pull the fancy cultured bitch card.”
Kristen stayed silent, watching her. “Touché,” she said finally as she stood and made her way to the door. “Speaking of locations, I heard from Gabriel.”
Eden didn’t bother to hide her surprise as they pushed through the commuters. Not once had Kristen given her a straight answer about Gabe.
“He apologized for his absence. He needs a few more days. The Fallen. He doesn’t know where they are. He wanted to be sure they don’t track him to you, so he’s keeping his distance for a bit longer. Nothing for us to do but make the best of it, right?”
“But he is coming, right?” She’d given up hope, wondered if they hadn’t been as close as she’d thought. If he’d only been her friend because of Az.
“You’re only here to learn, Eden. Your stay was never meant to be long-term. Gabriel apparently considers you his responsibility,” Kristen said. “With our time coming to an end soon, I have a new lesson for you tonight.”
“On what?” Eden asked cautiously.
“Dosing.” Kristen stepped out of the crowd streaming from the train before they reached the turnstiles. “Friendship comes with a price, and Gabriel’s price is peril. It’s the reason I’m cautious about telling others how close Gabriel and I are, why I’m sure to keep a number of Siders storing Touch at all times. Because he cares for you, the Fallen will do whatever they can to get their hands on you. Dosing is a skill you’ll need, a way to speed up healing if you’re injured by them. That is, if you manage to get away.” Kristen rejoined the crowd, Eden following. “I’ll come for you after dinner,” Kristen said.
The knock came at dusk. Eden swung open the door.
Kristen stepped back into the hall. “Would you follow me, please?” She didn’t wait for an answer, led the way past the stairs, into the opposite wing. Midway down the hall she whisked into a room.
The boy inside jumped off the bed as they came in.
“Oh, how rude of me,” Kristen said, nudging the boy. “Eden, this is Marcus. He’s going to sacrifice his evening plans to help you with tonight’s lesson.” She leaned over the kid’s shoulder, grinning.
Eden switched her attention to Marcus. His eyes were locked on her, unbearably long eyelashes fluttering with his spastic blinks. He looked near tears.
She hadn’t spent more than a few minutes with any of the other Siders in the time she’d been there. Her meals were set outside her room, announced with a knock and a scurry of departing footsteps. When she left, she traveled with Kristen. The fear in Marcus’s eyes caught her off guard. How different did Kristen act around them to make them so terrified of her?
“Shall we begin?” Kristen’s eyes danced as she dropped her hands to his shoulders. Marcus shuddered.
Kristen positioned the two of them sitting cross-legged on the floor, facing each other.
“Like a virus, Touch needs to be spread, and it can’t do so without an able host. We’re immortal, but injuries do occur, and Touch doubles as our own brand of Neosporin. Your body will use it to heal faster.”
As she spoke, she circled around them, each one tighter than the last.
“If you’re injured, and someone can pass you a dose of Touch, it can get you back on your feet in half the time.” She dropped down beside them, turning to Eden. “I’m going to demonstrate on Marcus, and then you two will practice on each other.”
Kristen swayed forward before Marcus had a chance to react. Her mouth slammed against his, her hand curling around the back of his head, pulling him to her. Eden balked. Kissing? A second later Kristen pulled away, wiping the back of her hand across her lips. Marcus’s lashes fluttered in shock.
“Hold out your arm,” she commanded. She shot Eden a pointed glance. “Drop his glamour.”
A cold sweat broke across Eden’s skin. Kristen had never seen her without her glamour before the immunity had kicked in. A trickle of unease wormed into Eden’s stomach. “Won’t he be immune to me?”
Kristen scoffed. “Not unless you’ve been making secret friends behind my back.” She raised an eyebrow. Eden caught the subtle shift, the way Kristen zeroed in on her hesitation. “Certainly that’s not the case.”
Eden sucked in a breath, leaning forward, swiping him with a finger and pulling away before the kid touched her back. His cheeks sunk, dark patches of rot breaking out across his neck, the tendons underneath tight