worn, which we had replaced with my boots. She was one of those humans who seemed unable to see beyond her nose.
Inching closer while twirling a lock of red hair around her finger and never taking her eyes off Vaughn, she said, “What happened to him? Is he going to be all right?”
“Yes, he will.”
She sighed, her gaze darting around the room. Unexpectedly, her eyes shot wide, and she snatched something from a bedside shelf.
“My ring!” She clutched her hand into a fist and pressed it to her chest.
Ring? What ring? Then I remembered. Vaughn had taken a ring from Adaline before we stuffed her into that freezer.
“Is that… your item?” I asked.
Becca nodded repeatedly, relief flooding her features. “I thought I would never see it again. Oh, God, I’m so happy.”
She shook herself and quickly slid the ring into her finger. Stretching her hand out, she held it against the light to admire it. It was silver, set with a large ruby. An absurd grin stretched across her lips, and she jogged in place, shaking her arm. A giddy, high-pitched squeal of joy filled the room.
Abruptly, her hands shot out, and she twirled them in an erratic pattern. I blinked, confused, and in the next instant, every speck of dirt that covered her clothes and body disappeared. She stood looking radiant as if she’d taken a bath and undergone a five-hour-long beauty regime. She blinked at me, her eyes twinkling, her red hair lustrous as silk.
“There,” she said. “Isn’t that better? Oh, I feel like a billion bucks.”
I stared, incredulous. Had this island taught her nothing? Were superficialities the only things that mattered to her?
As I stared, open-mouthed, Becca approached Vaughn and took his hand. I remembered her ogling him when shifting left him naked. On the verge of telling her to take her hands off him, her eyes fluttered and went completely white. A slight wind picked up inside the cabin, stirring Vaughn’s overlong curls.
“What are you doing?” I demanded.
She didn’t answer. Her expression grew slack and faraway, and she appeared to go in some kind of trance. I hesitated, unsure of what to do. Panic building, I reached out to pull her away just as a groan sounded deep in Vaughn’s throat.
I froze, my eyes fixed on his face.
Becca pulled away and blinked. “Pheew, that man is intense.” She gave a slight shiver.
“What did you do?” I asked.
“I talked to him. It’s a talent of mine.” She preened and smiled.
I placed a hand on the bed to steady myself. “What do you mean you talked to him?”
“I know everyone thinks I’m an airhead,” Becca said. “But I just deal with things differently. My father… he was in an accident when I was ten. It left him in a coma. I visited him almost every day for a year.” She paused, her eyes filling with tears. “I held his hands and talked to him, just stupid stuff about school and my life. We formed a connection, somehow. I started sensing how he felt, and as time went by, I learned to communicate with him. He was a great warlock. I think he guided me, taught me how. I was with him the day he died. He told me everything would be all right. Nobody has ever loved me like he did.”
I swallowed, feeling as if I’d been punched in the gut. “I’m sorry, Becca.”
She shook herself, blinking rapidly. “Anyhow, Vaughn said he’s fighting, that he’ll beat the poison.”
I pressed a hand to my mouth. He’d heard me.
“And he also said that…” Becca paused and smiled mischievously, “he loves you.”
My heart froze for a few seconds, then started beating at twice its normal rate.
“You lucky fae.” Becca punched me in the shoulder and left the room, leaving me paralyzed with surprise.
Had Vaughn said that?
My eyes drifted shyly in his direction? He was unconscious, and I was blushing. I returned to his side and took his hand in mine again.
Words crowded in my mouth. Whatever I said next, he would hear it. Only one thing made sense.
“I… I love you, too.” I squeezed his fingers as the words echoed in the small cabin.
Did I truly love him? Or had I said it out of a sense of duty to give him something to hold onto while he fought a silent battle against the poison? I’d never been in love before, so I didn’t know. I felt a great deal for him, but was it love?
I released my grip on his