Page 62

Jesse

“Eleanore Grace…” Jesse echoed, once Jamie had finished relaying his latest session with Dr. Alevera. They stood in front of Jamie’s painting again, Jesse’s fingers drifting toward it to trace the dried paint as if he was searching for answers hidden within.

“Yes,” Jamie said with a serious tone in his voice. “And the fire is hers. I’m absolutely certain about that now. I can’t be the only one with powers, and now that the images are getting clearer… there’s just no way that all that fire didn’t come from someone like me.”

Jesse swallowed hard. Somehow, the room felt so much colder all of a sudden, the kind of cold that crawled beneath your skin, worming its way to your bones.

“But now that I remembered her name, and how she looks,” Jamie went on, “I’ll be able to recognize her. She won’t catch me off-guard. Even if she comes for me in plain daylight, I’ll be ready now.”

Jesse’s hand slipped from the canvas as if burned. “D-do you really think she’s out there somewhere?”

“Of course she is. And she will find me, sooner or later.”

Jesse’s stomach tightened into worried knots.

Staring at Jamie, his mind scrambled for something to hold on to, desperate to outrun the fear clawing at the back of his mind.

“But… but she isn’t anywhere close right now, is she?

W-wouldn’t you be able to feel her presence or something?

I mean, you were able to find the power in me , and if she really has powers too—maybe you can sense hers as well?

” The words tumbled out in a rush, but to be perfectly honest, it felt like grasping at smoke.

“Yeah, maybe,” Jamie replied. The words hung in the air for only a second—until he shook his head, slow and firm. “No. Not if she has a safe form. ”

“But that means she could be anywhere !” As the weight of Jamie’s words pressed down on him, Jesse’s heart pounded harder in his chest. The fire in the painting seemed to burn even brighter now, but just like before, it didn’t offer any warmth or comfort.

“She could’ve been all this time.” Jamie’s voice was low now as he turned his gaze to Jesse.

“Remembering her name doesn’t change that.

” Suddenly, his expression went distant—as if his mind was drifting somewhere Jesse couldn’t follow—before his brow furrowed, his gaze hardening in what looked like newfound determination.

Somehow, this felt even more unsettling than talking about Eleanore.

“What?” Jesse asked quietly.

But Jamie was already slipping away without another word, his footsteps eerily soundless as he strode toward their bedroom.

Without hesitation, Jesse followed, though he slowed as he reached the doorway.

Tamping down the frustration bubbling beneath his ribs, he made himself lean against the door frame, giving Jamie the space he obviously needed.

His arms came up and crossed in front of his chest like a shield against the emotions he tried to keep in check.

But Jesse really didn’t want to let it get to him.

Not now. He’d worked too hard on breaking old habits to fall back.

Besides, it wasn’t like he expected Jamie to tell him just everything, that’s not how relationships worked.

And it was pretty clear that Jamie was just lost in thoughts right now; he’d probably end up sharing it with Jesse anyway, once he’d processed things himself.

But damn, it was still difficult when Jamie was shutting him out like this.

Jamie had stopped in front of the dresser and pulled open his drawer. For a heartbeat, he just stared at its contents, before he slowly reached inside and lifted something out.

Something blue.

With a gasp, Jesse’s arms loosened from their fold and fell to his sides as he straightened from the door frame, realizing what Jamie was holding in his hand .

It was the robe. The robe. The one Jamie had been wearing the day they found him.

In one smooth motion, Jamie grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head.

The soft rustle of fabric seemed to be the only sound in the room, and Jesse caught himself staring at Jamie’s bare upper body; one part of him caught in admiring the finely defined muscles, the other part driven by the instinct to help, as Jamie slipped into the robe and fumbled with the silk.

But… Jamie didn’t need help. His movements were fluid and practiced, like he’d done this a thousand times before.

He slid into it with ease, pulling the fabric over his shoulders and adjusting the fit without a second thought.

Then he reached for the golden belt, and again, his fingers moved automatically, knotting it with precise efficiency.

The robe settled around him—and with it, Jamie’s posture shifted.

It wasn’t just the clothing. It was the subtle yet undeniable transformation that came with it.

Jamie stood taller, shoulders squared, his entire body language changing as if something had just locked into place.

