shadow, but enough to be considered slightly dirty. I hadn’t realized what I was doing until he lowered his head and my face fell with it. I had been tracing his face with my eyes, memorizing the detail, relishing the fine specifics.
His eyes were sad as he removed his arm from around my shoulder, which made me sad. I hated that I felt anything at all. It struck me how such a small gesture could affect my mood, my breathing, and my thoughts. Had it always been this way?
Averting my gaze, Gavin ran his fingers through his hair before taking my hand. He let a long breath go and steadied himself as if he had really bad news.
“Grace, I’m sorry you had to witness that encounter between Remi and me. I had no idea how protective he would be of that human girl.” He paused before continuing and let out a huff. “Well, I guess that’s not entirely true,” he offered in his defense, suddenly looking up at me.
Encounter? Remi had threatened to kill him. Held a knife to his throat. Gavin had certainly looked as if he would kill Remi if given the chance, and Remi seemed convinced Gavin was at least partially responsible for what happened to Jenny.
“What do you mean?” I may have gulped, loudly.
“I hope you know I would never have harmed her or allowed anyone else to.” He squeezed my hand lightly. “I would never intentionally do anything to hurt you.” His speech slowed a bit. “Unfortunately, some of us are not as civilized as this. Some of us”—he paused, choosing his words carefully—“some of us let the curse determine who we are. The rest of us live our lives as best we can, despite it.”
I pulled my hand from his. “What happened?” I wondered aloud, not really meaning to blurt out the question. I didn’t want him to think I didn’t believe him, but he was taking his sweet time getting to the point.
“Seems your friend Sean was supposed to take Jennifer home, but, like an animal that cannot control his urges, left with another girl and forgot all about his promise. Remi was at the hospital when Jennifer called to say she was alone and needed a ride, so he missed the call. It was perfect, really.”
I was fine until he added the part about how perfect it was. He seemed almost proud of how it all went down. It was hard to concentrate when I was this close to him, and yet I could feel my anger growing.
“I tried to protect her, but I wasn’t—I can’t choose sides, Grace.” Taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly, he went on. “I’m really sorry your friend got caught up in all of this.” He paused for what seemed like an hour, but the clock on the wall ticked maybe four seconds.
He pulled me up so I could see his face, propping the pillows so I could lie on my side as I listened. His chest was better.
“Thank you.”
“If you and Remi had not shown up, Jenny probably would have been killed, though likely by accident.”
I’d read the horrific tale in Praefatio. Tyler had killed his wife by accident, out of love. I shuddered, and Gavin pulled the covers up over me before adding, “In our world, Grace, to kill her is to love her. I would never expect you to understand.” I listened in silence as he continued, thinking only of Jenny getting caught up in all of this.
Something wasn’t adding up. Jenny had been left sleeping while Remi and I ran that night. If they had wanted to attack, it would have been easy for them to snatch her that night.
“Why Jenny? There must have been thousands of human girls at the concert.” It sounded like more of an accusation than a question.
Stroking my hair, then my cheek, he replied in a low, even voice. “They knew Remi would come for her, that he treasures her above all humans and would do whatever it took to save her.”
He barely moved. The power of his words and their implications shook me to the core. I had read enough of Praefatio to understand exactly what he said about Remi’s treasure of Jenny above all other humans. I pushed it to the back of my mind, where I’d hoped it would stay. There’s no way Remi would be cursed.
“OK, so, where do you stand in all of this?” I shot back, realizing how accusatory my tone