Unmarked by Kami García Page A

at him. “Are you kidding? What if you’d gotten caught?”
    “I didn’t care. I needed to know you were okay. But when I got there, you were already in the emergency room. I tried sneaking back to see you, but the cops were all over the place.”
    I remembered lying on the hospital bed, praying he was okay.
    If I’d known he was so close…
    “Eventually, they moved you. I watched them wheel you into the elevator. Your face was still muddy and you had this look in your eyes.” Jared bit his lip. “I don’t know how to describe it. You looked so alone, like you didn’t care what happened to you. It took everything I had in me not to go over there. Watching those elevator doors close with you inside—” He shook his head. “Felt like it broke me.”
    Every part of me ached for him. I rested my palm on his chest, above his heart.
    Jared laid both of his hands on top of mine and held them there. “You’re the only thing I thought about, Kennedy, I swear. I didn’t care about the demon or the dead crows or the end of the world. I know it was selfish, but all that mattered was finding you.”
    The back of my throat burned. “I thought about you, too. I wanted you to find me. I just—”
    He squeezed my hand. “What?”
    I struggled to find the words. “I know you said you were thinking about me, but after everything that happened, I didn’t think you’d want me anymore.”
    And I don’t deserve you.
    Jared looked stunned. He pulled me into his lap and pressed his forehead against mine. “You’re the only thing I want. But it’s more than that. The way I feel about you…”
    “What?” I didn’t know what he was about to say, but I wanted to hear it.
    “I need you,” he whispered. “More than I’ve ever needed anything.”
    I tugged on the collar of his thermal and kissed him like I might never get the chance again. When we finally came up for air, Jared pulled the sleeping bag around us. “I’ve never said that to anyone before.”
    I wanted to tell him I felt the same way, but I stopped myself. “Are you sorry you said it?”
    “No.” He shook his head in the darkness. “I’m just not used to talking about the way I feel. I was always the guy who never let anyone get too close, because I didn’t want to care. Not like this.”
    “And now?”
    He tightened his arms around me, the only answer he could give. I rested my head against his chest and listened to the sound of his heartbeat.
    As I drifted off to sleep, I heard Jared whisper something else. “I don’t even remember how to be that guy anymore.”

I awoke with Jared’s body curled around mine, his chest rising and falling against my back in a gentle rhythm. His lips grazed my neck each time he took a breath, sending a shiver up my spine.
    I forgot about where we were and all the things that had led us here, until a streak of light fell across the wall of weapons.
    I untangled my body from Jared’s and tiptoed down the attic staircase.
    We needed Faith, no matter how crazy she seemed. She knew more about Andras and the Legion than the rest of us, and if she was right about the Illuminati, we were in the dark on yet another front. As much as I hated thethought, if I promised to sit on the sidelines, maybe she would reconsider and help us.
    I padded down the hallway. The bare white walls and the emergency lighting along the baseboards reminded me how different my aunt’s life was from mine—and how much lonelier.
    When I reached Faith’s door, I stood there with my fist poised in the air.
    You can do this.
    A strange sound came from inside. Was she crying? The sound grew louder, and I recognized the insistent whimper.
    Bear.
    “Faith?” I called through the door, knocking over and over. “It’s Kennedy. Is everything okay?”
    A door opened down the hall, and Alara poked her head out. “What’s going on?”
    “Something’s wrong.” I pounded harder. “Her door is locked, and Bear’s in there whining. She’s not