Winter Fire

Ch. 17 [Flashbacks And Relapses]

Winter Fire
Ch. 17
Flashbacks And Relapses

My head pounded, my skull burning like flames caressed my skin. I couldn't stop the groan that slipped past my guard. I rolled over on my side and pulled my legs to my chest. The bed creaked beneath me as I moved, and the realization came over me that this was not my bed, not my dorm, not my school. My eyes begrudgingly slid open, squinting through the dreary darkness to a pale turquoise wall. I sat up, lifting a hand to my head, wincing when my fingers brushed over a bloodied clump of hair. I glanced closer at the bedroom, but it was only an ordinary guest room, no alien paintings, or strange furniture. No abnormal metals or foreign carpets. It was all . . . human. But everything else was anything but.

I still couldn't wrap my mind around any of it. Two days ago and the concept of extraterrestrials would have made me laugh out loud. But now . . . now I was surrounded by them.

Archer. Avery. Elias. Logan. Sophia. Aaron. And countless others.

But their entire species was endangered. I was endangered.

Compatibles. I didn't understand how it worked, why I was one, what it meant. I just knew that I was the only one remaining, that they all needed me because of that.

I didn't understand them, the Shzazi, their two species, their customs, their vocabulary. I didn't understand it at all.

And I hated not knowing more than anything.

I slid my legs over the side of the bed and carefully rose to my feet. I felt just the slightest bit lightheaded, but I suppose that would be expected after being clobbered in the back of the head.

I'd only made it halfway across the room before the door opened. I stopped short, my breath catching, my gaze locked on the back of the person as he pushed through the door, a breakfast tray held in his hands. He kicked the door closed with his heel and turned towards the bed, stilling when he noticed me standing still in the center of the room. But I did not move, frozen by the face of the boy across from me.

He was the same as I remembered, dark hair, midnight eyes like smoldering coals, endless, icily cold.

"You're awake--" Aaron said, startled.

I didn't reply. He stepped towards me, but I instinctively stepped back. He frowned at the motion, but said nothing of it. He moved to the desk and set the tray down, glancing over his shoulder as he pulled out the chair.

"Come eat."

I swallowed dryly. "Not hungry."

He just shook his head. "Don't lie to me, little Winter. Eat."

"Don't call me that." I breathed.

His brows furrowed. "What?"

"Little Winter. Don't call me that."

He stepped towards me, but I tensed and he raised his hands in surrender.

"Why?"

I shook my head numbly, my eyes on the wall behind his head.

"Just--just don't."

He took another step towards me and my gaze snapped to his.

"Tell me, Winter." He murmured.

I refused, backing up quickly until my heels hit the baseboard. But Aaron only continued advancing, grabbing my arm when I tried to slip around him and gently pushing my back into the wall. He hovered over me, his eyes searching mine, burning through mine.