“They were yours too,” I tell him.
Sam’s nose twitches. “Not really.” His thick curly hair falls into his face as he rubs the bed sheet between his thumb and forefinger. “I hoped they would be one day, but I don’t think I earned the right to call them my parents.”
“Earned the right?” My forehead creases into a frown. “That’s a strange thing to say… you don’tearnparents.”
With a low-pitched chuckle, Sam says, “Maybe not. I guess what I mean is that it was my fault we lost them. So—”
“Your fault?” I sit bolt upright and don’t care that my cards fall from my hand face-up.
“I bit you, Nova.” Sam glances at my arm, even though there’s no scar to look at. “We were playing. I bit you. That’s why you started the fire.” He meets my eyes. “They died because I hurt you.”
Sliding over to him, I rub my hands over his broad shoulders. Beneath his shirt are the scars I find both hypnotizing and devastating at the same time. I can almost feel them through the fabric. I take a moment to find the right words. There are so many things Sam and I need to say to each other, it’s hard to know where to begin. “When Kole unlocked my memories and showed me what I did, I thought guilt was going to swallow me up. It was like a dark shadow was squeezing the life out of me. I didn’t know how I was going to live with it.” Sam strokes his index finger up my arm as I talk. “But then I realized something.”
He tilts his head and studies my face.
“I realized that we’re part of something bigger. What happened to Mom and Dad was part of something bigger.”
“The prophecy?” Sam’s voice is low and thoughtful.
I nod, my hair falling over my shoulders. As it tickles my chest, I push it back and Sam’s eyes catch on my tattoo.
Smoothing his palm over my chest, he examines the pattern. Five planets orbiting around a full moon, with intricate, swirling patterns stretching up toward my throat. “Tell me about this,” he says softly, his fingers pausing their journey as they reach the raised flesh beneath the moon.
“My ex-boyfriend Johnny—”
“The guy in the video?”
“He was with the A.M.A. He branded me with their crest.”
Sam’s eyes snap to mine. They dance with anger. His jaw settles into a tight line.
“I asked Kole to cover it for me.” I look down at my chest. “Apparently, seers are good at intuiting what people’s tattoos should be.”
“This is what he saw for you?” Sam moves closer and brushes his lips across my collar bone.
I’m leaning into the warmth of his mouth when we hear the door downstairs clatter near off its hinges. Leaving our cards face-up, we head quickly for the stairs.
In the living room below us, Tanner is bent double, breathing heavily. Next to him, Kole’s chest moves quickly up and down. Below his tattoos, the veins in his neck are bulging.
Without speaking, Kole strides over to where Luther is sitting and snatches the whiskey bottle from him, taking a deep swig. Even though Tanner barely drinks anything but water, he takes the bottle from Kole and does the same.
Luther rises slowly from his chair, exchanging a worried look with Mack while Sam and I trot quietly downstairs to join them.
As Kole and Tanner stand side-by-side, passing the whiskey bottle between them, my eyes sweep their bodies for signs of a fight or an injury. Physically, they seem fine, but their faces tell a different story.
“Is Sarah all right?” Sam asks with trepidation.
“She’s fine.” Tanner answers quickly. “She and Rev are fine.”
Striding to the couch and sitting down heavily, Kole says darkly, “But The Hollow isn’t.”
Mack waits for him to explain. If he’s worried about his home, he doesn’t show it.
“Ragnor is there. We saw him. With Eve, Kayla, Nico, and a bunch of werewolves.” Kole grits his teeth as he speaks their names.
“Looking for Nova?” Mack asks.
Kole shakes his head. He pulls his hair loose, the way he always does when he’s trying to release some tension from his body, and leans onto his thighs. “I don’t think so.” Kole looks for me and, without being asked, I go to him. He pulls me onto his lap and holds onto my waist as if he’s trying to ground himself with my presence.