Magnetic Shift Read Online Free Page B

sound silence could be.
    I looked up at my reflection. My eyes were their dull gray selves again. “Thank you,” I whispered to no one, and then slumped back against the wall, eyes closed, concentrating on catching my breath as the expected wave of exhaustion hit me with a cold sweat.
    The creaking door to the motor coach opened and broke through my sweet silence. My nerves tensed, and I pursed my lips shut to try to contain the occasional whimpers that insisted on slipping out.
    “Lexi?”
    Shit. What was Colton doing back here so soon?
    “Lexi, are you in here? Dean asked me to come …” His voice trailed off, and I knew he had heard me.
    A knock at the bathroom door pushed me to square my shoulders and bite down on my lower lip to prevent any more noises from coming out.
    “Lexi, are you alright in there? If you don’t answer, I’m coming in.”
    Could he? I couldn’t remember if I’d locked the door. I didn’t think I did. Crap. I didn’t have the energy to contain another meltdown. I opened my mouth to ask him to leave, but a sniff and a sob replaced my words. I clamped both hands over my mouth, hoping he hadn’t heard.
    The door slid open. His eyes landed on me, half collapsed on the floor against the wall. He shoved the door wide open and dropped to his knees next to me. “Lexi, damn it, what happened?”
    “Nothing,” I choked out.
    “You’re bleeding. You’ve been crying.”
    Bleeding? I snapped a glance back to the mirror in frontof me. A nosebleed. “Oh. That. It’s nothing. I get these all the time.” Over the years, I’d learned that using my ability lowered my iron levels, so using it from time to time kept me balanced. But losing control like I’d just done dipped them dangerously low, bringing on more extreme symptoms. This was just another common side effect of my uncontrolled magnetic freak-outs. It’d been so long since I’d had one that I’d almost forgotten.
    I stood and tore off a few hand-twirls of toilet paper from the holder and held it to my nose to soak up the blood. Colton towered behind me, so close that all it would take was a slight lean to rest my head against his chest. My stomach did that fluttery thing again and sent pulses rushing to my head, but this time, I was too weak to fight for control. The curse dulled to a low hum in the back of my mind.
    I stared at his reflection in the mirror—more specifically, his mismatched eyes. “Me being here has nothing to do with my mechanical skills, does it? I’m a charity case.”
    Colton’s eyes narrowed. “No—”
    “That’s why he accepted that deal. That’s why you and Dean are being so nice …” A sob cut me short.
    Colton slid his warm hand up my right arm. The flutters spread to my chest and into my lungs, making it harder to breathe. He lifted my sleeve and uncovered the yellowed marking left over from last week’s bruise. The discoloration stuck out against my skin. Colton’s entire hand glided gently over the mark, and then he looked up and met my eyes through the mirror. A shiver ran across my shoulders.
    “Dean knows what it’s like. He’s been in your shoes.”
    I stepped out of his touch, ashamed that he knew about my bruise and what kind of stepdad Roy really was. I balledup the blood-soaked wad of toilet paper and whipped it at the wastebasket next to the toilet with whatever strength I could muster. Colton took one of my elbows and gently turned me around to face him. “Give Dean a chance, Lex. He’s a good guy. Trust me. Don’t go through this alone. Not when you don’t have to.”
    This would’ve been so much easier if Roy’s tight arm grips and slaps were the only things I had to worry about—if I didn’t have to monitor my own thoughts and analyze my emotions every damn second to make sure I didn’t expose myself in public and get locked up in some mental institution. But my life hadn’t been easy for three and a half years now. I had to live with the fear and the guilt. Images