Fuck me. The problem was that I wanted to believe him. I wanted to believe that he’d come through for us in the end. That he wasn’t the asshole he always showed himself as. And I wanted him to come with me into the prison. Not because I trusted him, not really. I needed the extra help going up against whatever waited for me. Nicholas was unstable. Ash was not really all that bloodthirsty from what I could see . . . “How do I know, Ethan? You’ve lied to us before. You’ve lied to me before.”
He nodded. “I’ll . . . let you in my head, Wild.”
From behind us came a slow clapping. “Oh, I suggest you do that, niece. Being who he is, if you don’t vouch for his loyalty to you, I will kill him. He could even now be bringing them all down on us. So, I suggest you move quickly.”
Crap on a crippled donkey, this was not helping! Ethan didn’t fight me. “Please, Wild. Despite the stupid things I’ve done and said—and I know I’ve done them—they’re my friends too. And I stole a map from my father that should help.” He held up a sheaf of papers that looked like a much more complete version of what I’d had.
“How do I . . . get in his head?” I asked Nicholas. “You know, don’t you?”
“Easiest way is to kiss him,” Nicholas said, and something about his voice told me the saner version of my uncle had slid away again. I just didn’t even have it in me to be surprised anymore.
I let Ethan get to his feet. He had a bit of a shadow across his jaw, and there were still dark circles under his eyes. The pressed-clothes, popular boy from the most powerful family in the world had disappeared. Now, he was just like the rest of us. Scrambling to survive.
“A kiss?”
“Or you can drink his blood. That’s always been my preferred method,” Nicholas drawled. “House of Night and all that.”
I wrinkled my nose. I’d kissed Ethan before; I could do it again. I stepped up to him. He was about an inch shorter than me, maybe less. I swallowed hard. “And when I kiss him?” Because there had to be more to it than just a kiss.
“You open yourself to the connection you have. That should do the trick. Pray he is loyal, Wild. Nicholas is not exaggerating,” Ash said. When I looked over my shoulder, he was following Nicholas back to the edge of the pier, their backs to us. As if they were giving us some semblance of privacy.
“You’re . . . working with the Shadowkiller?” The shock in Ethan’s voice would have been funny under any other circumstance. As it was, this was the least humorous I’d felt in a long, long time.
“Just kiss me, you idiot. I’ll explain later, assuming I don’t see a reason to just hand you over to him,” I grumbled as I pulled him toward me. “And no tongue.” Our lips met, and his hands went to my waist. I kept my eyes open and so did he. Like we were twelve years old experiencing our first kiss.
I kind of doubted that a peck on the lips was going to do the trick if blood was the other option. We were going to have to really kiss to make this connection happen.
Damn it.
Reluctantly, I let my eyes flutter closed and leaned into the kiss, opening my mouth, not thinking about him at all. Thinking about someone with dark hair and eyes. Someone who was fighting for his life.
Once more, I’d surprised Ethan, and I could feel his hesitance for a few seconds before he put one hand to the back of my head and pulled me close.
I couldn’t even say it was nice, not when I knew he’d killed Colt. There was nothing in this kiss, not for me—even for this much, I had to pretend he was someone else. But by the feel of Ethan’s body, he was enjoying the kiss a hell of a lot more than I was. Inside my head, I found the thin golden threads of my connection to Ethan, and I tapped into them, not sure what to expect.
A bloom of heat started at the bottom of my feet and raced upward, through my legs, belly, and chest, wrapping around my neck and then out of my mouth and into Ethan. He groaned and my hands tightened on him at the same exact moment his tightened on me.
This was some serious magic.
He angled his mouth to take the kiss deeper, and I let him, a whisper of something more there sliding through me. Maybe there was magic between us after all. As I thought it, the connection between us blazed, like a conduit that had just opened up, and the magic flowed back and forth lazily, touching every part of me. Warming me from the inside out, soothing away some of the exhaustion, some of the aches and pains. I hiked a leg up over his hip, and he let out a low groan as he pulled me closer, grinding against me.
For me, it wasn’t that I desired him. Not in that way. I wanted to absorb him. And that freaked me the hell out but I couldn’t stop myself.
I wrapped my arms around him as if I could climb inside of him and understand what went on inside of his head. Closer, I needed to be closer.
That need for connection, for joining to another soul flared out around me, and I couldn’t help but reach out to my other friends.
They were not far, but they felt like they were on the other side of the world. And there was no response from them . . . either they were sleeping or unable to reach back to me.
Concerning.
And then I was pulled deep into Ethan, inside his head in a way I hadn’t thought possible. His most recent memory exploded inside my mind, like light responding to a flicked switch. I saw it as if I were an observer, rather than through Ethan’s eyes.
“You are my son! And you will serve who I tell you to serve!” Mr. Helix held his wand at the ready, as if threatening to use it on Ethan.
Half slumped against the wall, Ethan had clearly been fighting his father for some time. He had an open wound on his face, and his left eye was swelling shut. “I won’t let you tell me who I can care about anymore. You . . . how could you force that on me? If you wanted him dead, you could have done it yourself! Why did you make me kill him . . .” A sob tore out of Ethan, his body shaking. “And now you want me to turn on Wild too? Wasn’t it enough that you made me turn on my friends?”
Helix laughed. “They do not think of you as a friend, Ethan.”
He glared at his father, his face wet. “I won’t do it.”
“Colt was strong enough that he could have become a problem. Not to mention, he had Ruby in his sights. Your job is and always will be to protect Frost and her people. Ruby is one of her people. I am one of her people. And soon you will be too.” Mr. Helix stalked across the room, pulling out an object I recognized. The sunburst medallion the House of Wonder kids had all worn. “Now, the girl is special. You’re right about that. I didn’t realize . . . or I would have done something about her sooner.”
My mind flickered back to Colt’s death. The blast of magic. Ethan’s stricken face as he stood over his friend. My belly felt as though it had been filled with rocks, sinking to the floor. He’d been under a compulsion spell even then. And I thought I had it bad with my uncle being the Shadowkiller.
“You will find the young Chameleon, and you will bring her back to me,” Mr. Helix said as he approached his son.
Shit, shit! Helix knew what I was? But, of course, if he was with Frost. She’d told him. Which meant my secret was well and truly out.
Ethan shuddered. “Why? What do you want to do to her?”
“She is the key to this world. She just doesn’t know it. And I will be the one to hold her leash.”