Flamebound by Tessa Adams

going to lose my mind if they don’t get out of here ASAP. Because five minutes into their exam, it occurs to me why we might be having so much trouble reaching Declan. While I admit that I still don’t know how this soulbound thing works, it doesn’t seem out of the realm of possibility that if something happened to him, it would definitely affect me as well. Which means that all of that weird stuff that just happened could have been my own magic’s reaction to something going wrong—really wrong—with Declan.
    The second I close the door behind the paramedics, I dive for the phone. But Declan’s cell just rings and rings. Where is he? Why isn’t he answering? I try not to panic, but it’s hard—especially when everything just feels off. Even my skin feels too tight.
    Sitting here worrying isn’t doing me any good, though, so I might as well make myself useful. Lily is cleaning up the mess in the kitchen and I get up to give her a hand. I am the one who caused it, after all.
    I’ve only taken two steps toward the kitchen when it hits me. I stumble into the wall, grab onto the door frame to keep from falling as my whole body starts to shake.
    â€œOh shit!” Lily yells, dropping the broom and rushing over to me. “Not again!”
    â€œI’m fine.”
    â€œYeah, you look fine.” She reaches for her purse. “That’s it. I’m taking you to the hospital.”
    I shake my head as fear wells up inside me. “I can’t go.”
    â€œBullshit. You’re going.”
    â€œIt’s too late.”
    I stumble back to my bedroom, every step a battle against the energy raging inside me.
Please don’t let it be Declan,
I pray.
Please, Isis, I beg of you, not Declan.
    I reach for a pair of jeans, yank them on. Then slip my feet into the first shoes I find—the pair of purple cowboy boots my mother foisted on me the last time I was home. Then I’m grabbing a jacket from the coat rack in the hall and tearing down the hallway to the front door.
    â€œWhere are you going?” Lily demands, standing in the middle of the living room, her hands on her hips and an exasperated expression on her face.
    â€œIt’s happening,” I tell her.
    â€œWhat’s happening?” Then her eyes grow wide. “Oh shit. No way!” She dashes down the hall to her room. “You’re not going out there alone. Let me get dressed and I’ll go with you.”
    â€œHurry,” I tell her, knowing it’s useless to argue. Besides, I don’t really want to do this on my own. If it is Declan’s body I find . . . If it is him, I don’t know how I’ll survive.
    The sick feeling inside me is growing with every second that passes. It’s an itchiness, a low-grade vibration running through my veins. It’s not bad yet, but I know from experience that this is only the beginning. But if Lily doesn’t move it, I’m going to be in a world of hurt before I even step out of the house.
    Seconds later, the electricity starts. Small, painful sparks that travel along my nerve endings—pop, pop, pop—one after the other. I can’t take it anymore. I throw the front door open and head down the steps to the driveway. Once there, I bend over, brace my hands on my knees and concentrate on pulling deep breaths into my lungs.
    The nighttime air makes it a little bit better, but with every second that passes, the compulsion is getting worse. The need to move, to search, to find, is taking me over a little more with each electric jolt that sweeps through me.
    Turning to the left, I start to walk. Even as I tell myself to wait for Lily—even as my brain orders me to stop—my body keeps moving. I’ve waited too long. I’m firmly in the grip of the compulsion now and nothing can stop it, stop me, short of finding the body that caused all this.
    I hear Lily slam the front door behind me. A