Jamie slid his arms around my waist and clung to me for a long time. After a few minutes, he whispered, “Love you, Mel.”
“She loves you, too. She’s so happy that you’re here and safe.”
He was silent long enough for the tears on my skin to dry, leaving a fine, salty dust behind.
“Is everybody like that?” Jamie whispered long after I thought he’d fallen asleep. “Does everybody stay?”
“No,” I told him sadly. “No. Melanie is special.”
“She’s strong and brave.”
“Very.”
“Do you think…” He paused to sniff. “Do you think that maybe Dad is still there, too?”
I swallowed, trying to move the lump farther down my throat. It didn’t work. “No, Jamie. No, I don’t think so. Not like Melanie is.”
“Why?”
“Because he brought the Seekers looking for you. Well, the soul inside him did. Your father wouldn’t have let that happen if he were still there. Your sister never let me see where the cabin was—she didn’t even let me know that you existed for the longest time. She didn’t bring me here until she was sure that I wouldn’t hurt you.”
It was too much information. Only as I finished speaking did I realize that the doctor wasn’t snoring anymore. I could hear no noise from his breathing. Stupid. I cursed myself internally.
“Wow,” Jamie said.
I whispered into his ear, so close that there was no way the doctor could possibly overhear. “Yes, she’s very strong.”
Jamie strained to hear me, frowning, and then glanced at the opening to the dark hall. He must have realized the same thing I had, because he turned his face to my ear and whispered back softer than before. “Why would you do that? Not hurt us? Isn’t that what you want?”
“No. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Why?”
“Your sister and I have… spent a lot of time together. She shared you with me. And… I started to… to love you, too.”
“And Jared, too?”
I gritted my teeth for a second, chagrined that he had made the connection so easily. “Of course I don’t want anything to hurt Jared, either.”
“He hates you,” Jamie told me, plainly grieved by the fact.
“Yes. Everyone does.” I sighed. “I can’t blame them.”
“Jeb doesn’t. And I don’t.”
“You might, after you think about it more.”
“But you weren’t even here when they took over. You didn’t pick my dad or my mom or Melanie. You were in outer space then, right?”
“Yes, but I am what I am, Jamie. I did what souls do. I’ve had many hosts before Melanie, and nothing’s stopped me from… taking lives. Again and again. It’s how I live.”
“Does Melanie hate you?”
I thought for a minute. “Not as much as she used to.”
No. I don’t hate you at all. Not anymore.
“She says she doesn’t hate me at all anymore,” I murmured almost silently.
“How… how is she?”
“She’s happy to be here. She’s so happy to see you. She doesn’t even care that they’re going to kill us.”
Jamie stiffened under my arm. “They can’t! Not if Mel’s still alive!”
You’ve upset him, Melanie complained. You didn’t have to say that.
It won’t be any easier for him if he’s unprepared.
“They won’t believe that, Jamie,” I whispered. “They’ll think I’m lying to trick you. They’ll just want to kill me more if you tell them that. Only Seekers lie.”
The word made him shudder.
“But you’re not lying. I know it,” he said after a moment.
I shrugged.
“I won’t let them kill her.”
His voice, though quiet as a breath, was fierce with determination. I was paralyzed at the thought of him becoming more involved with this situation, with me. I thought of the barbarians he lived with. Would his age protect him from them if he tried to protect me? I doubted it. My thoughts scrambled, searching for some way to dissuade him without triggering his stubbornness.
Jamie spoke before I could say anything; he was suddenly calm, as if the answer was plain in front of him. “Jared will think of something. He always does.”
“Jared won’t believe you, either. He’ll be the angriest of them all.”
“Even if he doesn’t believe it, he’ll protect her. Just in case.”
“We’ll see,” I muttered. I’d find the perfect words later—the argument that would not sound like an argument.
Jamie was quiet, thinking. Eventually, his breathing got slower, and his mouth fell open. I waited until I was sure he was deeply under, and then I crawled over him and very carefully shifted him from the floor to the bed. He was heavier than before, but I managed. He didn’t wake.