He reaches for my hands, his touch soft. This… This is what I imagine feathers would feel like.
He’s close. Too close.
The air feels thick, and I suddenly can’t breathe. And since air seems to be a necessity now that I’m corporeal, that’s bad. Really, really bad. I don’t know what to say. What to do.
Fortunately, I’m saved from responding by the door to the bathroom opening and Krystian stepping back out. In his hands is a pile of clothes.
“These might fit you,” he tells me, dropping them onto the empty bed. He then seems to notice how quiet the room has become—and how unnaturally close I am to Zaid. “Am I interrupting something?”
I jerk away from the wraith like I’ve been electrocuted.
“N-no!” I stutter out, at the exact moment Zaid says, “Yes.”
Traitor.
Krystian smirks before his smile fades, all traces of humor and levity stripped away.
“I thought you could change into some pants and a shirt. Don’t get me wrong. The dress you’re wearing is hot as fuck, but it’s a little old-fashioned. And it can be a little revealing at certain angles.”
“A little revealing?” I frown and drop my gaze.
The dress is significantly shorter in the front than the back, but the train should’ve covered all of the important bits. Unless someone was staring at me from the side when I was on Krystian’s back?—
“Zaid!” I squeal, whirling on him.
His face turns beet red.
“I’m going to the bathroom!” He practically launches himself off the bed.
Krystian chuckles again. “I also grabbed you a pair of shoes. They’re going to be too big on you, but they’ll work for now. If we need to, we can stop at the store tomorrow morning.”
My chest feels compressed, my ribs too tiny to contain my heart and lungs.
“Why are you being so nice to me?” I whisper.
“Because you saved my brother,” Krystian answers simply—and maybe to him, that’s all there is to it. “We’ll protect you, Thea. Even Everett, though he’ll fight you tooth and nail before admitting it.”
Unexpected tears burn my eyes. “I… I… Thank you. I mean it. I want to make sure you know how much I appreciate you—all of you. Especially if I were to disappear again.”
God, I hope that doesn’t happen—at least not anytime soon. There’s no pain. No hallucinations. No incessant tuggings in my chest. No isolation.
A muscle in his cheek flutters. “We’ll make sure that doesn’t happen. Now…” He claps his hands together and focuses back on the clothes. “Get changed. We need to get some food in you before you wither away on us.”
CHAPTER NINE
THEA
“Ilook ridiculous,” I bemoan, studying myself in the motel’s mirror.
The pants Krystian let me borrow are four sizes too big and have to be secured around my waist with a belt. The shirt is just as large, practically dwarfing my petite frame. I’m wearing seven pairs of socks—not all of them clean—and even that isn’t enough to keep the tennis shoes on my feet.
Krystian presses his lips together to keep from laughing. “You look…nice.”
I flip him off.
We reconvene with the other two—Rafael has showered and changed into a leather jacket and blue jeans, while Everett is still dressed in the clothes he wore before—and walk down the street to a diner.
It’s surprisingly busy for this time of day, though we only have to wait a few minutes before getting a seat.
