Page 11 of A Fate of Ice and Lies
“Yes,” a male voice I didn’t recognize answered.
Those impossibly dark eyes seemed to soften as he took me in.
With careful movements, I lifted the bottom of my blood-soaked shirt and traced where the wound had been. As in, it was no longer there and no longer hurt. But I knew I hadn’t imagined it. The blood soaking the floor was proof of that. In an instant, the blood on my clothes and floor was gone. Just. . . disappeared.
“How?” I drew my brows together. “But how?” I repeated.
Rather than answering, he ran his hands over my arms. “You’re cold.”
I let out a disbelieving laugh. “It’s snowing.” I looked up at the ceiling. “Or it was moments ago. God.” I pressed a hand to my temple once again. “Maybe I have a brain tumor. I think that can cause vivid hallucinations.”
He wrapped a warm blanket around me. A blanket I hadn’t seen him carrying.
As I drew the blanket closer to my chest, I said, “I think I should go to the hospital to get checked out.”
“You think me a hallucination?” he asked, confusion written in his glistening eyes that had lightened in color but were still darker than a simple violet.
“I mean . . .” I lifted a hand and let it drop to my lap.
“It was snowing moments ago,” he told me. “I brought it with me when I came for you.”
Like that made any sense.
Not understanding what was happening—what was real and what was a hallucination—I pushed myself up, and he helped me into a sitting position.
When the world didn’t tilt or circle, I shifted to my knees, and with his hand on my elbow, I stood. A flash of heat rose to my neck and face while my vision blurred. How could I be standing when I’d been sure I was dying moments ago? I couldn’t see the man who’d tried to help me or even the fridge I’d been trapped beneath. A sudden urge to vomit rose, so I licked my lips and took a long inhale through my nose.
My lungs filled, this time without any pain or discomfort, which didn’t make sense.
“I need to see a doctor,” I whispered.
This man, this stranger, put one hand on my waist and the other at the base of my neck. When he peered down at me, I focused on his eyes. On the impossibility of their color that was more beautiful than any shade of violet I’d ever seen.
A woman came to my side. She was just as breathtaking and strong-looking as the man.
“My friend Donnie,” I pushed out and licked my lips. “He’ll know what to do.”
“I’m not a healer, but I can see inside you to make sure Elias healed you entirely,” the woman said. “If you’ll allow it.”
Elias.Was that this man’s name? I wanted to say it, taste his name on my lips.
Confused, I dug the rounded edges of my nails against the palms of my hands.
“Humans are different from us,” said a man who came to stand beside the woman. Not surprisingly, he was just as stunning as his companions. “How can you tell if she’s healed?”
Humans were different from them? Did that make them. . . aliens?
And why did that thought make me feel more at ease? At least if they were aliens, I might not have a brain tumor or be dying. Maybe?
It wasn’t until the third man joined them that I remembered where I was and how I’d gotten into this predicament.
A second wave of nausea and dizziness hit me so hard, I gripped my hallucination’s arm to keep me from falling. Worry lines creased his forehead as he slipped an arm around my back.
I ignored the sudden thrill of being this close to him.
“There was a man with me.” I reached where the gash on my stomach had been. Where I was sure my ribs had broken. “There was a man,” I said more adamantly. “He needed. . . he. . .” I shook my head. “Is any of this happening? Am I losing my mind?”
Kind eyes peered down at me, and I had to fight the urge to curl up closer to him. This wasn’t normal. Not just the fact I was talking and touching someone who wasn’t real but this desire for him that felt more like an anguished need.
