Awry

7

Tristan tried to die.

Scarlet could think of nothing else as she scanned the cabin’s living room. Gabriel’s muscular body blocked her view of the room as he hurried over to her.

His shirt was torn and his nose was bleeding as he gently cupped her face. “I thought I lost you,” he said with emotion. “I was so scared.” Scarlet looked into her boyfriend’s deep brown eyes. Why had he thought he lost her?

Scarlet watched Nate rush up to her as well. “Scarlet! Do you remember us?” He flittered around her in bafflement.

Turning her face away from Gabriel’s hands, Scarlet stared at Nate. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”

She looked around the room. Where was Tristan? Was he safe? Was he alive?

“Because you….” Nate looked her over, his eyes perplexed. “You were dead.”

Scarlet stopped her search and spun her head to Nate, her mouth falling open. “I was what?”

I died? I died?

“How the crap did that happen?” Scarlet looked around in confusion, blinking at the scene before her.

The living room was trashed; the end tables were overturned, the large back window was completely shattered, and there were blood splatters on the floor.

Gabriel touched a hand to her arm, letting his fingers graze her skin. “Tristan rigged an arrow to kill himself tonight so he could save you, but you went after him in the woods and the arrow hit you instead.”

Scarlet blinked.

Tristan had tried to end his life for her. His stupid, selfless heart had tried to leave her alone in this world. And she had almost been too late to save him.

Thick emotion sloshed up against the walls of her throat and she hurried to swallow it down, the sting of tears hiding behind her eyes.

She’d almost lost the boy she couldn’t remember.

Scarlet stepped into the living room and her eyes found Tristan.

He was on his knees in the center of the room, grimacing with his eyes closed. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth and small cuts covered his face. His hair was a mess, his clothes were a mess and his hands—Scarlet swallowed—his hands were completely covered in blood.

And he was in unbearable pain.

Not because of the cuts and bruises that were quickly healing across his immortal body, but because of her. She could feel her nearness wrapping around his insides with merciless torture.

“Tristan…” she whispered.

Nate looked at Tristan’s grimace in puzzlement. “Dude, what’s wrong?”

With his eyes still shut, Tristan took a deep breath. “I’m fine.”

“Uh…you don’t look fine.” Nate left Scarlet’s side and stepped closer to Tristan. “Are you in pain?”

Scarlet looked at Gabriel’s torn shirt and then at Tristan’s bloody mouth. Had they fought each other?

Tristan slowly rose from his knees and shook his head. “I’m fine,” he repeated. He opened his eyes and stretched his neck.

Tristan and Gabriel were identical twins, save for their eye colors. Gabriel’s eyes were a dark brown while Tristan’s were a brilliant green.

A captivating green.

Scarlet could feel the torment ripping through Tristan as he tried to act casual. She took a step forward, wanting to relieve his pain in some way. Wanting to reach into Tristan’s chest and pull out all the anguish with her hands.

Their eyes locked on one another.

Tristan slowly shook his head, as if warning Scarlet not to draw attention to his pain. Because of their connection, Scarlet knew he could feel every emotion running through her.

But she could feel him too. Which was why she couldn’t keep her mouth shut. “Yes,” Scarlet confessed. “Tristan is in pain.”

Tristan looked at her darkly.

Too bad, Tristan. You don’t get to pretend like you’re superman.

Nate swung confused eyes to Scarlet. “How do you know?”

Scarlet blinked. “Because I…I can feel him.”

Tristan’s jaw clenched.

“You can feel him?” Nate looked alarmed.

Scarlet nodded.

Uh-oh. Was that not normal?

Gabriel let out a strained exhale and rubbed the side of his face.

“Since when?” Nate asked.

Scarlet licked her lips. “Uh…for the last few months?”

Tristan looked at the floor as awkwardness bumbled around the room.

Being emotionally “connected” to your boyfriend’s twin brother didn’t make for comfortable group situations.

Or one-on-one situations.

Or any situations involving feelings…or sexual tension….

Tristan glanced at Scarlet.

Awkward.

Nate looked at Scarlet seriously. “You’ve never been able to feel Tristan in your other lives.”

“I haven’t?” Scarlet‘s eyes widened.

Ah. Now she understood Tristan’s warning. They were more connected than they were supposed to be and Tristan didn’t want to draw attention to that.

Oops.

“No.” Nate shook his head. “This is new. This is… strange. Your connection shouldn’t be so strong. Tristan should be able to feel you. But you feeling him? That’s not normal.”

