Changing You ✦ The Sequel

Chapter 46 {R}

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I hated that the burning aching of wolfsbane in my veins felt familiar, and how it continued to numb my senses even as I slowly regained consciousness.

The first thing I realised was that I wasn't where I was supposed to be.

And I wasn't alone.

I kept my eyes shut, held still, waiting for my senses to wake up and searching for clues while trying to convey the fact that I was conscious from whoever was with me; but I knew my heartbeat betrayed me.

A touch to my forearm made me shoot up. My hands instinctively pushed everyone off and away from me and I reached for a throat because more than anything I felt unsafe — felt like I needed to defend myself, still caught in the heat of the battle from right before I passed out — felt like I needed to fight back, because people had tried to hurt me too often and too much lately.

"Woah, hey, Ri, it's me. It's me."

I froze so hard and so fast — like a ghost had just turned to life before my eyes — that I didn't even let go of his throat until he carefully took my wrists and tugged my hands off.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

I stared at him, bluntly, until my eyes fell out of their glow and his features became as familiar as always.

I managed to catch my breath, and with it, my vocabulary. "What are you doing here?"

Jonah shook his head, staring back, his eyes searching mine like he was reading each and every memory behind them and I didn't know how fast to look away. "I think you're the one who's got things to explain," he said softly.

I swallowed, pulled my hands out of his when I realised he was checking for any sign of pain and sat back on my bed, still very much disoriented.

And it was weird. It was nothing but weird because I knew I was in my room, and this was Jonah and I couldn't have been anywhere more safe; and yet, I felt anxiety flare up my back and I couldn't get myself to feel calm or relieved.

"What happened? Who did this to you?"

"I need to find Zach." My words couldn't keep up with my actions as I had already stood up, panic kickstarting my senses so quickly I felt my mind swirling.

"Easy." Jonah caught me right before I misstepped and lost my balance. He sat me back down. "Can you please talk to me first?"

A scarlet red glow flickered through his eyes, just shortly, and I already knew he was going to tap into my emotions right before I felt a wave of calmness wash over me.

The calmness he made me feel contrasted sharply with the way he felt himself, I realised, because there was a concern inked deeply into his pupils when he looked at me. "What is going on?"

I felt shame and guilt stab right through his shield of empathy and it hit me hard. It hit me that he knew I had lied to him, that I had denied everything when he knew something was wrong, and that I had purposely pushed him away.

And it hit him hard, too.

He could influence my emotional state up to some point, but I don't think he could change his own.