Firewalker (Worldwalker 2)

“You made love to Lillian.” Her throat stung with the words.

Rowan was quiet for a moment before answering. “After a very long courtship.” He tilted her chin up so she had to look at him. “Trust me. It’s better this way.”

Rowan brought her back to her room. One kiss was all he would give her before leaving her to stare at the ceiling, alone, and more than a little baffled.

Lily?

She didn’t answer him. There was a knot in her throat, and she was scared that it was about to dissolve into silly tears.

Lily. I know you’re awake and I know you’re upset.

Wouldn’t you be, Rowan? Wouldn’t you be upset and confused if I wouldn’t give myself to you?

Yes, I would be. So dream with me instead.

Lily wiped at a few escaped tears and sniffed. What do you mean, dream with you?

We stay in rapport as we fall asleep. We share our dreams. Would you like to do that with me?

Yes.

I’ll show you the way.

CHAPTER

5

“This is completely hea

led,” Rowan said, inspecting the bottoms of Lily’s feet. “That means you can go back to school whenever. Tomorrow, even.”

“Good,” Samantha said. A hand fluttered up absentmindedly to her hair as she looked at Rowan and grimaced. “Dr. Rosenthal is getting a bit testy with me for putting it off. And that woman called again.”

“Simms? What did she say?” Lily asked, feeling a swell of protective anger.

“Oh, you know,” Samantha replied. “I’m just glad you’re going back tomorrow.”

Lily tried to smile at her mother, but couldn’t put her heart into it. She had gotten quite comfortable over the past week. Lillian had tried to reach out to her—usually when Lily was in a deep sleep and her spirit had strayed into the Mist. But on those rare occasions Lily had managed to quench her curiosity and push Lillian out of her mind. Lillian’s attempts to contact her had become increasingly urgent, but Lily was determined not to give in to her own curiosity, and so far she’d been successful despite the mounting anger and desperation she’d sensed coming from Lillian.

Now that she had a clear conscience, the last few days had been some of the best in Lily’s life. Every day she spent time with her mom, sister, and Rowan just relaxing and watching movies or reading books. Rowan was still struggling with culture shock and trying to learn as much of Lily’s world as possible. Their worlds were so different that there was a lot to teach him.

In Rowan’s world the Woven Outbreak had decimated the population of North America and had left just thirteen walled cities huddled against the eastern seaboard. Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and South America had abandoned North America to its fate in order to avoid any Woven contamination. Trade, immigration, and even communication had been banned between the Thirteen Cities and the rest of the world for two hundred years. In Rowan’s world, North America was basically a plague zone that the other continents had decided to forget about.

Lily had still been unconscious at the time, but when Rowan learned that he could fly to Italy the next day if he wanted, or read any UK newspaper online with just a few clicks, he left the house to go look at the ocean for a few hours. When he came back, he sat down with Lily’s laptop and began his self-education in what the world might have been if only the Woven hadn’t been created. He liked this world, and Lily could see that he was adapting to it quickly. She started daydreaming about the future—about the two of them going to college and getting an apartment together, like regular folks. But even with his willstone-perfect memory, Rowan still had a long way to go before he could pass for a regular guy. He needed a crash course in pop culture.

Lily got a kick out of watching her favorite movies and TV shows with the excuse that they were “educational” for Rowan, although his response to certain movies wasn’t what she’d expected. More than once, she’d found herself defending the awesomeness of Star Wars or The Matrix when Rowan shrugged derisively at both Luke Skywalker’s and Neo’s fighting skills.

“It looks fake,” he’d said apologetically. “And there’s nothing special about being able to run up walls or do back flips over an opponent. That’s kid stuff for a mechanic who has even a halfway competent witch. And the way Skywalker handles his weapon”—he rolled his eyes—“twirling it around like a toy so it makes a cool noise. What an idiot.”

“But Luke is in space. You can’t fly through space in a spaceship,” Lily had argued, deeply offended for Luke’s sake.

“No. But I don’t need to,” he’d replied, pulling Lily close. “All I need is you and I can go anywhere.”

“But it’s not the same,” Lily insisted weakly. He nuzzled her neck and the part of her that wanted to argue with him dissolved completely. “You’re impossible,” she sighed, before melting against him.

“Anthony Bourdain is on,” Rowan had said, grabbing the remote.

“Whatever you want,” Lily sighed, relenting. He loved cooking shows and travel shows more than anything else, and if he found a show that combined the two he watched it obsessively. Lily couldn’t say no, even if those shows made her want to eat the entire refrigerator.