Chapter 221-1

"No offence, but you look bloody terrible." And he did look terrible, like someone who hadn't known the joys of sleep for many moons, like someone who had witnessed the most awful of things and was changed irrevocably because of it. His eyes spoke of terrors unbridled and of pain undiminished. "I guess death doesn't become us all," he said with a wry smile that softened the sharpness of his cheekbones and brought light to the darkness that lingered in his expression. His gaze flickered over me, prompting him to arch one dark brow. "You look ... different." He nodded to the glow emanating from my hands that had dimmed to the faint hum of fireflies on a summer's night. "Oh yeah," I said self-consciously, clenching my fists as if it would douse the light. "I'm positively glowing, huh?" He reached out with a hand that tremored weakly and hooked a lock of my hair behind my ear. "Well, I think it suits you. Like Dorothy when she found her ruby red slippers." "Hmm, except this isn't Kansas an