Note: Play the song for this scene. Seriously. Play it. :D

Asher stepped closer, his fingers were cool on my face. My heart was beating wildly as he brushed his lips over mine, sending a shiver through me. He drew away again, a mischievous grin on his face, and I realized suddenly that he was teasing me.

“Like that?” He asked.

“No,” I growled, “like this…”

 I couldn’t take it anymore, so…I launched myself at him, totally undignified, fingers grasping the fabric of his shirt, yanking him against me. I might regret this later.

He looked shocked, but only for a second, then his hands tangled in my hair and his hips were pressing into mine. His mouth was on mine, sending flash of excitement through me.

The kiss was hot, reckless.

We tumbled backwards onto the bed, and Asher landed on top of me, hands braced on the mattress on either side of my head. His foot knocked a vase off the stand beside the bed and it shattered to pieces on the floor.

We ignored it.

There was no time to think. We were tangled in one another, his hands were on my neck, my shoulders, my arms, running up under the fabric of my t-shirt, his fingers cool on the hot skin of my shoulders, giving me shivers.

His mouth was cool, then hot. It made my lips tingle as he kissed me.

Then it happened, a sudden shift in the air around us, and Asher and I were connected. His heartbeat thrummed through me at a furious pace and I could feel the breath enter and leave his body, feel his chest rising and falling. I couldn’t hold back my gasp of shock, and Asher’s eyes widened.

His thoughts flooded into my mind, and I could feel his entire body buzzing with electricity and…heat. Heat from me. I could tell how he felt, how much he wanted me…and color flooded my cheeks.

The link? He said it without moving his lips. I nodded. It should have been shocking, hearing one another’s thoughts, but with him it seemed as natural as breathing.

Keep going? He could probably hear the tinge of hope in my thoughts.

Hell yes.

It was more intense now. Breathtaking. Now Asher knew my every thought. Where to touch, where to kiss.

I squirmed as he trailed kisses down the side of my neck.

A roar in my left ear made us both sit up, breathing hard, and my mouth dropped open.

The bed was on fire.

The comforter was blackening, orange flames ate at the fabric around our bodies.

“Oh shit!” Asher scrambled off me, beating at the bed sheets, and I sprang up to join him. We rolled the sheets over to suffocate the flames.

“I’m so sorry!” I cried, “I didn’t even realize that was happening. Oh god, that was me…”

The link had broken as soon as Asher got up, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. His face was blank. Was he angry at me?

He unrolled the blankets and inspected the burn pattern. “I think we put it out. Yeah.”

We both stared down at the bed. There, in the middle of the comforter was a charred outline of two bodies lying together. I blushed all the way up to the tips of my ears.

“Wow.” Asher blinked, then he looked at me, a grin splitting his face. “We were hot.”

I groaned, sagging against the edge of the bed. He wasn’t mad at me then. “I burnt the bed!”

“I think it was worth it…I swear, I felt something…”

“The link you mean?”

“When we…you…when the bed burnt.” He almost looked hopeful. “It sort of felt like we both did it.”
            I didn’t want to point out that it was probably the link he’d felt. That he’d probably felt my power through it. “Well, you did go all hot and cold.”

“Really?” For a moment he looked pleased, then his grin faded and he shrugged. “Bah, I better not get my hope up. It would be unheard of to get powers this late in life. Wishful thinking, most likely it was the result of the link.” He strode over to the stone fireplace and pressed the buzzer under the hearth. “You’ll want some new sheets.”

My eyes went wide. “Oh, crap. What’ll I tell the servant?”

Asher chuckled. “I think they’ll be able to guess.”

I groaned, finding a spot to sit on the bed that wasn’t charred, sagging onto the mattress. “That’s SO embarrassing!”

“I’ll go before they get here.” He turned for the door, then paused. “Want me to find someone else to teach you tomorrow? I can tell Juku he’s fired.” Asher looked pretty happy with the idea. “It’s not a problem.”

“I’m sure.” I sighed. “Who'll teach me then?”

“Cordy is pretty good,” Asher suggested. “Would that be okay?”

“That would be a relief actually. Someone familiar.”

“And non-creepy,” he added.

“Exactly.”

