“Tove!” I rushed over to him and I reached out, just to comfort him, but when I did, he slapped me hard in the face.

“Don’t you dare!” Tove turned on me and threw me back on the bed. I was too startled to do anything. “I can’t trust you! I can’t trust any of you!”

“Tove, please calm down,” I begged him. “This isn’t you.

You’re just tired.”

“Don’t tel me who I am! You don’t know who I am!”

“Tove.” I slid to the edge of the bed, so that I was sitting, and he stood in front of me, glowering down at me. “Tove, please listen to me.”

“I can’t.” He bit his lip. “I can’t hear you!”

“You can hear me,” I said. “I’m right here.”

“You’re lying!” Tove grabbed me by my shoulders and started shaking me.

“Hey!” Loki shouted, and Tove let go of me.

I’d left the bedroom door open when I came in, and Loki had been on his way back to his room from his own shower. He was stil shirtless, and his light hair was dripping water onto his shoulders.

“Go away!” Tove yeled at him. “I can’t have you here!”

“What the hel are you doing?” Loki asked.

“Loki, it’s not him,” I said. “He’s used his abilities too much, and it’s done something to him. He needs to sleep.”

“Stop teling me what I need to do!” Tove growled. He raised his hand like he meant to slap me again, and I flinched.

“Tove!” Loki shouted and ran over to him.

“Loki!” I yeled, afraid that he would hit him, but he didn’t.

Loki grabbed Tove by the shoulders, making him look at him.

Tove tried to squirm away, but within seconds, he was unconscious.

His body slacked, and Loki caught him. I moved out of the way so Loki could lay him back down on the bed.

“Sorry,” I said, unsure of what else to say.

“Don’t be sorry. He was the one hitting you.”

“No, he wasn’t.” I shook my head. “I mean, he was. But that’s not Tove. That’s not who he is. He would never hurt anybody. He just…”

I trailed off. I wanted to cry. My face stung from where Tove had slapped me. But that’s not even why I wanted to cry. He was sick, and he was only going to get sicker. Tomorrow he’d be better, but eventualy his powers would eat away at his brain. Eventualy, there wouldn’t be any Tove left.

“Hey.” Loki touched my arm. “Come on. You can’t stay here with him tonight.”

16. One Night

I’d gotten Aurora and sent her in to stay with Tove for the night. I felt guilty for leaving him, but she would be better equipped to handle him if he got out of control again.