“Maybe you do,” I retort. “And when I touch you, they’ll leak all over me.”
He rolls his tongue in his mouth, fighting back what looks like a smile. But it’s hard to say for sure since I’m fairly certain I’ve never seen him smile.
“I’ll tell you what. If you take my hand, I’ll try not to spread my cooties to you.” He urges his hand at me.
“You better.” I know I’m being ridiculous, but he’s been such a jerk to me. Plus, I’m feeling very stressed out right now. But, knowing I don’t have another choice, I suck it up and place my hand in his.
Nothing could prepare me for what happens next.
I gasp as sparks of electricity surge from him and crackle across my arm. Foster’s eyes illuminate as they widen, lightning-blue light piercing across the room.
“What the hell?” I hear one of the Everettson brothers say, but the howling wind makes it hard to figure out who spoke.
Water pours through the room and splatters across the floor. Light bulbs burst, snowflakes flurry from somewhere, and a fire erupts in the fireplace.
I should pull away—whatever is happening between Foster and me is going to end up destroying the house—but the power running through my veins … the warmth … the sparkling … it feels so wonderful.
“Good gods,” Foster breathes out, his chest rising and crashing as he gapes at me. “I’ve never felt anything … like … this—”
He gasps as a lightning bolt crashes through the room and zaps the floor right between us.
We both stumble back, the chaos settling as ours hands separate.
Then my eyes roll into the back of my head and everything goes dark.
Chapter 16
Darkness everywhere. Calling to me. Begging for me to own it.
I want to let it wrap around me. Want it to become a part of me.
“Can you hear me?” darkness whispers. “If you can, just give in. We need a queen …”
I’m not sure what queen it’s talking about, but I find myself reaching farther into the darkness, letting it take me away—
My eyelids snap open, and I bolt upright, panting for air as I frantically glance around, half-expecting to see nothing but darkness. Then I relax a drop when I see black and purple walls.
I’m in my bedroom at the Everettsons’ house. I’m safe. There’s no darkness.
But, how did I end up here? The last thing I can recall is being in the living room … the lightning … Foster. And what was that dream? Why did darkness call to me? And what queen was it talking about?
Climbing out of the bed, I check myself over to make sure the lightning that struck between Foster and me didn’t do any damage. My skin is smooth, not a single injury evident, although the hem of my shirt looks singed.
I really need some answers.
Sweeping my fingers through my tangled hair, I make my way out of my room and down the hallway. The atmosphere is quiet until I reach the top of the stairs. Then I hear voices floating up from the living room.
I stop at the top of the stairs as Holden says, “So, the council just wanted to call her in because they think she’s a human who knows about our world and wanted to make sure we had everything under control?”
“That’s what they told us,” Emaline replies.
Some of the tension I’ve been carrying unwinds from my muscles at the sound of her voice. Holden seemed worried when we last saw Emaline and Gabe, as if something bad might happen to them.
“We’re not sure if they were telling the truth, though. You know how corrupt everything’s gotten back in our world. It’s hard to trust anyone these days,” Gabe says then sighs. “I’m going to look into it some more. Until then, we need to keep an extra eye on Sky.”
Easton snickers. “I don’t think that’ll be a problem for Foster.”
I hear a whack. Then …