LITMIR.BIZ

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if her heart would burst from her chest at any moment. I stood up, untangling myself from his grasp. An unseen force lifted my legs and I bolted into the house, not caring if Marie was around. The cast barely slowed me as I pumped Ally’s arms, picking up speed through the kitchen, then the foyer, and up the stairs, down the opposite hallway from Ally’s room. I hadn’t explored that side of the house; I had no need or desire to. Until now. Adrenaline coursed through Ally’s veins. The source of the force radiated from a door across the hall from David’s room, but when I tried the doorknob it wouldn’t budge. I slammed my hands on the door over and over, harder and harder, until Cooper grabbed them and pulled me away.

      “What’s in there?” I demanded.

      “That’s David’s office. No one is allowed in there.”

      A sharp pain jolted my side. “There’s something in there. I feel it. Let me in.”

      “I can’t. And you can’t,” he said, tightening his grip on my hands. “If the wards around the house are strong, the ones for this room are even stronger. I think that is what you are feeling.”

      I shook my head furiously; the need to get in the room overwhelmed me. “No, it’s something else. I haven’t even been down this hallway in the three days I’ve been here. Something has changed.”

      Cooper’s mouth tightened in thought. “Maybe her body is starting to undergo the transformation. Each Prognatum is different; sometimes the change is quick, other times the body takes a little longer to adjust. Our kind feels the wards more intensely than humans do.”

      As suddenly as the feeling had come, it lifted as if tethered to a balloon.

      Cooper’s eyes widened. “What’s wrong?”

      “It’s gone,” I said, sucking in a deep breath and exhaling slowly. I blinked a few times, staring at the door. “I think you were right.”

      A stinging sensation from Ally’s foot drew my attention away from the door.

      “Ugh!” I cried, storming across the hallway, back down the stairs and into the kitchen. I searched the drawers until I found the right tool. “Ah ha!” I said, wielding a wooden spoon.

      “What’s that for?” Cooper asked.

      I shoved the thin handle of the utensil between the cast and Ally’s skin and moved it up and down, somewhat relieving the itch.

      “You’re going to rip her skin off,” he said.

      “If it stopped the itching I’d do it.” This thing had to come off, now. I raided the drawers until I found one full of knives and pulled the longest and sharpest one out, wielding it in front of me.

      “What are you doing?” he asked.

      I mimed a sawing motion and pointed to the cast. “This thing is coming off.”

      Cooper crossed his arms; a smile quirked the corner of his mouth. “And how are you going to explain not having a cast four days after breaking your leg?”

      I started toward the dining room. “I’ll wear long pants and use the crutches. No one will know.” I settled into a chair and angled the foot, planning my attack.

      “You can’t be serious,” he said, standing in front of me.

      I looked up at him. “Oh, I am.”

      He laughed. “At least let me help you. You might chop off her leg from that angle.”

      “No, I got this,” I said, placing the tip of the blade down.

      His hand touched mine, sliding down to the knife. “I insist.”

      Our proximity added an extra beat in Ally’s heart rate. “Okay,” I breathed, focusing on his eyes.

      He plucked the knife from my hand, placing it on the table. He knelt in front of me, moving the fabric of Ally’s sundress off her leg. His feather-light touch traced her smooth skin. I swallowed, aware of every spot his fingers came in contact with.

      Thank goodness I’d shaved that morning. I’d managed to only suffer from two cuts, which was a feat in itself.

      Cooper reached his arms up, tightening the black shirt across his broad chest.

      Don’t look at his chest.

      He grabbed the broadsword from the sheath on his back, holding it in front of him.

      My breath hitched. I wanted one of those.

      “Don’t move.” He carefully pointed the tip of it against the plaster and gently pressed down. The line he drew melted the cast as if it were ice under hot water. He drew a straight line down the center of the cast, his movements precise. Soon enough the cast loosened against my leg and I was able to slide the rest off.

      “Now you can put it back on when you need to,” he said, sheathing his sword.

      I wriggled Ally’s toes and dug her nails into her skin, scratching deeply. “So much better than a wooden spoon,” I moaned.

      Cooper leaned back on his heels and looked up at me. “Glad to be of service.”

      Something in his voice made me stop scratching. That awareness crept back in. I looked up at him to see if he noticed it as well. His gray gaze stayed with mine; this time I knew he wasn’t looking at Ally.

       Ding dong!

      Both of us jumped. Cooper stood at attention and disappeared to the front door. I picked up the cast, and slid it back on Ally’s foot. The seam was a dead giveaway.

      “Who is it?” I asked.

      Cooper peered through the shade of one of the windows flanking the front door. “It’s the girl from the hospital; she is a classmate of Ally’s. She’s holding a bunch of books. I’m assuming they assigned her to bring Ally’s homework.”

      I lifted Ally’s leg. “What am I going to do about this?”

      Cooper disappeared again, appearing at my side holding a blanket and the crutches.

      “Um,” I said, not really getting it.

      He sighed. “Stand up, wrap this around your body; it’s big enough.” Cooper helped cover Ally’s body with the oversized soft blanket. Each touch against Ally’s skin sent sparks of electricity through me. When I was wrapped up enough to cover the leg, he tucked the crutches under her arms. Standing away from me he examined his handiwork. “That will work; just keep your leg covered.”

      “Will do,” I said, hobbling to the door.

      I opened it.

      Jamie wore a black raincoat, with the hood pulled up. Her small body shivered under the soaked jacket.

      “Hi,” I said.

      She looked up at me, holding up a set of books. “Mr. Dean asked me to bring you your homework from today. And I thought we could work on our paper for Mr. Thorn’s class, since it’s due next week?”

      A memory of Ally’s popped up, somewhat fuzzy. Jamie and Ally had been assigned an English paper together earlier last week. Ally hadn’t been happy about it since Heather was assigned to another girl in their clique.

      “Mr. Thorn is the English teacher,” Cooper said. “This paper is almost half their grade.”

      I nodded, attempting to take the books from Jamie. She flinched.

      I stepped back. “Are you coming in or do you want to do this in the rain?”

      She walked into the house and looked up at the tall ceiling of the foyer, not unlike my first day. She shrugged out of her soaking jacket and put it on the tall coat rack by the door.

      “Can I get you something to drink or eat?” I asked.

      She shook her head. “No, thanks.”

      Now,

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