Page 57

Quickly, he changed into some fresh clothes as well, before he wrapped Jamie in the sheet he was lying on, and pulled him back up into his arms. Jamie stirred weakly, a faint whimper escaping his lips.

“It’s okay,” Jesse murmured. “I’ve got you.

” Holding him close, he carried him out of their room, down the quiet corridor and stairs, and into the hotel kitchen—which he gladly found unlocked, and empty.

Good; he had no idea how he would’ve explained this to some staff anyway.

Determined, he made his way towards a large metal door.

But reaching it, he suddenly hesitated. A chill settled into his bones just from standing outside.

The thermometer on the wall read 0°F, its red numbers glowing dangerously in the dark.

Jesse swallowed hard.

Was he really going to do this? This place wasn’t meant for humans.

But… Jamie wasn’t entirely human. Most likely.

Clenching his jaw, Jesse shifted Jamie’s weight, and reached out to open the door to the walk-in freezer.

A blast of cold air hit him like a wall as he stepped inside, his breath misting in the icy air.

The hum of the refrigerating system thrummed in his ears, a steady background noise that seemed to amplify the stillness around them.

Kneeling just inside the doorway, Jesse carefully lowered Jamie onto the smooth, frozen surface, using the sheet Jamie was swaddled in to avoid direct skin contact.

His teeth chattered as the cold seeped into his bones, but he still reached out, gently brushing a strand of white hair from Jamie’s face.

“I’ll be right outside, okay?” he murmured.

Then, he forced himself to stand, and reluctantly stepped back out—pulling the door shut behind him.

It felt so very wrong.

But was there any other option?

Leaning his forehead against the small window that was in the freezer door, Jesse’s breath fogged the glass as he kept a close watch on Jamie. He hated leaving him in there; hated not being able to stay at his side .

Jamie stirred slightly, his hand twitching and slipping out from the bed sheet. His blue eyes flickered open just a little, unfocused first, but then finding Jesse’s through the frosted glass.

Leaning closer to the window, Jesse pressed his hand against its cold surface, watching as Jamie’s trembling fingers moved further—slowly extending outward, almost like he was reaching for something invisible in the air, and hovering only inches above the floor.

It looked like Jamie was reaching for him, as if he was silently asking for help.

For a split second, Jesse’s instincts flared.

He gripped the handle of the freezer door, ready to rush back inside—but just as he began to move, something made him stop.

Inside the freezer, the air shifted.

Jamie’s outstretched hand stilled, his fingers splayed wide as though catching the ice cold air itself.

Slowly, faint traces of frost began to creep along his skin, forming crystalline patterns that shimmered in the harsh light.

It spread from his fingertips, crawling over his hand and up his arm with mesmerizing precision, inch by inch.

Then, the frost thickened, solidifying into a layer of translucent ice.

With each passing second, Jamie’s fevered flush faded a little more, and a deep calmness settled all over him.

His breathing evened out, and his chest began to rise and fall steadily beneath the ice shell.

Jesse let go of the door handle. “You’ve got this,” he whispered. Utterly relieved, he took a very deep breath.

It was time to call Austin back now, and let him know everything was alright before he went mad with worry. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, Jesse ignored the six or seven angry texts from Austin demanding he answer the three phone calls he’d also missed, and pressed the green button.

This time, Austin answered on the first ring. “You’re gonna give me a heart attack one of these days, always hanging up when big important stuff is happening!” he said at once.

“Sorry,” Jesse apologized. He snapped a photo of Jamie, and sent it to Austin, bracing himself for whatever might come .

He didn’t need to wait.

“Are you trying to freeze him?!”

“No, I’m just trying to help him!” Though, to be perfectly honest, he couldn’t quite believe it himself.

He had actually put Jamie into a freezer, goddamn it!

“Desperate times call for desperate measures,” Jesse tried to defend himself, keeping his eyes on Jamie through the tiny window.

“You said it yourself, we’re in uncharted waters.

And you got it just right earlier, because, if I could cover him in ice, the chances of getting his fever down would be a lot better. So I did exactly that.”

Austin huffed. “That’s not exactly what I meant but… it’s pretty clever actually.”

“I can be clever sometimes.”

