The phone was still ringing on the coffee table.
Thalia glanced at it, then back at Acheron.
Most of the dark lines that had been creeping up her leg were gone now, and the terrible cold had faded with them.
Only a faint stain remained around her ankle.
She moved her foot experimentally.
It still ached, but at least she could move it without feeling as though the entire leg might give out beneath her.
“That should be enough for now, shouldn’t it?
I need to answer that.”
Acheron let go of her leg.
“Don’t move around too much.”
“I won’t.”
Thalia picked up the phone and answered it.
“Ivan—”
“Where are you?”
There was enough anger in his voice that she stopped before she could say anything else.
“I’m fine.”
“That wasn’t what I asked.”
Thalia glanced at Acheron.
“I’m at Blackthorn Manor.”
Silence.
Then, “Where?”
“Acheron’s place.
His residence in the human world.”
The silence on the other end lasted even longer this time.
Thalia could almost picture Ivan standing outside the museum with that particular expression he wore whenever he was trying very hard not to lose his temper.
“Give him the phone.”
She looked down.
Acheron had already turned his attention back to her ankle.
“Ivan wants to talk to you.”
“Busy.”
He did not even look up.
Unfortunately, he had spoken loudly enough for Ivan to hear.
Thalia closed her eyes for a second.
“Put the phone in his hand,” Ivan said.
“He really is busy.
The mark isn’t completely gone yet.
As soon as he’s finished, I’ll come back.”
“How long?”
That was a good question.
Thalia lowered the phone slightly.
“How much longer?”
Acheron did not answer.
Only then did she notice that he had stopped moving.
The last trace around her ankle should have been fading, but he was staring at it with a look she did not particularly like.
“What?”
He pressed his palm over the mark again.
Warmth spread through her skin, and the dark stain slowly faded until there was almost nothing left.
For one hopeful moment, Thalia thought it was over.
Then Acheron removed his hand.
The thin black lines returned.
They no longer spread up her leg, but they came back darker than before, sharp beneath her skin instead of hazy around the edges.
Acheron frowned.
“That’s troublesome.”
Thalia’s relief disappeared almost immediately.
“What do you mean?
It was nearly gone.”
Ivan heard that too.
“What happened?”
“Give me a minute.” Thalia moved the phone away from her ear and looked at Acheron.
“You said you could remove it.”
“I should have been able to.”
He ran his thumb slowly over one of the lines.
Nothing happened.
“A normal tracking mark stays on the surface.
Remove the power holding it there and it disappears.
This one’s different.
Whoever placed it changed the spell before they used it on you.”
“How?”
“It’s attached itself to your life force.”
Thalia stared at him.
She had no idea what that meant in practical terms, but she understood enough to ask, “So you can’t remove it?”
“I can.
Just not this way.”
“Why not?”
“If I force it out, I’ll tear away part of your own life force with it.”
That was enough to make her stop asking.
Ivan’s voice came sharply through the phone.
“Then don’t touch it again.
I’m coming to get you.”
“You don’t know where I am.”
“Then tell him to bring you back.
We’ll find another way.”
“She isn’t going back tonight,” Acheron said.
Thalia looked up at him.
Ivan went silent.
Acheron rose to his feet.
“As long as the mark is still there, they can track her.
Taking her home means leading them there too.”
There was no easy argument against that.
Ivan found one anyway.
“Acheron.”
“Yes.”
“She is not staying there with you tonight.”
“That isn’t your decision.”
Thalia rubbed her forehead.
Of course this was where the conversation was going.
“Enough, both of you.” She put the phone back to her ear.
“Ivan, I’m all right.
Let him deal with this first.
I’ll keep my phone on, and I’ll call you as soon as it’s over.”
Her brother said nothing for a while.
She knew he hated the situation.
She also knew he had no idea where Blackthorn Manor was and no way of reaching her without Acheron’s cooperation.
Eventually he gave in, though not happily.
“Call me the moment it’s done.”
“I will.”
“And stay away from Acheron.”
Thalia’s eyes drifted downward.
Acheron was standing directly in front of her.
At the moment, away was not exactly an accurate description.
“All right.”
She ended the call before Ivan could add anything else.
The room became quiet again.
When she looked up, Acheron was watching her.
“What?”
“Stay away from me?”
Thalia looked elsewhere.
“He worries.”
Acheron gave a quiet sound that might have meant anything and sat down beside her again.
Thalia looked at the mark on her ankle.
“If you can’t remove it the first way, what’s the second?”
“There is one.”
“Then do that.”
He did not move.
That made her suspicious.
“Is it dangerous?”
“No.”
“To me?”
“No.”
“To you?”
“No.”
“Then why are you looking at me like that?”
For once, Acheron seemed to consider his words before answering.
“The mark is no longer separate from you.
To pull it out without damaging you, I need to send my power through you rather than against it.”
Thalia frowned.
“Wasn’t that what you were doing?”
“No.
I was working from the outside.”
“And now?”
“I need direct contact for longer.”
She waited.
Acheron added, “And there can’t be too much between us.”
Thalia looked at him.
Then at herself.
Then back at him.
“What exactly does that mean?”
“What do you think it means?”
She stared at him for several seconds.
“Is there another option?”
“Yes.”
Her expression brightened.
“We leave it alone until it finishes merging with you.
Then I destroy the part of your life force it’s attached to.”
The hope vanished just as quickly.
“Never mind.”
Acheron waited.
Thalia looked down at her ankle again.
She knew there was no real choice here, but that did not stop her from feeling awkward about it.
Being carried all the way to Blackthorn Manor had already been more physical contact than she was used to having with him.
The thought of deliberately getting even closer was another matter entirely.