“See you tomorrow, right?” Asher leaned in for a kiss, pulling away before it got too deep. Wouldn’t want to burst into flames again…

“Alright,” I ushered him out the door just on time to hear footsteps down the hallway. Luckily he scurried out of sight before the servant rounded the corner. That would have been embarrassing.

“You buzzed?” The servant was a girl this time, a short cheerful woman with large brown eyes and a ponytail.

“Oh, hi.” I ducked my head, explaining about the sheets, trying to make it sound like I’d been just lying there by myself and spontaneously burst into flames.

She totally didn’t buy it, but of course, she was too polite to comment. She told me it wasn’t a problem and it “happened all the time” and then bustled off to get more sheets.

I stared at the flames in the fireplace until she got back, and tried to help her make the bed.

“No, no.” She waved me away. “You’re sweet, but it’s my job, dear.”

There was only awkward silence for a few minutes, since she was really fast, then she turned to me before she left, pulling a whites square of paper from her pocket. “I just about forgot. Found this on the cork board downstairs. It had your name on the front.”

I blinked at her incomprehensively. “A note…for me?”

The servant girl nodded. “Can’t think why it was in the servants quarters, but it was pinned to the notice board. Someone must have hoped we would deliver it to you.”

I took the paper from her, which was smudged with dirt and frayed at the corners, unfolding it to reveal tiny cramped handwriting. “Oh…uh, thanks.” Who on earth would be writing to me?

The first line of the letter said, Dear Jessica Parker…

The door shut with a quiet bump, and my entire body jerked with surprise. I hadn’t even realized she’d left the room.

I returned my attention to the letter.

Dear Jessica Parker…

Or shall I say “daughter”? Apparently you’ve picked your side, betrayed your own flesh and blood. Unfortunately, we cannot accept that.

You will find us in the woods tonight. And, should you choose to ignore this invitation, I think you should know that we have your little friend, Kloe.

I do hope you’ll come, because every night you don’t she’ll lose another finger. At the end of the week, if you haven’t come to us she’ll be parted from her head. This often results in death, and it will be on you.

It’s very simple. All you have to do is walk out of the castle and into the woods. We’ll be waiting. Come alone. If you tell anyone, we will kill her immediately.

Sincerely,

Your loving mother

The letter crunched as my fingers closed around it convulsively. They were out there in the woods, waiting for me. Horror coursed through me, but there was also something else...anger. Anger that I hadn't taken my instincts more seriously. I had known they were still there. I had dismissed it, thinking I was paranoid.

My stomach was churning. The servant had said the note had been left on some message board downstairs. That could only mean one thing. There was a rebel in the palace, no doubt spying for them. Maybe reporting back everything I did.

I reread the part about Kloe losing fingers, feeling sick. I hated Kloe, she was the worst sort of person, but she didn’t deserve that. Nobody did.

How did they manage to kidnap her? Maybe the same rebel who had infiltrated the palace? I remembered what Cordy and Lettisha had told me about the captured rebel spies becoming servants. Maybe their loyalties hadn’t changed, and one of them had spirited away Kloe.

Why Kloe? Wouldn’t you want someone less obnoxious?

Instantly I felt bad for thinking that. There was only one thing to do. I couldn’t let anyone die because of me, even if it was a horrible brat like Kloe.

But if I went out there and the rebels took me away, no one would be able to tell Loki and Megan that they had a spy in their midst…

I grabbed a pen off the desk beside the bed, scratching out a quick note on the back of the letter, Asher. Rebels have Kloe. Got to go save her. Ps. You have a spy somewhere here.

It was crude, but it would have to do.

Taking a big breath I tried to keep myself from shaking, from just falling onto the freshly made bed in a quivering heap. I didn’t want to see Kari, and the thought of seeing Trent again made me burn hot and cold with fear and anger. I don’t want to do this.

It didn’t matter what I wanted though. I had to do it.

There was probably no point bringing anything with me, so I just grabbed a jacket from the wardrobe and shrugged into it, buttoning up the front and heading for the door. What was I going to say if I met someone in the hallway? Hey, don’t mind me, I’m just going to meet the rebels in the forest and make sure they don’t chop anyone’s fingers off.

Right, something like that.

I put one shaking hand on the doorknob and tried to force myself to be brave.