It reminded Jesse of how Jamie got into position when he was about to dance; the seconds before the music set in and he got ready to give his everything.

But this was different now.

It was deeper.

And to be honest, Jesse wasn’t sure it was something he was ready to discover.

As his gaze wandered over the sight in front of him, it suddenly caught on something he’d almost forgotten—a detail he wished they could just ignore.

It was those dark stains. Stains that, unlike the soot and ash which had vanished when Jesse had washed the robe months ago, had remained.

Blood.

“Jamie…” Jesse’s voice was tight in his dry throat. He still stood in the door frame, unable to move as his feet felt as if they were gl ued to the ground. “That blood. Could that… be Eleanore’s?”

Jamie’s eyes flicked down, his fingers brushing lightly against the dark blotches. He didn’t seem surprised by the question, yet the tension in his body tightened ever so slightly. “I don’t know,” he said quietly. “But… it could be.”

“But if it is,” Jesse thought out loud, “if that’s really hers, and if the blood you had on your hands was too… then, what if she’s already dead?”

That wasn’t as far-fetched as it sounded.

After all, Jamie was seeing a dead body in his nightmares.

Jamie didn’t answer right away. For a moment, his face was unreadable.

Jesse could see him considering it, turning it over in his mind, weighing the possibility.

Then, Jamie lifted his head, his eyes locking on Jesse’s—and something in him changed.

His expression hardened into something Jesse didn’t recognize, as if he were facing something only he could see.

Like the world had suddenly aligned itself around him in a way it hadn’t before.

“No.” Jamie’s voice was quiet, but there was no mistaking the certainty in it. “She’s alive. And I’ll have to fight her.”

The way Jamie wore the robe suddenly looked as if he was wearing some kind of armor, though the soft silk sure as hell didn’t offer any kind of protection. It was as if Jamie was gearing up for a battle he’d been expecting all along.

Out of the blue, a memory pulled at Jesse’s mind; a moment he had almost forgotten, from a time when something had slipped from Jamie’s lips, weeks ago.

‘I’ve been conditioning for … ’

The words echoed so very differently now.

Was that where Jamie’s remarkable physical prowess was truly coming from? Was that the reason for him having been such a light sleeper? The reason why he’d almost attacked Austin in reflex when he’d thought the kitchen was on fire?

Had Jamie really been conditioning for something like this ?

Jesse couldn’t help but recall the talk he’d had with Austin after the events on the lake, when they’d tried to imagine what that attack against Jamie must’ve looked like, and all they could think of were epic scenes from fantasy movies.

Just that this wasn’t a movie. It was real.

Terrifyingly real.

“I will have to fight her,” Jamie said again, taking a determined step forward. His dark brown eyes were harder now, and yet, there was something else in them.

Something final, something that Jesse didn’t want to be there.

“And once my memories returned,” Jamie continued, and looked as if the words were physically hurting him as a deep sadness settled on his face, “I will have no choice but leave.”

Jesse’s gaze dropped to the ground for a moment before he looked back up, his vision blurring as he struggled to fight back tears.

“You’ve… said that before,” he managed. “But how can you be so sure about that? Why can’t you just stay, if you want to?

Even when you remember where you used to be, that doesn’t mean you would have to go back!

” He was sounding desperate now, grasping for just anything.

But the thought of being without Jamie was one that Jesse couldn’t bear.

“You’ve built a life here! You’ve got your job at the studio, your dance crew, Austin, me!

And you have your safe form, too! You gain more and more control of your powers with every passing day!

You can just… pretend that you didn’t remember! ”

God, he knew how ridiculous it was, how naive.

But he wanted to believe it so badly.

Jamie swallowed hard as a mix of guilt and apology crossed his face.

“No,” he said quietly—and the sound of that one word erased every bit of hope that had been left.

“I… wish I could give you an answer, Jesse, I wish I could explain why I know I have to go. But I can’t explain it, like I cannot tell you why the wind blows, how the sun burns, or what makes a heart fall in love.

I just know that it will happen. Once my memories return, I will have to leave. ”

So that was it, then.

It was really going to happen.

A weight seemed to settle upon Jesse like a thick, heavy snow, as the pieces fell into place, crushing and cold. ‘Leaving’ wasn’t just about moving to another state, to Texas or California, or even to a different continent.