Fear Me Not (The EVE Chronicles) by Sara Wolf Page A

wall. I flush, realizing they’re only in their underwear, but they don’t seem to care at all. They quickly dress in their normal clothes. The circle of Gutters are now talking to each other, smiling and laughing like a regular social gathering had taken place, not a fight for honor.  
    “What happened?” I ask Shadus.
    “You didn’t see it? Melune won. She touched Gira’s arm.”
    “No, sorry, I don’t have crazy-good eagle eyes. Lizard eyes. Whatever.”
    “Our eyesight is average in these bodies, and very poor in our original bodies,” Shadus corrects.
    “Then how…how do you guys follow all those fast movements?”
    “It’s hard to explain,” He muses. “But I can try to show you. If you’ll permit me.”
    “What are you going to do?”
    “Invade your personal space. Again.”
    My curiosity overwhelms me. “Sure, fine. Go ahead. Just don’t bite me or anything.”
    He leans in, so close I can count his eyelashes. His body heat radiates from his sweater, even in the already-stifling basement. The world around me dims, the voices of the other Gutters fading to a buzz. I can only hear my own heart beating.
    “It’s like this,” he says, voice low. He slowly rolls up the sleeve of my hoodie, and then he raises his hand, glancing his palm across my arm without touching it. I can feel the heat from his skin move along my skin. The hairs on my forearm tingle.  
    “And now, close your eyes.”
    My EVE organ contracts, shuddering against my ribcage at his request. I close my eyes. The world is nothing but black. He moves his palm closer, and closer. The heat becomes brighter, hotter. I can feel what he’s doing, his movements, without seeing them. It’s new, and strange, and every bit of me likes it. Wants more of it.  
    And then he pulls his hand away. I open my eyes, and he’s looking right at me.
    “That’s how Gutters see without seeing.”
    “Heat vision?” I ask. He nods.
    “Surprisingly, human DNA takes to advanced heat gland modification much more readily than advanced scent gland modification. The Illuminator scientists believe it has something to do with your mammalian lineage.”
    I feel flustered, like I can’t breathe properly. My face is on fire, and it’s not just from the heat in the basement.
    “Whenever you’re done divulging all our secrets to a human girl, Shadus,” Taj drawls. While Shadus was demonstrating, Taj changed into a silver patra robe. He looks even broader and more intimidating, like a silver wolf. “I’d like to have a word with you.”
    “Just one?” Shadus cocks a brow. “Would that word be patra ?”
    “It’s long overdue,” Taj agrees coolly. “We haven’t tested our skills against each other since we were hatchlings.”
    The Gutters have been surreptitiously shooting Taj and Shadus looks, listening in on their conversation. And now, the crowd falls quiet, murmurs circulating in bare whispers.
    “A patra between sotho ?” A girl hisses to a boy. “But that means –”
    The girl shoots a look at me. I try to keep a blank face, so they don’t assume anything. But what are they assuming in the first place?
    “There’s no way,” The boy sneers to the girl. “She’s a human. Sotho wouldn’t look twice at her.”
    “Then why would Taj issue a patra ?” The girl insists. “He could’ve asked for a mokson , or even a tulji ! A patra would only mean –”
    They stare at me, and I squirm uncomfortably. Shadus and Taj glare at each other, a tense quiet threading between them in place of their usual begrudging acquaintance. Finally, Shadus breaks it off and walks to the crate of silver robes. He pulls his sweater over his head in one graceful movement, then takes off his white shirt, leaving a full view of his sharp shoulder blades and long spine. Taj has far more bulk, but Shadus isn’t without muscle – his are just more lean and defined. The Gutter lack of shame is incredible. None of them look away like I do when Shadus unbuttons