Page 11

Raito

Even as I see it, I do not dare believe it’s true.

I...am looking at technology.

Working technology.

Thanks to her .

I pivot in Mira’s direction to catch a glimpse of this beautiful specimen.

I always knew she would be gorgeous. No matter what, she would be beautiful in my eyes. There was no other way for her to be in my heart. The draw to her, our connection, dictated how I’d perceive her.

Her silvery eyes glimmer in the light as her face fills with awe as she looks at me. Or that could be my hubris.

But I want it to be true. I want Mira to look at me the way I’m looking at her now.

That beautiful, pale skin, her cheeks and the tip of her nose rosy from the cold air. She uses makeup on her eyes, but nowhere else: a simple liner that flares upward at the outer corners. I wonder if she wears it every day or only on Saturdays?

“What is this?” she whispers.

The truth is that I don’t know.

Colton had told Aubrey and me about his curse’s reaction to being near Mira, but he’d made another discovery:

When he touches Mira, his curse is completely negated.

He’d been testing it for weeks to ensure it wasn’t a fluke, and every time he touched her, all the thoughts invading his mind would vanish.

“I know you guys feel the same connection to her that I do,” he had told us in the library. “So I thought maybe we should see if it works for you two, too.”

I didn’t dare to hope. There was no way it would happen to me, too.

Yet here I am, uncovering my eyes in front of working electronics, my hand grasping Mira’s forearm.

All I want to do is pull her into my arms and kiss her. Shower her with love.

But this thought isn’t new to me. It wasn’t born of this newfound joy of feeling normal for the first time in so many years. This compulsion has haunted me since the first day we’d met.

“Don’t do it, man,” Colton calls, and I glare at him, which makes him laugh.

My attention returns to Mira, and I tell her, “I don’t know what is happening, Mira, but I know it means something. Something important. To all of us.” I glance at Colton and Aubrey, then back at her.

Mira’s head tilts slightly. “How do we find out what this is? Without getting into trouble?”

That is the question, isn’t it? We can’t ask anyone. The library wouldn’t be helpful. Any internet searches are monitored and blocked.

So how?

“We’ll find a way,” I tell her, though I don’t know if I’m lying.

For a few more selfish moments, I look at her before smiling. “Thank you.” My quiet words are the last I speak before I close my eyes and remove my hand from her arm to put my blindfold back on.

“You don’t have to—”

“I do,” I interrupt. “You’ve granted me my moment of peace. Now, it’s Aubrey’s turn.”