Chatper 390


    Chapter 0390


    The next day, Elva and I spent some time with Veronica in the library. Veronica was nose deep in her


    books. Elva had begun their time together by flittering through the stacks pretending to be a dragon.


    Now, she was dozing on a big,fortable, high-back chair.


    Watching her sleep so soundly helped quell some of the rebelling instincts within me. Every once in a


    while, I would catch myself ncing out the window at the forest.


    My instincts were difficult to ignore. But I could do it. For Elva. For Nichs. For Julian. For everyone,


    even myself.


    Veronica slid me a book across the table we were sitting at. “Read this.”


    I looked down where she pointed and read through the passage. In was an innocuous, boring diatribe


    about the rise and fall of the grain industry in thete seventeen hundreds.


    I lifted a brow at Veronica. “This has nothing to do with teleportation.”


    She shrugged. “I know that. It was to help you focus. Did it work?”


    I blinked a few times. Yeah, it did kind of work.


    “When your urges feel overwhelming, find a way to refocus them,” Veronica said. “Read a book. Start a


    conversation. y hopscotch. It doesn’t matter what it is. Just put your brain somewhere else.”


    “Okay,” I said, and pulled the book closer. For the next hour, every time my instincts heightened, I read


    another passage. I was going to be an expert onte seventeen hundreds agriculture before the end of


    this.


    Eventually, Elva woke up from her nap and grew bored. The nanny offered to take her for a walk and


    Elva agreed. But not before she came to give me a hug first.


    “We’ll meet after,” I said.


    Elva nodded.


    When she left out the door with the nanny, I heaved a heavy sigh.


    Veronica watched me. “You are struggling.”


    “Non-stop,” I said. “But I can’t do that to her again. I scared her so much.”


    1/4


    +15 BONOS


    “You scared all of us,” Veronica said.


    That surprised me. Veronica and I were friends, but I didn’t expect that kind of emotion from her.


    “I knew what was happening,” she exined, “But knowing what was happening and being able to do


    anything about it are so different. Nichs and Julian came to me for solutions but I couldn’t give them


    one. It frustrated me. Did they think if I knew how to stop the urges, that I wouldn’t have suggested it


    first off?”


    “I’m sorry,” I said. I had apologized a lot since my return, but only because I had so much to apologize


    for. Veronica was just one more victim to my


    carelessness.


    “I know you couldn’t help it,” she said. “I’m sorry I didn’t have answers.”


    “I never med you for a moment.


    Her eyes met mine, and though she didn’t exactly smile, her eyes were kind with friendship.


    I took the agricultural history book with me when I left Veronica to her research. Throughout the day, I


    referenced it several times, whenever my desire to run felt too strong. Yet, each time I read through it, it


    seemed less effective than thest.


    By the time I made it to the eighteenth century in the book, my hands were shaking so much I couldn’t


    hold the book straight enough to read it.


    I had to run. Elva was busy ying dress up with Charlotte and the nanny. No one would notice if I


    slipped out. Just for a small run. A tiny run. No more than a few steps really. Then I woulde right


    back here. They wouldn’t even know I


    was gone.


    I left the book in my chair and headed for the door. I said hello to the guards at my bedroom then


    hurried through the hallways.


    I just needed to get outside without Veronica, Julian, or Nichs seeing. They were the only ones who


    would really know where I was going and why. Susie and Tiffany would know, but I was confident I


    could talk my way around them.


    Yet just as I was about to reach the stairwell, a pair of arms sna tched me around from behind. They


    dragged me to the side and suddenly I found myself in a very familiar closet. Nichs clicked on the


    overhead light.


    His eyes were filled with disapproval. “Where were you headed, Piper?”


    I felt like a petnt child as I crossed my arms, but I couldn’t make myself stop.


    214


    “Out,”


    415 BONOS


    “Out where?” Nichs asked, voice dropping, lower, dangerous.


    I didn’t have a good lie not one he would believe. So I crumpled. “I just thought if I had a tiny little run, it


    would take the edge off…”


    “Veronica warned me about this,” Nichs said.


    “She did?” I asked, surprised,


    He hummed. “She said the book might stop working.”


    “She told you about the book?”


    “She did. And she said you might need other distractions before long.”


    Distractions? “What did she suggest?”


    “It wasn’t what she suggested. It’s what I offered,” he said.


    “Which is?” I asked.


    At once, he leaned forward and kissed me.


    I melted in his arms. He deepened the kiss, taking my pliancy for the green light it was. His tongue


    delved into my mouth. I clung to his shoulders.


    “Nick,” I whispered against his lips.


    “Is it helping?” he asked.


    It was. “Do it again to be sure.”


    He smiled. “As many times as you need.”


    “I might need all night.”


    “Then you’ll have it.”


    He kissed me again, and again. His hands were firm on my back. He had no intention of pushing this


    moment toward anything. He merely stayed in each other’spany tradingzy kisses and secret


    smiles.


    As Iughed, he kissed the corner of my mouth, then my cheek, my ear, and the tip of my nose.


    So easily, I was a rxed puddle of happy goo in his arms.


    “This is so much better than the book,” I said.


    He smiled. “What was it about?”


    +15 BONOS


    “Agriculture.”


    Heughed. He was so handsome like that, I had to kiss him again.


    As we returned to ourselves, Nichs said to me, “When you start to feel the urge again,e find


    me. I will help you, even if I have to kiss you all night and all day long.”


    Iugh a little, light and happy. “You’ll kiss the sense back into me?”


    “I will, if you’ll let me.”


    “Of course, I’ll let you.” I throw my arms around his neck and drag him back for more. “I might need a


    bit more reinforcement right now, before I head back out on my own.’


    >>


    His hands stretched out over my back as he deepened the kiss once more. Go d, he tasted so good.


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    He was such a good kisser too, so diligent and giving. If this was the only way to return to myself, I was


    absolutely fine with that.


    I’d love to be in his arms more, as much as possible.


    I’d live and breathe in his embrace if he would only let me. If only such a thing were possible.


    If only the entire world didn’t pull us apart the minute we stepped out the door.


    “I swear, Piper. I’m here for you. Trust in me.”


    I did, so I told him so. “I trust you, Nick. With my life.”