Page 42 of Colin

“You’re someone who doesn’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. He’s not dying. Hecan’t.” Fox’s voice broke at the last word, a vulnerability he’d beat himself up for later. He didn’t like to let his cracks show in front of strangers.

“Any of youcan. That’s what makes you so vulnerable.” Her words were confusing Dane’s muddled mind, but she must have been referring to people living on the street. And she wasn’t exactly wrong. They’d lost more than one friend over the years. “But I can help.”

“The fuck you can,” Fox scoffed.

She turned deliberately away from him, meeting Dane’s bleary gaze. “Dane, is it?” she asked, the softness in her voice contrasting with the strange gleam in her eye. “Would you like me to heal you? Make you stronger than ever? Would you like to never die?”

“Jesus, lady.” There was real anger in Fox’s voice now, and Dane could tell he was near his breaking point. “Is this some cult thing? We’re not interested.”

The stranger focused on Fox again, and Dane could swear her face…changed. And not just her expression. The whites in her eyes had disappeared, the black in her pupils taking over, and when she bared her teeth, her canines were…elongated.

They looked like fangs.

Fuck. Just how bad was Dane’s fever? He’d never hallucinated before.

“I’d like some respect from you,” the stranger told Fox firmly, and even her voice was different now. Deeper. Harsher.

Dane fully expected Fox to explode at that. To tell her to fuck off for good. But he only nodded mechanically, his tone dull when he agreed, “Yes, ma’am.”

Dane stared at him, disbelieving. A strange sense of unease was growing in his gut. “What did you just do to him?”

The stranger’s smile was awful. “Isn’t it fun? Watch. Slap yourself.”

Dane watched in horror as Fox slapped himself across the face.

“Stop,” Dane pleaded, his voice coming out stronger than it had in days. “Whatever the fuck you’re doing. Stop it.”

The stranger studied Dane’s face, nose wrinkling at whatever she found there. “I see. The protectiveness goes both ways.” She gave an exaggerated sigh and met Fox’s eyes once more. “You may stay, as long as you don’t interrupt. And when you speak, you’ll contain that aggression, hm?”

What the fuck was happening?

Dane gasped as she grabbed his hand, her grip only tightening when he tried to pull away. She was horribly strong.

“Let’s start over, shall we? Hello, Dane. I’m Amelia. I’ve been watching you, and I think you’d fit in quite well with my community.” Had Fox been right? Was this a cult thing? “I have the power to make you the same as myself,” she continued, gesturing to her changed face with one hand. “Long-lived, enterally youthful, powerful. How does that sound?”

“Sounds like a deal with the devil,” Dane whispered.

Her laugh sent chills down his spine. “You’re not wrong. But you’dlive, Dane. No one else can offer you that.”

Dane was pretty sure at this point he was either dreaming or he’d collapsed, and this was some sort of fever-induced hallucination. Even so…“What about Fox?”

She shot a disinterested look toward his brother. “Fox here can remain the vibrant, healthy human he is.”

“But he could come with us?” Dane pressed.

She pursed her lips. “That might prove difficult.”

“Then no.” Dane let his eyes close. He wasn’t interested in this hallucination if it was trying to separate him from his twin.

“Your brother isn’t dying,” the stranger argued. “He doesn’t need a deal with the devil. Why would you wish one on him?”

“I’d take it.”

Dane’s eyes popped open at his brother’s voice.

Fox spoke slowly, like it was demanding considerable effort to get the words out. “I’m not leaving him. He’s not leaving me.” There was a long pause. “Please.”

The stranger looked them both over, her lip curling in distaste. She still had fangs. “Fine,” she sighed. “The both of you, then.” She shot Fox a stern glance. “You won’t stop me, no matter how much he cries out.”

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