[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

manipulative. Cause she s not controlling you, is she? She s just telling you what
to do.
 Not even telling me what to do. She s just talking, Finn corrected me.
 Why doesn t she talk to me like that? I asked.
 She wasn t sure if you d be receptive. If you re not accustomed to it,
hearing another person s voice in your head can be unsettling, Finn explained.
 And she didn t really need to.
160
  But she needed to with you? I slowed down, and he slowed to match
my pace.  She was talking to you private about me, wasn t she? Finn paused,
and I could see that he was considering lying to me.
 Some of it, yes, Finn admitted.
 Can she read minds? I felt slightly horrified at that thought.
 No. Very few can. When he looked over at me, he smiled crookedly.
 Your secrets are safe, Wendy.
Finn walked me the rest of the way to my room, although I fell silent
after that. My mind spun from everything that happened, and I looked forward
to getting cleaned up and pulling the twigs from my hair. He paused at my door,
and I wasn t sure if I was supposed to invite him in or something. Then he just
smiled, nodded, and told me he d be down the hall if I needed anything.
When I came out of my shower, wrapped in a fluffy bathrobe, I was
surprised to find Rhys sitting on my bed. He had my iPod, the one that had
come with the room, and he was scrolling through it. I ran a finger through my
wet tangles of hair and cleared my throat loudly, since he apparently hadn t
heard me exit the bathroom.
 Oh, hey! Rhys set aside the iPod and got to his feet, grinning at me in
a way that made his eyes sparkle. Then he remembered something, and he
attempted a scowl.  You stole my bike.
 Oh, yeah I m really sorry about that, I admitted sheepishly.  Did
Finn get it back for you? My aunt took it to the impound lot.
 No, he told me about it, but I guess you guys didn t have time cause
you left in a hurry. His expression got more serious as he leaned in towards
me, and it took me a minute to realize he was admiring the bruise I had growing
on the side of my face.  Are you okay?
 Yeah, I m fine. I brushed off his concern and walked around to the
other side of the bed. It suddenly seemed like a good idea to put some distance
between us. When he looked at me like that, it made me acutely aware of the
fact that I wasn t wearing anything underneath my fluffy robe.
161
  Good, Rhys smiled.  But you know, I would ve let you take it
anyway. My motorcycle, I mean. If you had just asked, I wouldn t have stopped
you. His eyes got uncharacteristically somber when he glanced around my
room.  I know what its like to want to escape.
 You aren t happy here? I blurted out before I could think about how
rude that sounded. His eyes met mine, just for a second, revealing something
more than that, but then he quickly dropped them.
 Why wouldn t I be happy? Rhys asked wryly. He was standing
directly on the other side of the bed as me and he ran his fingers along my silk
sheets, staring at the bedspread intently.  I have everything a kid could want.
Video games, cars, toys, money, clothes, servants&  He trailed off, but then a
slow smile returned to his face and he looked up at me.  And now I have a
Princess living across the hall from me. I m ecstatic.
 I m not really a Princess, I shook my head and tucked my hair behind
my ears.  Not in the real sense of the word. I mean& I just got here.
 You look like a Princess to me. The way he smiled at me made me
want to blush, so I stared down at my bedspread, unsure of what else to do.
 So what about you? I kept my head down, but I raised my eyes up to
meet his. The smile playing on my lips felt oddly flirtatious, but I didn t mind it.
 Are you some kind of Prince?
 Hardly, Rhys laughed. He ran a hand through his sandy hair, looking
rather sheepish.  I should probably let you finish getting dressed. The chef is on
tonight, and supper is served promptly at six. So be there or& eat cold
leftovers.
Once he left, I took a deep breath and flopped back on my bed.
Everything felt way too big in this house. There was all this vast space between
everything, and it felt like I was trapped on an island. I had thought that s what
I had wanted. To be my very own island, but here I was, and I felt nothing but
isolated and confused.
I was pretty sure that people weren t telling me things. Every time I
asked something, there were only half-answers and vague responses before they
162 [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]