A Need So Beautiful (A Need So Beautiful #1)(20)

The house phone rings from my dresser, and Alex rolls his eyes. “Romeo again. Want me to grab it?”

“Will you?”

Alex snatches the phone and passes it over. I glance at the caller ID. “It’s actually Sarah,” I say.

“Ugh. Can’t stand that girl.” Alex flees because the sound of Sarah’s perky voice is like nails on a chalkboard to him. He thinks she’s a spoiled brat, she thinks he’s a bitter foster kid. They’re both sort of right, so I don’t get involved.

“Thank you,” I sing as he walks out the door.

I smile and click on the phone. “Hello, dear.”

“What. The. Hell. I’m at school, Charlotte. Where are you?”

“In bed.”

“Clearly. Now get up. I have major problems and I need you here.” I instantly feel bad for not being there for her. Sarah has a way of guilting me into things. It’s her gift.

I sit up, my head feeling like it’s two seconds behind my movements. But I’m thinking forward to the quickest way to school, bus or cab. “Are you okay?” I ask.

“What? I’m fine. Sort of. So last night at the charity event, something happened. And I cannot deal with this today. Not by myself.”

I relax a little. I realize that her voice isn’t frantic enough for this to be an actual emergency. This is a Sarah emergency, which means it relates to boys, clothes, or boys. “You scared the crap out of me, you know?”

She snorts. “Hello? You didn’t show up for school and Harlin’s been calling me like a crazed maniac talking about how you were hit by a car. How are you feeling, by the way?”

“Nice of you to ask. I’m fine.”

“Oh, please. If you were dead I would have found out long before now. Besides, I called Monroe the second I heard and he said you were fine. So don’t get all feel-sorry-for-me. Now are you going to help me or not?”

“Sarah, I’m ninety-nine percent sure that I can’t help you. But if you need me to listen while you complain, I can do that.”

“Awesome. Meet me for lunch at Frankie’s. My treat.”

“I just woke up. I have stitches in my head!” But somehow I know that even this isn’t a good enough excuse to miss lunch.

“See you in twenty,” she hangs up.

I put the phone down on my bed and rub roughly at my face. Sarah knows it will take me longer than twenty minutes to get to Frankie’s, and that’s if I don’t shower. But I sigh and climb out of bed, wincing once when I put weight on my thighs.

I pause, last night’s conversation with Monroe rushing back to me. The Forgotten. I stumble backward onto my bed, my heart racing. Quickly I shove my shirt off my shoulder and stare at the glowing gold beneath. My mind races through everything he said. He said it wouldn’t kill me. He said—

I’m like you. Only more evolved.

The voice in my head is from my dream, even though the memory of it is foggy along the edges. I can’t quite remember, like it’s just out of reach. I can still hear those words, though. I can still hear that voice.

I furrow my brow, considering what it means. Monroe had said that “they” should have told me by now. Maybe that’s what the voice is. Maybe it’ll tell me who I am and how I can save myself. If there’s someone else like me out there, it means I don’t have to die, right? Maybe I’m not the light after all. I feel almost relieved, so I stand and begin walking to the bathroom to get ready to meet Sarah. For the first time since finding the gold, I have a sense of hope. I’ll get the answers and then I can—

The force of it hits me. A shiver that runs from my toes to the top of my aching head. An intense burning in my shoulder. A vine that twists around my gut.

The Need. It’s back.

Chapter 8

I stumble out of my room, something pulling me fiercely toward the door. I’m still in my pajamas, barefoot. As I pass the kitchen, I hear Alex.

“Where are you going? I think you should wait for Mercy.”

I’m burning up from the inside, needing to get out. I look sideways at him and try to smile. “Can’t. Tell her I’ll call her later.”

“Not your secretary.” He shakes his head and turns to open the fridge. I’m glad that he doesn’t notice my bare feet. If he did, he might try to stop me. But there’s somewhere I have to be. My body is demanding it.

As I get to the front door, a burst of wind blows through me and I pause. I still feel pulsing under my skin, in my shoulder. But this is where I’m supposed to stop. I open my apartment door and peer out into the hallway. It’s empty.

I stand there, not sure what to do. Is it Alex? Maybe I could just go back and grab my shoes, still make it to Frankie’s. I’m about to try when I hear the squeak of hinges. I glance down the hallway and see the door of apartment 5468 ajar, but no one comes out. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen who lives there.

The Need pulls me out and I shut my door quietly, the sound of my bare feet padding on the floors. The door to the other apartment is still open.

I wheeze, heat searing my shoulder, and I push my T-shirt aside to look at the spot. It’s glowing.

“Oh God,” I murmur, trying not to cry. Unlike a few moments ago, the skin around the spot is now peeling at the edges; my skin rubbed away, exposing more gold. It’s the size of a grapefruit, my entire shoulder an inhuman shade with an indescribable shine.