Neither had I. But I’d had a potential case of the butterflies I was trying very hard not to think of right now. And then I noticed the red flush creeping its way up David’s neck and wondered if he was trying to squelch the same thing. “That was just a hug, and we were both fully clothed.”

He shot me a weird look, and the flush on his neck got redder.

“I mean our—our skin didn’t touch,” I hurried on, and now, oh God, I was blushing, too. “So maybe this thing needs skin-on-skin contact. Or hand-on-hand. Or . . .”

Frustrated, I reached out and grabbed his hands. “Please shut up and think future-y thoughts.”

“I wasn’t the one talking,” he reminded me, but before I could give any kind of comeback, I felt the low buzz of electricity start between our palms. It was nothing like that first night with him and Saylor, the power of it nearly blowing us out of our chairs. But it was there. Weak and full of static, like a TV channel that was trying to come through.

David closed his eyes and I did the same. Our hands were warm, and as David’s fingers tightened on mine, a picture began to form behind my eyelids. There was a flash of white, another of red, and I thought I could hear screams again, but they were so faint, I wasn’t sure. More red, and stairs. A bunch of greenery crumpled on the ground, and silver—

Suddenly, the picture was gone, and David wasn’t holding my hands. When I opened my eyes, I saw him standing across the room, next to his bookshelf.

“What is it?” I asked, rising to my feet.

Shaking his head, he turned back around, and his face wasn’t so much pale as it was gray. When he still wouldn’t answer, I grabbed his arm.

“Remember what you said to me about how I had to start saying ‘dead’? Well, you have to start saying things, too. Namely, important things, no matter how dumb you think they are.”

He turned to face me, and his mouth opened and closed a couple of times. “I saw you, in a white dress. You were lying on the steps, at Magnolia House, bleeding. And I . . . I saw you die.”

Chapter 32

I ONLY thought I’d taken Cotillion practice seriously before. Now that I knew what the night was really about, I was nearly fanatical in getting everything right.