Great. That’s what Scarlet needed. Another abnormality to add to her ever-growing list of Things-That-Make-Me-Weird.

Gritting his teeth, Tristan sucked in a strained breath. Scarlet felt another ripple of pain roll over him and it almost caused her knees to buckle.

How was he not screaming out loud?

“Something’s wrong.” Nate looked at Tristan’s clenched teeth. “Even with a stronger connection to Scarlet, you shouldn’t be in pain when she’s this close to you.”

“I’m fine.” Tristan stretched his neck again. “Seriously.” He looked at Scarlet again, his green eyes deep and heavy.

Less than an hour ago, those green eyes had begged her not to die, begged her not to leave him as they washed over her face.

Those green eyes had secrets.

Another wave of pain assaulted Tristan and Scarlet’s lips parted in response.

Her heart kicked forcefully inside her, drawing her to him with every hot pulse. If she could just touch him, maybe all his torment would go away. If she could just press a fingertip to his cheek…or his chest…or to the dark tattoo he had hidden beneath his torn shirt. The tattoo that wrapped around his hip and dove below his waist….

Tristan glared at her.

Right.

Scarlet blinked herself out of his eyes and back to the present. Nate’s mouth hung open and his brows furrowed as he looked at Tristan.

Tristan snapped, “Quit staring at me, Nate. I’m fine.”

Nate squinted at Tristan. “Right.” He turned to Scarlet. “So back to you. You’re, uh…you’re alive.”

“Yep.” Scarlet nodded, still not believing she had died. “When did I…?”

“Like, five minutes ago.” Nate looked into the kitchen, where the table was covered in blood. “Your heart stopped beating and then all hell broke loose in the living room and then bam! you just…came back to life. So weird.”

Scarlet looked at the kitchen and felt sick. Blood was everywhere. On her dress, the table, the floor. Her bare feet were sticky with blood as she shifted her weight. “Are you sure I wasn’t just like…in a coma or something?”

“Oh, you were dead,” Nate nodded. “You didn’t have a pulse.”

Scarlet looked at her hands, turning her palms over. “Did my body vanish?”

“Nope.” Nate scratched the back of his head. “That’s why it’s so weird.” He looked at her eyes again. “How do you feel?”

“I feel…normal.” She watched Tristan roll his shoulders with his eyes closed. The muscles in his neck shifted beneath the movement.

Nate twitched his lips. “Hmm.” He went to the kitchen and returned with a small flashlight in his hands. Clicking it on, he started examining her irises, pulling at the skin beneath her eyes to get a better look.

“Before you died, your eyes were glowing and your nose was bleeding. But now….” He clicked off the flashlight. “Now, you seem healthy.” Nate moved behind Scarlet and slowly peeled away her bandage.

Ouch.

“And your wound is completely healed,” he murmured.

Scarlet slapped a hand to her back and felt around. No scars, no wound…just smooth skin.

Nate said, “It looks like your body has completely reset itself.”

“Huh.” Scarlet nodded once. “So that’s…good? That means we have more time to find the fountain, right?”

The fountain of youth was the only sure way to cure Scarlet’s heart and undo the curse. Tristan’s immortal blood was embedded in her heart from a previous arrow incident—apparently, the two of them couldn’t be around an arrow without one of them getting shot—and now Scarlet’s heart was a ticking time bomb, slowly being ripped apart. The fountain was their only hope.

“I hope so,” Nate said. “But hey! It doesn’t really matter how much time we have because you know where the fountain is. So, yay…” He weakly pumped a fist in the air.

Scarlet looked at him in bewilderment.

Nate’s face fell. “You don’t remember, do you?”

Scarlet shook her head. “Remember what?”

Ah, crap.

Do I have amnesia again?

Nate exhaled. “After you were…shot, you told Tristan you knew where the fountain was.”

“I did?” Scarlet’s heart started to race. She glanced at Gabriel, who offered a shrug, then at Tristan, who gave her a single nod.

“Think,” Nate said emphatically. “Really think.”

Scarlet shook her head. “I don’t remember saying that.”

“Do you remember anything? Your previous lives? Your history? Anything?” Nate looked hopeful and desperate.

Scarlet tucked her lips in as she thought. “I remember my last life. With you guys…and the cabin. I remember having amnesia.” Wow, that sounded weird. “And I remember Laura…and school….”

“You remember your last life, here in Avalon, but no lives before that?” Nate asked.

“Just the bits and pieces I put together before I was shot.”

Tristan gently asked, “And you don’t remember saying you knew where the fountain was?”

