of the bargain working, her lifeforce flowing from her to me.
And now she’s asking me for a kiss.
Might as well be the kiss of death.
“Well?” Hannah prompts, her fingers twitching at her sides, her teeth anxiously digging into her lower lip while she looks at me as if I can work a miracle. As if I can give her something special.
Underneath her bold façade, I sense her nerves.
It’s strange, being able to read her emotions so easily. Almost like I can tell what she’s thinking.
I’ve collected on several deals before, and although I’ve been able to sense my victims on a physical wavelength as they weakened, I’ve never been aware of their mental state in an empathetic sort of way.
