Page 26 of Tethered to the World
She barely had time to steady herself before he threw off her touch, his back slamming against the fridge in his rush to get away from her, horror etched on his face. The plate he held slipped from his hold to shatter on the ground between them.
“Catch her before she drops.” Camden’s shout roared in her ears.
“Don’t.” She staggered, then pushed away the arms reaching for her, shaking her head to clear it. After a few seconds, her vision focused and she slowly straightened. “What the hell was that?”
Camden opened his mouth, then closed it. “You’re….you…”
“What he’s trying to say is—how the hell are you still conscious?” Xander hovered close, as if afraid she would drop at any time. “Camden’s skin carries a heavy neurotoxin. One touch is usually enough to knock out an elephant.”
“Oh, that.” Annora crouched down to pick up the scattered pieces of Camden’s plate. “My uncle used to give me drugs to keep me compliant. You might say I’ve worked up a tolerance for them.”
No one spoke when she stood with her hands full of plate shards. She pursed her lips when they stared at her like a freak. “Where do you keep your garbage?”
Mason jumped as if she’d prodded him with a hot poker, then turned and pulled open the door under the sink. She smiled at him gratefully, dumping the shards into the trash and dusting off her hands.
She turned to find that no one had moved an inch and shrugged off their reaction. “Broom?”
Logan blinked, then shook his head and turned to a tall cupboard she hadn’t noticed next to the fridge. When she reached for the broom, he pushed away her hands. “Go eat.”
Feeling like she’d done something wrong, she took a slice of bacon and just a dash of hash browns, no longer hungry. Before she could take her seat, Mason grabbed her plate, then boldly stacked food on it before giving her a little shove toward the table. It wasn’t long before the others joined her, most of them busy staring at her as they absently ate.
“Just spit it out.”
Camden opened his mouth, then closed it, as if he changed his mind. “Like Xander said, my touch is toxic. Humans usually fall into a coma after as little contact as a brush of fingers. Shifters are tougher, but it doesn’t take long for them to succumb.”
Annora glanced up from her plate, unable to imagine how lonely a life he must lead.
Like her.
“So when you touched the guys this morning…?”
“It was only long enough to blunt their anger.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “To make sure they don’t accidently fall prey to the poison, we train together. Regular exposure to my touch helps them work up a resistance.”
Something about the way he dropped his eyes made her swallow hard. “You’ll be training me, which means you’ll need to touch me.”
Xander rapped his knuckles on the table. “No, I’ll be training you to fight, but you will need to get used to the venom in his touch. It’s the only way to prevent accidents while living in the same house.”
She glanced suspiciously at Camden, half expecting them to be pulling her leg, only to find him watching for her reaction. “How?”
His throat bobbed before he answered. “We’ll start with something simple…a touch on the back of your hand. A brush of fingers against your neck. It will only last a few seconds until you build up your immunity. The instant you feel weak or disoriented, we’ll stop.” He rubbed a hand over the bottom half of his face. “We’ll try it two or three times a day until we build up your resistance.”
When everyone turned toward her, she realized they were waiting for her to object. She just shrugged. “Sounds good to me.”
But she wished it was so easy. Just the idea of him touching her, even casually, made her heart thump heavily against her ribs. She wasn’t used to anyone touching her without the intent to inflict harm.
It would be good for her to learn that not all touch was bad, but she couldn’t help but worry…what if she was bad at it?
Camden blinked, then cleared his throat, still clearly rattled as he pulled the assignment folder toward him. “The next order of business is the case. Some kids from the university and the surrounding areas have gone missing.”
Annora relaxed when he didn’t immediately demand answers about her past. Knowing the reprieve wouldn’t last, she tucked into her food, and the rest of the guys followed. “How many?”
Xander took a swallow of an energy drink of some kind, the green sludge sticking to the glass. “We don’t know for sure. Seven have been reported, but my guess is a lot more have gone unreported, because no one knew they were missing.”
She paused in taking a bite. “Could they have just left?”
“No one leaves the pack,” Mason said, as he scraped his fork across his plate to clean up the last bit of food.
He sounded confident, but she couldn’t stifle her doubts. Some people had reasons to run. “Ever?”
