At some point, Nick had gotten up from his chair and approached the outer ring. He stands there, feet just touching the red paint, wearing the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen. I take a stumbling step forward. Triumph fizzes in my chest; I could burst with it.

Nick’s gaze locks into mine, his eyes widening and smile falling. He roars my name.

Vaughn’s blade swings down in my peripheral vision.

I hear the deep crack in my collarbone before I feel it.

When the pain comes, darkness follows. There’s shouting, then silence.

36

I WAKE UP once before William’s done healing me. I must have done something I shouldn’t—tried to sit up, tried to talk—because firm hands hold me down.

I slide back into a murky, aether-induced sleep.

When I open my eyes again, I’m in an empty, windowless room lit only by a small lamp. The digital clock on the wall reads 10:17 p.m.

My left fingers fly to my right collarbone, where there’s a steady, pulsing ache. Stiff paper crinkles when I touch it. I pull it away, expecting a bandage but instead find two yellow sticky notes.

Clean, oblique fracture to the r. clavicle. Hit you hard with swyns.

Will heal in a few days.

Wear the sling.

Min. healing time w/o aether? = 8 wks, + physical therapy.

You’re welcome.

William

P.S. Mod. intra-abdominal bleeding.

Healed, but STAY PUT.

P.P.S. Nick wanted to stay.

I told him to go on to the airport

since you’d just be sleeping.

GO BACK TO SLEEP!

“Sorry, William,” I whisper. “Got a boy to see.”

It’s only after I’m in the elevator that I realize I’m going to have to walk down the very public upstairs hallway of the second floor of the Lodge in order to get to Nick’s room. This realization takes me so off guard that I accidentally get off on the first floor and run right into Sarah.

“Bree!” A wide grin spans her face and she bounces on her heels under her skirt. “What are you still doing here? Do you need a ride home? I could drive you back to your dorm, no problem, easy peasy!”

I narrow my eyes. “Are you talking faster than normal?”

She flushes pink and bites her lip. “I think so?”

Realization hits me then. Everything about Sarah is brighter, and I swear I can actually see her vibrating. “You’re bonded to Tor now. You have Tristan’s speed.”

She tilts her head back and forth. “Technically, I have Tor’s speed. She has Tristan’s speed. But yes! Wait.” She frowns, and the cogs in her mind turn faster than ever. Her eyes grow wide. “You’re waiting for Nick, aren’t you?”

Voices reach us from the dining room and the living room. “What if I am?”