They each gave a short nod, moving their separate ways about the small rooms. Kyle brought the girl to his bed, gently laying her down and tossing more blankets over her body. Strings of heat lanced up his arms and legs, burning his body. Freeing his hand, Kyle slowly pulled up one of sleeves, only faintly surprised when he saw the familiar curving black Marks taking shape on his body for the second time in several weeks.
Crouched beside the bed, he ran a gentle hand over her cheek, marveling at the soft skin. Her breathing had settled into a slow rhythm, no doubt resting in a deep sleep of dreams he couldn't begin to fathom. Small, vivid memories of those exact lips, curved in a knowing smile as she teased him, replayed in his mind. It was too sharp to not be a memory, yet he had never met her, only read of her in the paper the night they discovered her bed missing, a slipper on the roof. She was the Morgan girl, he knew it.
The sigh bubbled off his lips before he could think twice, and with a roll of the shoulders he rose. He should have known better; no matter how far he ran from the wild memories and visions plaguing his life, the quicker it found him. The girl before him was proof enough to that. Placing a finger on her cheek, the rush of memories swelled to life in his head again. Another, lovely memory rose the front of his mind, a song softer than downy wings on a baby duckling. He began to hum the tune, letting his lips subconsciously form the smile he'd been so desperately holding back.
Her eyes flung open.
He stepped back in haste, hands up defensively. The girl scrambled against the blankets and jacket, eyes wide and wild. But she didn’t scream, didn’t cry or shout. Instantly, he moved to soothe.
"Easy, calm down," he whispered hurriedly. Stealing a glance to make sure no one was watching them, he pressed his hands against her shoulders, keeping her steady. "Breathe."
She gasped for air, inhaling sharper than a knife cutting through skin. For a moment, Kyle wondered if she had ever taken a breath in her life, or if she was like a princess and his touch had awoken her from an everlasting slumber.
"What's your name?" He asked her.
Her eyes ran across the room, panic etched into the very corners of her bright, electric blue eyes. Even in her shocked state, he took her for a beauty. A fallen angel in the flesh, blessed to walk among the normal and fair.
Or maybe a curse.
Her mouth moved, a stutter of words colliding on her lips. "Where am I?" Her voice, soft and high, cracked on the last note. When Kyle didn’t answer immediately, her next question came with a heightened fear. "Who are you?"
Without pressing further, he knew she wasn't playing. He made sure to keep his voice in check, soft and safe, like a lullaby. "It's going to be okay, we're going to take you home."
She appeared unconvinced, shaking her head with unmatched, terrified fury. Patches of pink stained her face, her skin hot to the touch. "No, I can't go back. He said I can't go back. They'll find me if I do."
"Who will find you?" He asked, pushing stray locks of the girl's tangled, wet blonde hair away from her face. His hand burned where their skin met. It was fever; the elements had gotten to her, after all. “Who is after you?”
Fingers touched the crook of the boy's elbow, and he jumped. The girl's hand had wrapped around his arm, her thin pianist like fingers softer than lamb's wool.
"Your skin... and your eyes..."
He looked down to where her half-lidded gaze rested, and froze. The Marks were back. He tilted his head to look back at her feverish eyes. The second they met, a small smile graced her lips, eyebrows rising high. Even in fever, she was curious.
Then the color in her eyes changed, knowledge and recognition flooding them with a strained panic.
“Kyle,” she breathed, stunning him. He hadn’t said his name, how did she know him? “He’s back. He never died, Kyle, he’s been waiting all along.”
The words freed from his lips before he could think. “Lilix, it’s okay. Who is after you?”
Pain shattered her beauty into tiny shards of dimly flickering hope. “I can’t... I can’t protect you. I have to protect you.”
As soon as the words had left her lips, she closed her eyes, body collapsing into his arms. Kyle cursed under his breath, catching her. He pulled her tightly against his chest, cradling her and pressing his lips in a kiss on her head.
“Who are you trying to protect me from, my Ice Princess?” He mumbled quietly. “Who is trying to break you?”
But no one would answer him.
ALIVIA ANDERS is the author of the Illumine Series, an on-going bestselling series featuring angels and demons. A Shard of Ice is her newest series, kicking off a saga of reawakened souls fighting to save the world from eternal destruction. She currently lives in Center Valley, Pennsylvania.