The cool of the house increases as I climb the second flight of stairs to my room. My room is an icy box, so I grab my robe and a towel. The only solution to temperatures like this is a shower.
As the water washes over me, the power glowing through that I took from Alek intensifies with the tingling warmth of the water. I imagine him in the shower with me as the heat from the combination of water and lust flows into cold extremities. I remain under the pouring water for longer than usual, not looking forward to stepping out into the cool air.
I open the shower screen, grab my towelling robe and put it on before stepping out straight into the face of a young guy.
“Holy fuck! Who are you?” I shout.
He says nothing. His hair is black and wet, plastered to his ears and forehead, and there’s mud smearing his bluish skin. The dull eyes looking back at me express nothing. He smiles slowly as he reaches forward, the skin ragged on his bleeding fingers. I stumble backward.
“Alek!” I scream as the man pushes me against the wall.
The guy appraises me with what I can only presume is hunger as he yanks at my arms; instinctively, I’ve crossed them over my chest, knowing what he wants. His cold hands hurt my cooling skin.
“Let me have some. You have so much,” he whispers.
“No! Get away from me!”
Alek’s footsteps climbing the stairs stir a tiny amount of relief. “Rose?”
“There’s one in here! A Shade!”
The door rattles but I locked it when I came in. The sound of something heavy hitting the door follows, then Alek swearing.
The guy ignores him and grabs my hair, slamming my head against the wall. Dazed, I stumble and reach an arm out to the sink. He seizes his opportunity and twists me around, throwing me to the floor.
Alek throws himself against the door a couple more times then stops. “I can’t get in! Rose, you’re stronger than the Shade!”
The guy’s grey-green eyes stare through me as he leans forward, placing a palm on my chest. My heart thumps toward his palm, and pain assaults my chest as if he’s gouging into me. I can’t speak anymore; Alek’s voice fades into the familiar fog growing.
“Rose! It’s a Shade and you’re Between. Just…”
I don’t hear because the guy lifts my head and hits it on the floor, the ringing in my ears dulling Alek’s voice further. I choke for breath through the pain and the grey. I have to fight back, and now I know I can.
Summoning the energy I just took from Alek, the energy he’s stealing, I jerk my body and twist away from him. I grab a potted fern from the windowsill and crash it over his head; the pot breaks, scattering soil across the room. I’ve never been a violent person, but this is survival. He shrieks at me and his hand disconnects from my chest.
“You could at least have asked me nicely,” I say and grab him by the neck. His eyes widen; they’re brighter than they were thanks to my energy he’s taken already.
“How do I do it, Alek?” I call.
The Shade shakes his head at me in fear, clawing at my hands.
“From his mouth. Kiss him,” Alek calls back.
“What the hell? No!”
“A Kiss-of-life kiss. In reverse!” he yells.
I rub my lips together; the thought of putting my mouth on the Shade’s turns my stomach. Before my fogged brain catches up, and before his struggling results in getting the upper hand, I lock my mouth on his. The Shade’s mouth is as cold as his fingers, harder than skin and I breathe in the air coming from him.
However, it’s not air but something else. The energy doesn’t go into my lungs but jolts my heart, soothing the pain he caused. I grip his shoulders as he struggles fixing my gaze on a crack in the orange tiles behind so I don’t have to think about what I’m doing. Energy courses through my body, filling the spaces where he took it. The Shade’s struggling stops and his image shimmers in front of me, my grip loosening as he morphs into a paper-thin image.
He fades completely and as the brightness of daylight returns I sink back against the wall, shaking.
Chapter 15
Water drips down my face from my damp hair and I lick the drop away. It tastes metallic; this isn’t water. I touch my forehead where the Shade slammed it against the wall then stare at the blood staining my fingers. The wound doesn’t hurt when I should be in a lot of pain and there’s a faint glow to my hand.
“Rose?” Alek’s panicked voice filters into my shock.
“He’s gone.”
I should be exhausted, or at least in pain after the fight. The last time a Shade attacked me, I disappeared into the fog. This time I sent him away. How did I not know I could do this? I expected weakness after the fight and injury, but I easily push myself to my feet. I unlock the door.
“You’re bleeding. And glowing…” Alek breathes heavily, the exertion of trying to knock the door down apparent in his slackened stance.
“And you look ill. That was me, wasn’t it? I didn’t realise what I’d do…”
Alek leans against the wall. “Yeah. I wanted a Shade to get my energy back but looks like you got there first.”