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“What is this?” I said. “What’s in your blood, Anson? Tell me!”
Jarred erupted in a hacking cough. But he was stronger. He slept.
Anson shook his head. “I’m sorry. I can’t.”
“Tell me!”
“No,” he said. “That’s the only thing I can’t do.”
Then he pulled his arm away from Pat, turned, and quietly left the room.
Chapter Seven
I ran to my brother’s side. Jarred gasped for breath, but he sat up. He reached for me.
“Jarred? Are you okay? Tell me you’re okay!”
He mouthed something. Anson’s blood still stained his lips. His grip on my arm was strong, cutting into my flesh. It made no sense.
I looked over my shoulder. Pat had gone after Anson. She’d never catch him. Even in the Dragonsteel collar, he moved like lightning. I felt him though. His steady heart beating in time with my own.
I turned back to my brother and smoothed his hair back. Grabbing the cup of water beside the bed, I brought the straw to his lips. He drank.
“Tell me what happened,” I said. “What did you feel?”
He pushed the cup away. “Stay away,” he whispered, his voice scraping like sandpaper.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I said. His eyelids fluttered, and I could feel his strength leaching from him again. His grip loosened on my arm. I forced him back so he was lying on the pillows.
“Rest,” I said. “I promise, I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be back. I need you to save your strength, okay? I’m going to send for Dr. Olivet again.”
Jarred nodded. He was already starting to drift off. But he was better. Thank God. He was better.
I squeezed his hand, then left his side.
Pat stood in the hallway, her jaw still on the floor. “Is he a dragon?” she asked.
“No,” I said. “He’s…something else.”
“He ran so fast,” she said. “I don’t know where he…”
“I do,” I said. “Just…stay with them.”
Pat nodded. I hugged her. She felt so small in my arms, but solid. She would stay by my family’s side until the day she died. I prayed that it would be a long time from now.
A second pulse mixed with mine. Anson. X.
I flew down the stairs and headed out the back, through the kitchen door. It was in me to shift. I could run faster in my wolf. But I knew Anson hadn’t gone far.
I found him in the corner of the barn, sitting against the wall in the shadows. Pat’s horses whinnied a warning as I approached him. Anson’s eyes glinted in the dim light.
“Get away from me,” he whispered.
“What did you do to him?” I asked. “How did you…”
“He’s going to die,” he said. “They’re all going to die. And if you won’t leave, you will too. We both will.”
“Anson,” I said, taking another step toward him. I shouldn’t have been afraid. The Dragonsteel would keep him from shifting, keep him from making any move that would hurt me. And yet, my heart raced with fresh terror. Just when I thought I knew what he was, a new layer peeled back, exposing another secret. Another lie.
