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“I don’t know. The way they thought was different. I’m not sure how to explain it.” He sighs. “Most people think in words or images. If they think about a red apple, and they see some sort of apple. It will vary in color, size, and stuff like that. Autumn and Everly were different.”
“How did they think?” I ask, coaxing him on.
He turns toward me. “Like you.”
Every eye in the room turns in my direction. “How do I think, Alex?”
He shrugs. “Think about an apple.” I do as he suggests, picturing the bright red apple in my mind. “Now, do something with the apple.”
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
“Take a bite from the apple, rotate it.” He shrugs. “Do something specific.”
I close my eyes, envisioning the juicy red fruit. Lifting my hand to the apple, I pull it toward my mouth, feeling the smoothness of the skin, and take a bite. The sensation of fruity sweetness fills my palate. I haven’t had an apple in over three hundred years, but the memory of the flavors satisfies my taste buds.
My eyes open to everyone staring at me in anticipation. “What happened?” Thorne asks.
“I tasted the apple.” The sweetness is still in my throat. I swallow self-consciously, not sure what to think. “Is that not normal?”
“No,” Alex answers.
“What does that mean?” Topher asks the question I want to know the answer to.
“I think it means you’re like me.”
I scoff. “Alex, I mean no offense, but there has to be more than that to determine if someone is special.”
He shrugs. “I’m sure there is, but that’s the way I do it. Elsie, you have a gift. I can tell.”
I look into each set of eyes staring at me. “I don’t have a gift. That’s ridiculous.”
“You’re stronger than you should be, Elsie.” Thorne’s words remind me of Amelia’s on the beach.
“You all don’t believe that, do you?” No one responds.
……
We make plans to meet everyone at the lycan bar in four hours. Alex, Thorne, and I need to clean up, and Fran graciously offers her home for us to do just that.
Since arriving, Alex has had three bottles of blood, while Thorne and I have had two. It’s not the worst thing I’ve had to drink, but it’s certainly not the best. The room Fran directed us to is ornately decorated and screams vampire vibes. After making sure Alex was situated and has everything he needed, Thorne and I do the same.
Thorne’s energy has been off since arriving at the house. After taking a shower and finding clothesthat fit, he’s been staring into the empty fireplace for long enough that I’m concerned.
I move behind him, wrapping my arms around his waist. “What’s going on?”
He squeezes my hand, pulling it to his lips. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Something’s bothering you.” I move in front of him, pulling his attention toward me. “Talk to me, my love.”
“I’m sorry,” he says, tears filling his eyes.
“Why are you sorry?”
He pulls away, moving toward a window on the opposite side of the room. “I somehow feel like this is all my fault.”
I stare at the man who pursued me for three hundred years. “How the hell is this your fault?”
“I should’ve never let him take you,” he repeats his words from weeks ago.