His familiar voice sank into her pores, filling her with warmth and she wanted to scream in confusion. Why was she so attracted to him? And why had he been willing to die for her?

“No,” she said, mentally trying to brush Tristan’s voice off her skin. “I don’t remember saying anything about the fountain.” Scarlet felt helpless as she looked at Gabriel. “Why would I forget something so important? What is wrong with me?”

Gabriel gave her a sympathetic smile. “Nothing’s wrong with you. You just keep losing your memories, that’s all.”

Yeah. Nothing sounded abnormal about that.

“But why? Why do I remember you guys and Avalon and…” She looked at Tristan briefly, her thoughts charging at the memory of his kiss before he put her to sleep. Damn you, Tristan, and your hot lips and sexy tattoo. “…other stuff? But not the fountain’s location?”

“What’s the last thing you remember?” Nate looked at her intently.

Scarlet concentrated. “Um…I remember feeling the arrow go into my back…and then Tristan holding me….” Her cheeks heated as she remembered Tristan’s arms around her as she sank to the ground. His hands touching her, his eyes filling with tears. Scarlet cleared her throat. “And then…nothing.”

Nate twitched his lips. “You must have been in shock by the time you had the memory. And I’m sure Tristan clutching you like a toy doll probably didn’t help.” He glared at Tristan.

Scarlet felt guilt swell up inside Tristan.

When Tristan was near her, the immortal blood in her heart went crazy, pulling at her insides and bringing her closer to death. When Tristan touched her—which was pretty much never—the damage to her heart was even more deadly.

Which was probably why he never touched her.

And why she shouldn’t ever want him to touch her.

Right? Right.

Her eyes trailed along Tristan’s jaw and down to his neck. His eyes caught hers and she felt a trickle of desire run down his core.

Right.

“Don’t worry,” Gabriel said to Scarlet, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her.

Scarlet’s eyes darted away from Tristan as she flushed. I am the worst girlfriend ever.

Gabriel kissed the top of her head. “Everything’s going to be fine. With or without your memories, we’ll find the fountain.”

Nate smiled at Scarlet, his happy face shining at her. “Or, at the very least, we’ll keep you away from any stray arrows.”

Scarlet attempted a smile, but felt no hope. She was doomed to be a weird, sometimes-dead girl with arbitrary amnesia and a crush on her boyfriend’s twin brother forever.

Great.

She tried to take a deep breath, but the black corset top she had on held her ribcage hostage. She looked down at the formal dress Heather had picked out for her that was now covered in blood.

Heather!

Tonight was the winter formal dance at school and Scarlet had left her best friend, Heather, alone in her bedroom without an explanation when she’d run after Tristan.

Heather was probably freaking out. Scarlet whipped around and looked at Gabriel. “Does Heather know about me?”

He lifted a brow. “Does Heather know that Tristan tried to kill himself with a magic arrow, but totally screwed up and got you shot instead?” Gabriel gave Tristan a dirty look. “No. Heather doesn’t know.”

Oh-kay.

Clearly, Gabriel was upset with Tristan. And, from the looks of the living room, they’d had a pretty messy fight. Scarlet wanted to believe that their fighting had nothing to do with her, but she knew better. And the thought stressed her out.

“Okay, everybody needs to lay off Tristan,” Scarlet said, desperate to relieve some of the guilt pulsing inside the green-eyed Archer brother. She looked at Nate first, then Gabriel. “I’m the reason I got shot. Not Tristan. And it doesn’t matter anyway because I’m fine.” She ran a hand through her long, tangled hair.

I’m just missing a very important memory about the fountain of youth that could save my life. But, otherwise, I’m fine.

Scarlet looked around the room for a moment. Blood, broken furniture, more blood.

Yeah, she was out of there.

“I gotta go.” Scarlet hiked up her skirt so it wasn’t swishing on the floor, and moved toward the front door with sticky feet.

“Where are you going?” Gabriel asked. “You’re wearing a bloodstained dress and you don’t have any shoes on.”

Turning around, Scarlet sighed. “I just died and came back to life, Gabriel. I’m confused. I’m hungry. And I desperately need a shower. So I’m going home. We can resume our highly stressful what’s-wrong-with-Scarlet-and-where’s-the-fountain quest after I wash the blood and dirt off my body.”

Scarlet turned back and walked out the door.

She did need a shower. But more importantly? She needed to get away from the cabin. And Gabriel. And Nate. And everything else that was too overwhelming for her to think about right now.

Especially Tristan.