The Gathering by K. E. Ganshert Page B

dips his chin, his face filled with compassion. With calm. “You know it’s just a bracelet, right?”
    The stinging in my eyes turns to burning. No amount of blinking will chase away the embarrassing tears. I look down, twisting each of the beads inside the hemp. “I can’t lose you again.”
    “You won’t.”
    Why then, can I not stop thinking about transurgence ? The harder I try to push it away, bury it deep, the more it demands my attention. I want to make Luka promise that he will never—under any circumstances—do what Gabe did in that chamber. But I’m afraid of bringing it up, because there’s a chance Luka doesn’t know about it.
    He rubs his thumb along my jaw and draws me closer. As soon as his lips touch mine, I ignite. All my fear, all my anxiety, all my relief—it gathers like the perfect storm. I curl my fingers into Luka’s damp hair and pull him closer. Only this time, we’re not out in the hallway. We’re in my room.
    On my bed.
    My back slowly lowers onto the mattress. Luka leans his body over mine. I press a kiss against his neck. But suddenly, he stops. He puts his hand on the mattress, his smoldering eyes moving from me to the opened door. Cap would skin us alive if we closed it. I can almost see the same thought running through Luka’s mind. He moves to the edge of my bed and pushes his fingers through his hair, giving us space so we can catch our breath.
    “I, uh, should probably go,” he says.
    I don’t want him to go, so I take his hand.
    He glances at the door again. Cap made the rules clear. No purpling allowed. Luka is nothing if not respectful. But I also know he lives to make me happy.
    Call me manipulative, I hold his hand tighter. “Stay.”
    “Tess, you’re driving me crazy.”
    “Please. Just stay.”
    It works.
    With a sigh, he runs his hand down his face and shuts off the light. Leaving my door wide open, he climbs into my bed and opens his arms. I lay my head on his chest, listening to the sound of his heartbeat while he plays with my hair.
    “I’m sorry we didn’t get to your grandma in time,” he finally says.
    “She probably thought I abandoned her.”
    “You didn’t, though.”
    “She lived such a tragic life.” Tormented for years. Committed to a mental institute by her own son. Locked up since I was two. The hope of rescue dangled in her face only to have her life snatched away. I wanted to give her something better. I wanted to take her away from that place, get to know her, and maybe find out why she tried kidnapping me all those years ago. In her journal, she wrote that I had the power to save her. Was she talking about the prophecy? And if so, what did she know about it?
    My gut tightens into a cold fist. “I’m scared.”
    “I know.”
    “What if something bad happens to my mom and Pete? Or my dad? Or what about your parents? You never talk about them.”
    “That’s because I don’t think about them.”
    I lift my head off his chest. “They’re your parents. Of course you do.”
    Luka shakes his head and tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. “I stopped thinking about them the second two government officials dragged you out of Lotsam’s class.”
    I bite my lip, unsure how to respond to that one.
    “Tess, I know you’re scared. I know your mind is going in a million different directions. There are a lot of people you care about. It’s one of the things that makes you so strong. And amazing. And beautiful.”
    Heat creeps into my cheeks. I’m hardly beautiful.
    “But I also know that the what-if game will drive you crazy. All we can do is focus on one step at a time. Right now, that step is figuring out what’s going on. And the only way we can do that is by getting to New Orleans.”
    “And if someone recognizes us on our way to the Rivards?”
    “Let me worry about that, okay?”
    I let out a long breath. I don’t want to be on the run again. I don’t want to leave this place that has become an odd sort of home. I don’t