“That must be my influence,” Austin teased . “So, Jamie’s alright now?”

“I hope so.”

“Did he have another seizure?”

“No. And now that he’s doing better, I don’t think he’s going to have a second one. It must’ve been triggered by that stupid pill. I should’ve— fuck, I should’ve thought about it ahead of time, I should’ve known that it was too big of a risk!”

“How were you supposed to know he’d have that kind of reaction to it?” Austin asked. “You’re not God Almighty.”

“Yeah, but he’s been saying some weird stuff lately, and now it’s got me wondering—”

Though the window, Jesse saw Jamie’s hair and eye color turning dark; and finally, it stayed that way. A relieved smile pulled at Jesse’s lips. That Jamie had managed to get back into safe form was a clear sign he was recovering now.

“What do you mean, he’s been saying weird stuff?”

He’d almost forgotten he still had Austin on the phone.

“Uh, well… when we were trying to figure out what’s wrong with me, he said that maybe his powers are hurting me because I’m not ‘ what he is.’ I asked him what he meant, but he couldn’t really explain, like he didn’t even understand it himself.

Like it was just a slip of his subconscious.

But, now after this business with the medicine, it’s got me wondering if…

if maybe he’s not quite all the way…” he grimaced. “Human?”

There was a long pause, before Austin spoke again. “Why are we even surprised though?”

Jesse sighed, rubbing at his forehead. “I don’t know. All this stuff is so damn complicated! I just wish I’d never given him that fucking pill, it was my mistake that caused things to get so out of hand…”

“It’s beginning to be a vicious cycle, isn’t it?”

Jesse blinked, too exhausted to understand what Austin meant by that. “What are you talking about?”

“You and Jamie both constantly getting injured or sick,” Austin said. “And, more specifically, you two both continuing to risk your lives out of guilt that the other one risked their life out of guilt that the other one risked their life. Nothing’s gonna change if that cycle doesn’t break.”

“Look, I’m way too tired for your so-called nuggets of wisdom,” Jesse huffed. “I have to focus on helping Jamie.”

“Okay, but that’s exactly what I’m talking about,” Austin said. “Did you forget that you’re pretty sick right now yourself?”

“I’m not that sick,” Jesse protested. Although… It had been quite a while now since Jamie had renewed the seal, and in all the stress of the past hour or so, he hadn’t really noticed that the ache in his chest was starting to return. “At least, not as bad as I was before.”

Austin obviously didn’t believe him. “I better get my butt up and into my car, then. Where exactly are you?”

“Don’t you dare. I’m not going to let you suffer for me. I can manage, okay? Jamie is doing a lot better now, and as soon as he’s fully conscious, he’ll place a new seal, and I’ll be fine. We both know you’d be in some hellish amount of pain if you did a six hour drive.”

“At least you’re taking turns being incapacitated, huh,” Austin joked dryly. “It would be much harder to manage if you were both dying at the same time.”

“Ha ha, very funny,” Jesse said with a roll of his eyes .

“Anyway… while I have you on the line…”

Jesse frowned at the change in Austin’s tone. He was suddenly sounding a lot more serious than usual. “Yeah? What’s up?”

There was silence on the other end for a moment. Jesse almost thought he’d lost the connection and was about to hang up and text instead when Austin finally spoke up again.

“I’ve been thinking about Nate.”

…That was the last person Jesse wanted to talk about right now.

But he couldn’t tell Austin about what had happened between them, because he knew Austin would just get even angrier than he’d already been, and it would lead to drama, and all sorts of things that Jesse just didn’t have the heart and energy to deal with right now.

So he had to swallow down the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat, and just play along for now.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Austin said. “Mainly, I’ve been thinking about… all that stuff you’ve been talking about with Jamie. About blaming accidents on people who don’t deserve it.”

“Jamie’s been talking to you about—of course he has,” Jesse blinked. “I should’ve known you’re up to date with just everything.”

“Wait, you’re not bothered about that, are you?”

“No, not at all,” Jesse promised. “It’s good that he’s got somebody he can confide in. I just hadn’t realized that was one of the things he talked to you about, that’s all.”

“Ah, well, it is,” Austin said. “And the thing is… I think you’re right.”