The Host(184)

“See, I put this on,” I said, brushing a handful of glitter across the cuts, “and it makes the scar very faint. Like this.” I showed him the one on my arm.

Jamie laughed. “But don’t scars impress girls? Where did you get this stuff, Wanda? It’s like magic.”

“Jared took me on a raid.”

“Seriously? That’s awesome.”

Doc touched the glistening powder residue on my hand, then held his fingers to his nose.

“You should have seen her,” Jared said. “She was incredible.”

I was surprised to hear his voice close behind me. I looked around for Sharon automatically and just caught sight of the flame of her hair leaving the room. Maggie was right behind her.

How sad. How frightening. To be filled with so much hate that you could not even rejoice in the healing of a child.… How did anyone ever come to that point?

“She walked right into a hospital, right up to the alien there, and asked them to treat her injuries, bold as anything. Then, when they turned their backs, she robbed them blind!” Jared made it sound exciting. Jamie was enjoying it, too; his smile was huge. “Walked right out of there with medicine enough to last us all for a long time. She even waved at the bugger behind the counter as she drove away.” Jared laughed.

I couldn’t do this for them, Melanie said, suddenly chagrined. You’re of more value to them than I would be.

Hush, I said. It was not a time for sadness or jealousy. Only joy. I wouldn’t be here to help them without you. You saved him, too.

Jamie was staring at me with big eyes.

“It wasn’t that exciting, really,” I told him. He took my hand, and I squeezed his, my heart swollen with gratitude and love. “It was very easy. I’m a bugger, too, after all.”

“I didn’t mean —” Jared started to apologize.

I waved his protest away, smiling.

“How did you explain the scar on your face?” Doc asked. “Didn’t they wonder why you hadn’t —”

“I had to have fresh injuries, of course. I was careful to leave them nothing to be suspicious about. I told them I’d fallen with a knife in my hand.” I nudged Jamie with my elbow. “It could happen to anyone.”

I was really flying high now. Everything seemed to glow from inside—the fabrics, the faces, the very walls. The crowd inside and outside the room had begun to murmur and question, but that noise was just a ringing in my ears—like the lingering sound after a bell is struck. A shimmer in the air. Nothing seemed real but the little circle of people I loved. Jamie and Jared and Ian and Jeb. Even Doc belonged in this perfect moment.

“Fresh injuries?” Ian asked in a flat voice.

I stared at him, surprised at the anger in his eyes.

“It was necessary. I had to hide my scar. And learn how to heal Jamie.”

Jared picked up my left wrist and stroked his finger over the faint pink line a few inches above it. “It was horrible,” he said, all the humor suddenly gone from his sober voice. “She about hacked her hand off. I thought she’d never use it again.”

Jamie’s eyes widened in horror. “You cut yourself?”

I squeezed his hand again. “Don’t be anxious—it wasn’t that bad. I knew it would be healed quickly.”

“You should have seen her,” Jared repeated in a low voice, still stroking my arm.

Ian’s fingers brushed across my cheek. It felt nice, and I leaned into his hand when he left it there. I wondered if it was the No Pain or just the joy of saving Jamie that made everything warm and glowing.

“No more raids for you,” Ian murmured.

“Of course she’ll go out again,” Jared said, his voice louder with surprise. “Ian, she was absolutely phenomenal. You’d have to see to really understand. I’m only just beginning to guess at all the possibilities—”

“Possibilities?” Ian’s hand slid down my neck to my shoulder. He pulled me closer to his side, away from Jared. “At what cost to her? You let her almost hack her own hand off?” His fingers flexed around the top of my arm with his inflections.

The anger didn’t belong with the glow. “No, Ian, it wasn’t like that,” I said. “It was my idea. I had to.”

“Of course it was your idea,” Ian growled. “You’d do anything.… You have no limits when it comes to these two. But Jared shouldn’t have let you —”

“What other way was there, Ian?” Jared argued. “Did you have a better plan? Do you think she’d be happier if she was unhurt but Jamie was gone?”

I flinched at the hideous thought.