pasture or building in sight, except as a faint afterimage.
“Whoa!” I said with a gasp, my heart leaping in my chest as my throat tightened in near-panic. I tried to back away, but Ethan was still holding me.
“What do you see?” he asked.
I shook my head, still staring out into the mist, trying not to believe what was right before my eyes. I blinked, and the forest was still there. Oh, crap. I shifted my focus to the afterimage of English countryside, and as I stared at it, it solidified once more, the forest fading into the background, but not disappearing.
“What the hell…?” I mumbled. I was getting dizzier by the moment, and I felt sure that I was going to fall down, into the mist that shifted continually before my eyes.
“Let her go,” Kimber said, and I felt her hand on my arm. “We already know what she sees.”
“I want to hear her say it!” Ethan insisted. He was still holding my chin up, his face right next to mine. I’d have freaked out about him being so close if I weren’t feeling so awful.
“Look at her face, you wanker!” Kimber said, her voice sharp as needles. “She’s about to faint.”
Surprisingly, fainting sounded like a really good idea. If I fainted, I’d be unconscious, so I wouldn’t have to see the impossible anymore, nor would I have to feel so dizzy and sick. Then maybe when I woke up, all of this would go away and I’d find it was all just a bad dream. The mist started to turn dark around the edges.
chapter nine
For the record: fainting sucks. I’d always thought of fainting as just losing consciousness for a few seconds. I didn’t realize it involved nausea, dizziness, shivers, and clammy skin.
I came to, sitting on the grassy shoulder, my back resting against something hard and warm as Kimber repeatedly smacked my cheeks. I blinked, but she didn’t stop immediately. My cheeks were stinging and my eyes watering from the blows, and I’ve already described how wonderful I didn’t feel.
“Stop that!” I snapped. I ducked my head and tried to block her arm with mine, but her reflexes were faster than mine and she got in one more “gentle” pat.
“Are you back in the land of the living?” she asked.
I glared at her. The wall at my back shook, and with a start, I realized I was leaning against Ethan, and he was laughing. With a snarl, I pulled away from him and sprang to my feet.
Way too fast. Can you say “head rush”? I swayed and flailed my arms for balance. Wouldn’t you know it, Ethan was there again, his hands on my shoulders, steadying me.
“Take it easy,” he said. “Unless you enjoyed fainting so much you’d like to do it again.”
“No thanks,” I mumbled, and I let him support my weight while the world stopped spinning.
The little splats of rain had turned more aggressive and almost qualified as a steady drizzle. And the seat of my pants was soaked through. God, please let that be because the ground was wet. I’d had enough humiliation for one day, thank you very much.
“Let’s get you inside and out of the rain,” Ethan said. “And I bet you could use a hot cup of tea.”
I tried not to make a face at the thought. “I could really go for a cup of coffee right now,” I said, but neither Ethan nor Kimber seemed that interested in what I wanted.
Once again, Ethan put his arm around my shoulders, only this time Kimber didn’t bother to argue. I was trying hard not to think about what I’d seen and what it might mean, and even harder not to think about the fact that I’d actually fainted, so I wasn’t as focused on the warmth of Ethan’s body next to mine. When I snapped out of my temporary daze, it was to find that my arm had somehow found its way around his waist, and that I was now matching his stride. No more awkward hip bumps.
When we got back to the courtyard, all three of us went up to Kimber’s apartment. Kimber gave me some dry clothes, and I ducked into the bathroom to change. It occurred to me that my life might have been much easier if I’d lied and said I saw nothing unusual when I’d looked out into the distance. I was a pretty good liar—Mom gave me plenty of occasions to practice—but I doubt I’d have been