“What did you do?” I asked, trying to make sense of what had happened.
“I gave back some of the energy I stole. Unfortunately, it is only a temporary reprieve, Young Lily.”
“Temporary?”
“Yes. The pain will return, but I will share the burden of it for as long as I am able. You must believe that it was never my desire for you to share my fate.”
“Look, I’m not really following you, fate-wise. I’m just going to assume that you did some kind of hypnotherapy on me, and it worked. So thank you. I feel much better.”
After a brief moment of hesitation, I sank onto the cushion next to him. His emotions tasted bitter. Assuming he was telling the truth and we were connected, then what I was feeling now could, in theory, be coming from him. Pain. Weakness. And something else…something beneath the surface. It finally came to me: loneliness. As quickly as I made sense of it, the emotion was smothered.
“Do not delve too deeply, Young Lily.” Amon leaned his head back against the cushion and added softly, “You may not like what you find.”
He closed his eyes, long lashes casting shadows across his cheekbones. Tentatively, I pressed the back of my hand against his forehead. His skin, which had been full of heat a mere moment before, had turned as cold as ice. “You’re freezing,” I declared.
I rushed into my room and scooped up my down comforter, stopping to close and lock my bedroom door just in case a parental figure decided to check on me, and headed back to the veranda. After tucking the comforter around Amon, I asked, “Were you serious when you said the sun makes you stronger?”
“Yes, Lily,” he whispered.
“All right, then. Let’s get you back into the sun.” I didn’t understand what was happening between us, but his weakness had created an even stronger tangible pull. It was gentle but persistent. It came at me in little waves, slowly sapping my strength.
“Your thoughts are correct,” Amon said as I shuffled him to a bench bathed in sunlight. “But I will attempt to use as little of your energy as possible.”
“Can you read my thoughts?”
“I understand you in the way you understand me,” he explained cryptically. After he was settled, he mumbled, “Thank you, Lily.”
The sun really did revive him. The difference was noticeable and undeniable. His draw on me lessened until I could barely feel it. After a few moments of observing him, I said, “Okay, here’s what I’m thinking. You probably have a condition. Like one of those rare sun allergies, except you’re the opposite. You’ve got a problem with shade.” But if that was really the case, then how had Amon given his strange sun condition to me? “Amon? You mentioned sharing my energy.”
“Yes. That is right,” he replied.
“So yesterday when you were injured, you borrowed my energy to heal yourself. Is that correct?”
“Partly. You are my tie to this world. Like an anchor on a boat. I can draw all my power only when I am fully formed. Until I am in my proper frame, I must remain linked to you.”
This was getting weirder by the second. “Okay, let me see if I understand. Your body works like a solar panel, with the sun functioning as your own personal miracle cure, you’re in desperate need of an organ transplant, and for the time being you need me to be your Energizer Bunny.”
I didn’t realize I’d been gesturing until Amon took my hands in his. “Lily, your words are confusing to me. Though I do get power from the sun, it is not enough to do the things I must do in the time allotted. Without the jars that hold the remainder of my essence, I will soon die.”
“You’re dying?”
He nodded. “It is not the right time. I need to remain in this world until I have accomplished my purpose.”
Oh.