When I come to again, I keep my eyes shut, mostly due to my eyelids being heavy. At first I think I’m laying in my bed at the Everettson’s house until I note the soft surface underneath my body is made of leather.

I must be in the backseat of Foster’s car.

One thing’s for sure. The object my head is resting on is definitely too hard to be a pillow.

Where the hell am I? And what am I lying on?

“She sleeps soundly,” a recognizable voice says. Then fingers stroke my cheek.

That voice…

Hunter?

Oh my god, my head is resting in Hunter’s lap.

“It’s probably from the power drain,” Max replies. “The power that ripped through her while she was in that room nearly melted my insides. I can’t even imagine how intense it was for her.”

“I know,” Porter agrees. “It was intense even for me, which is saying a lot.”

So Porter, Max, and Hunter are in the car with me. Why does this make me feel so anxious? Not that I’m afraid of them. But out of all the Everettsons, Porter is the most intimidating, and Hunter has no boundaries. As far as I can tell, Max is nice and not as intense, but still…

“The link feels restless,” Max states. “Is she doing okay back there?”

Fingers caress my cheek again. “She’s still sleeping, but I can feel the restlessness too. And some fear.” Hunter pauses. “Maybe I should—”

“No,” Max cuts him off. “Just let her be.”

“Fine. Ruin my fun,” Hunter mutters. “But just so you know, I’m sure it’d be fun for her too. At least under the right circumstances.”

“I agree.,” Porter purrs. “She’d definitely be fun to play with... With those big eyes and that innocence…” He groans.

Um…

Play with me?

Wait, innocence? That’s how he sees me? And why does he sound so delighted about it?

My thoughts travel back to the strange remarks everyone has made about Porter. Just who is Porter Everettson? Or what is he is more like it.

“You know what? I think our little elemental enchanter might be pretending to be asleep,” Hunter remarks, his fingers touching my cheek again.

Fuck. How does he know?

“You know what?” Porter sounds highly amused. “I think you’re right.”

Shit. What do I do? Pretend I’m still asleep? Open my eyes and face them?

I’d much rather do the first, but my gut instinct tells me to get over it and open my damn eyes.

Gathering every ounce of my energy up, I crack my eyes open.

My gaze instantly collides with Hunter’s golden-eyed, twinkling gaze.

“Well hello sleeping beauty. I’m so glad you decided to wake up.” His lips spread into a grin. “Not that I mind having your face in my lap.”

“Hunter.” A warning rings in Max’s tone.

Hunter flashes him a grin. “Don’t pretend like you wouldn’t be thinking the same thing if you were in my place. The only difference is I say what I feel while you keep it bottled up.”

“I don’t keep it bottled up. I just know better than to say every stupid thought that pops into my head.” Max glares at him. “I also understand that no matter what I want, certain things are off limits.”

Hunter rolls his eyes. “Whatever. You’re so boring sometimes. I swear you and Holden are really twins and mom and dad just got us mixed up at some point.”

“You guys are identical twins,” Max says flatly.

“So everyone keeps saying.” Hunter’s eyes glint with amusement. “Personally, I don’t see it.”

Max heaves a weighted sigh, crosses his arms, and faces forward in the seat. “Sky, how are you feeling?”

“A little groggy,” I admit, moving to sit up.

Hunter places a hand on my shoulder and steers me right back down. “You need to lay on me for a while.”

Is he messing with me right now?

I examine his face, the way his eyes glitter, but they always sort of do that.

“I’m not kidding,” he insists. “I’m working on trying to fix the link, but you have to be touching me for me to be able to do it.” He winks at me.

For some dumbass reason, I blush.

His eyes shimmer with delight. “Good gods, that blushing…” He sinks his teeth into his bottom lip. “I can’t…”

“Easy,” Max warns with an edge in his tone. “Get your shit together, man.”

A purr reverberates from somewhere.

My gaze tracks the noise to Porter, who’s clutching the life out of the steering wheel as his eyes flicker wildly. Another purr fumbles from his lips, his head turning in my direction, his gaze welding with mine. The most confusing sensations wave through me and a gasp fumbles from my lips.

“I want…” Porter murmurs, his hands lifting from the steering wheel, and he reaches for me.

“What’re you doing?” Max’s voice slices through the moment as he reaches for the wheel. “Get your head cleared out before I clear it out for you.” Max’s cold eyes fasten on Hunter. “And you’re usually better at controlling your shit. What the hell’s a matter with you?”

“I have no idea, but I think it might be the…” Hunter stares at me for an unnerving moment then tears his gaze off me and pats the back of Porter’s seat. “Pull over. I need some fresh air.”

Porter rubs his lips together, his eyes flashing like fireflies as he rips his gaze off me. Then he takes the wheel back from Max and pulls over onto the side of the road. Without saying a word, he hops out and lifts the seat up before walking away.

Hunter carefully sits me up and climbs out, shutting the door behind him.

Silence encompasses Max and me as Hunter and Porter hike away from the car and into the trees.

Once I can no longer see them, I turn toward Max. “Is everything okay?”

Max gives a wavering nod, sweeping strands of his hair out of his eyes. “They’re fine. They just needed a time out.”

“From me?”

“No… from…” He rubs his hand across his mouth then lets out a sigh, lowering his hand to his lap. “The power that was trapped inside you while you were in that room… some of it ended up slipping down the link between us and it’s making all of us a bit… unsteady.”

“Did it hurt you?” Did I hurt someone else today?

He shakes his head then rotates in his seat and reaches out to take my hand. “You didn’t do anything wrong. And this thing with the link… Hunter has an ability to repair broken energies, and is going to work on repairing the link as quickly as he can.”

“So I broke the link?” And here I thought I was controlling my powers better.

He shakes his head again. “It’s not really broken so much as… altered.”

“Altered how?”

Reluctance creeps across his features. “You’re very full of questions. Not that it’s a bad thing. It’s just…” He closes his eyes and sucks in an inhale before opening his eyes again. “I’m not sure how to answer them.”

“I’m sorry, but I need to know…” My words fade as his glowing green eyes collide with mine and exhaustion drips into my veins.

My eyelids start to lower, and I know Max is the one doing it, making me fall asleep.

The question is, why?

What could be so bad that he’d knock me out with his powers just to avoid telling me?