Still, the mark was not going to remove itself.
“What do I have to do?”
“Take off your coat.”
She immediately looked at him.
“Just the coat?”
“For now.”
“That ‘for now’ isn’t reassuring.”
Acheron said nothing.
Thalia gave him a suspicious look, then pulled off her coat and placed it beside her.
Underneath, she was wearing a fitted long-sleeved shirt.
“Now?”
Acheron sat beside her and held out his hand.
“Come here.”
She looked at the small gap between them.
“I’m already here.”
“Closer.”
“This isn’t close enough?”
“No.”
Thalia sighed and moved toward him.
She had barely shifted across the cushion when his arm went around her waist and pulled her the rest of the way.
She landed against his chest with both hands braced on his shoulders.
“Acheron.”
“What?”
“You could warn me before doing things like that.”
“You were coming over.”
“That doesn’t mean you get to drag me the rest of the way.”
He looked entirely unconvinced that there was a meaningful difference.
Thalia gave up before the argument could start.
His arm stayed around her waist while his other hand moved up her back and settled between her shoulder blades.
Even through the thin fabric, she could feel the warmth of his palm.
She tensed before she could help it.
Acheron noticed.
“Relax.”
“Easy for you to say.”
His mouth moved slightly, though she could not tell whether he was amused.
Then the warmth beneath his hand changed.
It sank deeper.
Thalia stopped paying attention to everything else.
The sensation was nothing like before.
Instead of spreading across her skin, his power moved slowly through her, warm and strange, following some path inside her body that she could feel but could not understand.
She drew in a breath and held it.
“Breathe.”
“I am breathing.”
“Not very well.”
Thalia exhaled in annoyance, which at least proved his point.
His face was close to hers.
Too close, really.
When he spoke again, she could feel the faint warmth of his breath near her ear, and she instinctively leaned away.
“How am I supposed to relax when you’re right there?”
“Do you want me to move?”
“Yes.”
“I can’t.”
She turned to look at him.
“Then why did you ask?”
“I wanted to know.”
“You’re impossible.”
This time she was almost certain he was amused.
Before she could move farther away, his arm tightened around her waist and brought her back.
“Stay still.”
Thalia muttered something under her breath but stopped fighting him.
The warmth continued downward through her body until it reached her right leg.
Almost immediately, the mark reacted.
A hot, prickling sensation spread beneath her skin.
It did not exactly hurt.
It was closer to the feeling of a limb waking after going numb, except deeper and far more uncomfortable.
Her breathing changed.
Acheron looked at her.
“Pain?”
“No.”
“What is it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Thalia.”
“Stop asking.
It feels strange.”
That answer apparently satisfied him, because he left her alone after that.
The process took longer than she expected.
At first she remained painfully conscious of every point where they touched—his arm around her waist, his hand against her back, the solid warmth of his chest beneath her palms.
Eventually the discomfort in her leg became more distracting than the embarrassment.
Without noticing when it happened, she stopped holding herself away from him.
Her shoulders relaxed.
Her hands were no longer braced against him.
By the time the last of the cold disappeared from her leg, she was simply leaning against his chest.
Acheron never mentioned it.
Finally, the strange sensation stopped.
Thalia looked down.
The mark was gone.
Not faded.
Gone.
Her skin looked completely normal again.
She flexed her ankle once, then again.
Nothing hurt.
“Finished?”
“Yes.”
“Finally.”
She let out a breath and started to sit up.
Acheron’s arm remained around her waist.
Thalia paused.
“Acheron.”
“Mm?”
“It’s gone.”
“I know.”
She waited for him to let go.
He did not.
Thalia lifted her head.
“Then why are you still holding me?”
Only after asking did she realize he was not looking at her ankle anymore.
He was looking at her.
The fire shifted behind them, sending a warmer wash of light across his face.
His gaze dropped briefly.
To her mouth.
Thalia forgot what she had been about to say.
The treatment was over.
There was no reason for them to still be sitting like this, no reason for his arm to remain around her or for her to still be leaning into him.
Neither of them moved.
Acheron raised his hand and brushed his fingers lightly along her cheek.
The gesture surprised her more than being pulled into his arms had.
There was no impatience in it this time.
No assumption that she would simply follow.
He touched her slowly enough that she could have moved away.
She did not.
“Thalia.”
“What?”
He leaned closer.
Not all the way.
He stopped with barely any distance left between them.
Thalia could feel his breath against her lips.
For one second, neither of them did anything.
Then she stayed exactly where she was.
Acheron kissed her.
It was brief at first, almost cautious.
When he pulled back, he did not go far.
His eyes stayed on hers, giving her every chance to put distance between them.
Thalia did not.
That seemed to be all the answer he needed.
The second kiss was slower.
His arm tightened around her waist, and Thalia’s fingers curled into the front of his coat without her realizing it.
By the time he finally drew back, her breathing was no steadier than it had been during the treatment.
She stayed against him for a moment before a thought occurred to her.
“Wait.”
Acheron looked at her.
“That wasn’t part of the treatment, was it?”
“No.”
The answer came far too quickly.
Thalia blinked.
“Then why did you kiss me?”
“Because I wanted to.”
She had expected almost anything except that.
For a few seconds, she could only stare at him.
Had he blamed the treatment, she could have argued.
Had he avoided the question, she could have pressed him until he answered.
Instead, he had simply admitted it.
“You really do whatever you want.”
“Usually.”
“That wasn’t a compliment.”
“I know.”
Thalia tried to move away, partly because she had no idea what else to do.
His arm was still around her.
She looked down at it, then back at him.
For some reason, she did not actually ask him to move it.
And that, she decided, was probably the more troublesome problem.