Probably for the rest of my life.
I thought of my driver’s license then. At least now that I was out of the stupid running, I’d have plenty of time to get it.
Matt slowed. I waited.
Just go, Little Wolf.
I shook my head. Stop growling and move your furry ass. I’m out; I changed.
But they don’t know that.
I took the blood oath same as you. Frank knows.
Matt gave me a lingering look, then finally set forth toward Eric. We reached him at the same time. I was finishing this race for myself. I’d cheated, but at least I hadn’t quit.
A shiver of pride pulsated through me as I collapsed at the man’s feet. Sunlight and loud voices danced around me like dandelion florets. I made a feeble attempt at getting back up, but I…just…couldn’t.
A paltry thought inserted itself inside my mind. If I changed while unconscious, everyone would see my naked ass. I almost laughed.
Almost, because I was still a wolf, and wolves didn’t laugh.
But then, my muscles slid and slotted back. Unable to fight off the change, I let it sweep through me.
What a pitiful sight I must’ve been. Thankfully, darkness enveloped me before I could hear anyone laugh.
Iwoke up to Evelyn glowering at me. If I’d thought her eyes were black before, they were a whole new shade of black now-sewer-hole-at-night-black.
“Thank God!” She lobbed the book she was reading on the table next to the armchair and stalked over to me on slippered feet. “Ness Clark, I am so mad at you! If you were my daughter, I would ground you until your thirtieth birthday! Rock-climbing alone! Sola!” Even through her layers of foundation, her cheeks were the same dark pink as the sky behind her. “When that chicocarried you into the inn-”
“What boy?”
She blinked a great many times, seemingly startled I’d interrupted her rant for something as silly as the identity of the person who’d handled my naked body.
“Liam Kolane.”
“Liam?” My neck felt hot; my jaw too. Fucking crap. I groaned from embarrassment.
“Sí, and you were unconscious and covered in blood. Mi corazónstopped beating. My heart stopped!” Her Spanish always bled through her English when she was agitated. “I thought…I thought your spine was rota!” Her brash voice was trembling. Her hands, too. All of her was quivering.
Even though I was still dying a little from the fact that Liam had carried me back, I reached out and enclosed her cold fingers in mine. The contact wasn’t enough for her, and she sandwiched her other hand over mine.
Tears cascaded down her cheeks, dragging tiny clumps of mascara off her wet lashes. And then a sob racked her body. I sat up, and the momentum had her stumble and plop down on the bed next to me. The momentum also had me gritting my teeth. I don’t know how long I’d been out, but apparently not long enough. My flesh felt like someone had clobbered it with a meat mallet before rubbing it against a cheese grater.
“I’m sorry, Evelyn. Sorry I put you through this.” I let go of her hands so I could hug her. My arms felt like they were attached to fifty-pound dumbbells, but I fought through the pain to pull her in close.
She crushed me against her, and I yelped from all the bruises her grip awakened. She didn’t loosen her arms-probably hadn’t heard me yelping over her sobbing. “Never again. Never again. You promise? Two days of being by your side. Of watching you-”
I pressed her away. “It’s been two days?”
“Sí, two days!”
“I’ve been sleeping for two days?”
“Yes!”
Whoa
“Your bruises, they’ve been going away…quickly…but-”
Abruptly, I stood. My legs felt wooden, but at least they held me up as I shuffled toward my closet. I pulled open the door to get a full view of myself in the built-in mirror. I lifted the hem of my tank and pivoted. The backs of my thighs and spine were tinged a yellowish-green. Could’ve been worse. Could’ve been black. The worst part of me was actually my hair, which was crusty and tangled and matted in God only knew what. My nails were in pretty dire shape, too-ragged like pinecones.
Evelyn appeared in the mirror behind me, her face ghostly-pale compared to my tanned one. At least rock-climbing and slumbering for forty-eight hours had given me a healthy complexion. Mom was always on my case about finding silver linings. She used to say that was how she’d made it through life. Here’s to you, Mom
I turned away from the mirror and closed the door.
“I soaped your body, but I did not dare wash your hair. You had a big gash here.” Evelyn pressed lightly on a spot on the back of my head that felt incredibly tender. I half expected her fingers to come away wet with blood. They didn’t.
“Even though it is still hard for me-what you are”-she gave a small shrug-“I think that if you were not…I think you would not have lived.” She wiped her red-rimmed eyes.
I gathered both her hands in mine. “I’m not going anywhere.”
No more death expeditions on my agenda in the near or far future. But there would be an expedition. I was going to have to leave town now. Jeb would have to release me back into the world-minor and all. I didn’t broach the subject with Evelyn. She’d had her fair share of stress for the day.
Instead, I said, “I love you.”
Her crying started again, and even though it felt like I was being quartered, I hugged her.
AFTER SHE LEFT, which took much prodding on my part-Evelyn needed rest-I took a blisteringly hot bath. As I steeped, I thought. Which made me anxious because most of my thoughts revolved around how many people had seen me naked after the run.
I slid beneath the bathwater, wishing soap could cleanse my brain of its petty anxiety. After all, I’d almost died. Died! And here I was worried about nudity. My priorities were massively skewed.
After washing my hair, a task that felt tougher than racing down a hill chased by boulders, I stepped out of the bath, towel-dried my body, and patted lotion over every inch of skin, as though moisturizing my sore muscles could somehow soften them. It didn’t, but at least I smelled good-like toasted coconut.
I was about to pull on PJs when there was a knock on my door. In my bathrobe, I pattered toward the door. I imagined it was Everest. Evelyn must’ve told him I was conscious again.
Note to self: stop assuming things.
It was not my cousin.
“Amanda?” I yelped.
“You’re alive.” She tucked a long curl behind her ear and shot me a cheery smile.
Why was she smiling at me? Was she playing a trick on me? I checked the hallway for a raised phone but found only a couple leaving their bedroom hand in hand.
“Why are you here?” I finally asked.
“One, to check if you were doing better. When I stopped by yesterday, your grandma said you were still recovering. And two, to thank you.”