They stared at each other while my fingertips turned purple.

“I can carry her,” Jared finally said in a low voice.

“Can you?” Ian challenged. He held me out, away from his body.

An offer.

Jared stared at my face for a long minute. Then he sighed and dropped my hand.

Ow, that hurts! Melanie complained. She was referring to the sudden lance of pain that shot through my chest, not the return of blood to my fingers.

Sorry. What do you want me to do about it?

He’s not yours.

Yes. I know that.

Ow.

Sorry.

“I think I’ll tag along,” Jared said as Ian, with a tiny, triumphant smile hovering around the edges of his mouth, turned and headed toward the exit. “There’s something I want to discuss with you.”

“Suit yourself.”

Jared didn’t discuss anything at all as we walked through the dark tunnel. He was so quiet, I wasn’t sure he was still there. But when we broke out into the light of the cornfield again, he was right beside us.

He didn’t speak until we were through the big plaza-until there was no one around but the three of us.

“What’s your take on Kyle?” he asked Ian.

Ian snorted. “He prides himself on being a man of his word. Usually, I would trust a promise from him. In this situation… I’m not letting her out of my sight.”

“Good.”

“It will be fine, Ian,” I said. “I’m not afraid.”

“You don’t have to be. I promise-no one is ever going to do something like this to you again. You will be safe here.”

It was hard to look away from his eyes when they blazed like that. Hard to doubt anything he said.

“Yes,” Jared agreed. “You will.”

He was walking just behind Ian’s shoulder. I couldn’t see his expression.

“Thanks,” I whispered.

No one spoke again until Ian paused at the red and gray doors that leaned over the entrance to his cave.

“Would you mind getting that?” Ian said to Jared, nodding toward the doors.

Jared didn’t move. Ian turned around so we could both see him; his face was careful again.

“Your room? This is your better place?” Jared’s voice was full of skepticism.

“It’s her room now.”

I bit my lip. I wanted to tell Ian that of course this wasn’t my room, but I didn’t get a chance before Jared began questioning him.

“Where’s Kyle staying?”

“With Wes, for now.”

“And you?”

“I’m not exactly sure.”

They stared at each other with appraising eyes.

“Ian, this is -” I started to say.

“Oh,” he interrupted, as if just remembering me… as if my weight was so insignificant that he’d forgotten I was here. “You’re exhausted, aren’t you? Jared, could you get the door, please?”

Wordlessly, Jared wrenched the red door back with a bit too much force and shoved it on top of the gray one.

I now really saw Ian’s room for the first time, with the noon sun filtering down through the narrow cracks in the ceiling. It wasn’t as bright as Jamie and Jared’s room, or as tall. It was smaller, more proportionate. Roundish-sort of like my hole, only ten times the size. There were two twin mattresses on the floor, shoved against opposite walls to make a narrow aisle between them. Against the back wall, there was a long, low wooden cupboard; the left side had a pile of clothes on top, two books, and a stack of playing cards. The right side was completely empty, though there were shapes in the dust that indicated this was a recent occurrence.

Ian set me carefully down on the right mattress, arranging my leg and straightening the pillow under my head. Jared stood in the doorway, facing the passageway.

“That okay?” Ian asked me.

“Yes.”

“You look tired.”

“I shouldn’t be-I’ve done nothing but sleep lately.”

“Your body needs sleep to heal.”

I nodded. I couldn’t deny that it was hard to hold up my eyelids.

“I’ll bring you food later-don’t worry about anything.”

“Thank you. Ian?”

“Yeah?”

“This is your room,” I mumbled. “You’ll sleep here, of course.”

“You don’t mind?”

“Why would I?”

“It’s probably a good idea-best way to keep an eye on you. Get some sleep.”

“Okay.”

My eyes were already closed. He patted my hand, and then I heard him get to his feet. A few seconds later, the wooden door clunked softly against stone.

What do you think you’re doing? Melanie demanded.

What? What did I do now?

Wanda, you’re… mostly human. You must realize what Ian will think of your invitation.

Invitation? I could see the direction of her thoughts now. It’s not like that. This is his room. There are two beds here. There aren’t enough sleeping areas for me to have my own space. Of course we should share. Ian knows that.

Does he? Wanda, open your eyes. He’s starting to… How do I explain it so that you’ll understand right? To feel about you… the way you feel about Jared. Can’t you see that?

I couldn’t answer for two heartbeats.

That’s impossible, I finally said.

“Do you think what happened this morning will influence Aaron or Brandt?” Ian asked in a low voice from the other side of the doors.

“You mean Kyle getting a bye?”

“Yeah. They didn’t have to… do anything before. Not when it looked so likely that Kyle would do it for them.”

“I see your point. I’ll speak to them.”

“You think that will be enough?” Ian asked.

“I’ve saved both their lives. They owe me. If I ask them for something, they’ll do it.”

“You’d bet her life on that?”

There was a pause.

“We’ll keep an eye on her,” Jared finally said.

Another long silence.

“Aren’t you going to go eat?” Jared asked.

“I think I’ll hang out here for a bit… How about you?”

Jared didn’t answer.

“What?” Ian asked. “Is there something you want to say to me, Jared?”

“The girl in there…” Jared said slowly.

“Yes?”

“That body doesn’t belong to her.”

“Your point?”

Jared’s voice was hard when he answered. “Keep your hands off it.”

A low chuckle from Ian. “Jealous, Howe?”

“That’s not really the issue.”

“Really.” Ian was sarcastic now.

“Wanda seems to be, more or less, cooperating with Melanie. It sounds like they’re almost… on friendly terms. But obviously Wanda’s making the decisions. What if it were you? How would you feel if you were Melanie? What if you were the one… invaded that way? What if you were trapped, and someone else was telling your body what to do? If you couldn’t speak for yourself? Wouldn’t you want your wishes-as much as they could be known-respected? At the very least by other humans?”

“Okay, okay. Point taken. I’ll keep that in mind.”

“What do you mean, you’ll keep that in mind?” Jared demanded.

“I mean that I’ll think about it.”

“There’s nothing to think about,” Jared retorted. I knew how he would look from the sound of his voice-teeth clenched, jaw strained. “The body and the person locked inside it belong to me.”

“You’re sure that Melanie still feels the -”

“Melanie will always be mine. And I will always be hers.”

Always.

Melanie and I were suddenly at opposite ends of the spectrum. She was flying, elated. I was… not.

We waited anxiously through the next silence.

“But what if it were you?” Ian asked in little more than a whisper. “What if you were stuffed in a human body and let loose on this planet, only to find yourself lost among your own kind? What if you were such a good… person that you tried to save the life you’d taken, that you almost died trying to get her back to her family? What if you then found yourself surrounded by violent aliens who hated you and hurt you and tried to murder you, over and over again?” His voice faltered momentarily. “What if you just kept doing whatever you could to save and heal these people despite that? Wouldn’t you deserve a life, too? Wouldn’t you have earned that much?”