Angie spat another mouthful of blood onto the sidewalk as she waited for her body to heal. The smell of coffee from the Starbucks was making her nauseas and she was fighting off a brutal headache. She was going to call one of her drivers to pick her up, but not while she was still bruised and bleeding. It was too damn humiliating and, believing Angie to be weaker than her reputation, this defeat could encourage her rivals to make a move. She wasn’t overly concerned about losing her position, but she would not let that happen before the Wild Power was dead.
She was livid. She’d been beaten and had lost that damn Harmen witch. When she’d woken up, she found herself lying on the sidewalk with blood oozing from her nose and mouth. No Daybreakers in site. She didn’t even know how long she’d been unconscious. Now she was shaking with rage, as if her blood were at a rolling boil inside her. She had lost the Wild Power. Again. The voices were roaring in her head and she’d failed at the chance to make them stop. And most humiliating off all was the knowledge that she was only alive because of the foolish mercy of a Daybreak witch.
It had been a very long time since Angie had lost a fight. She’d once taken on five vampires simultaneously and had walked away without a scratch. But then, that had been before she’d taken over Washington, DC. As the Night World leader of this area, Angie had spent most of her time in her penthouse, reading through information and directing her people, not to mention planning the assassination of a Wild Power. She hadn’t spent enough time training and today she had overestimated her skill. If Aiden had been with her, the fight wouldn’t have ended the way it did. She and Hellraiser would have left the Daybreakers to drown in pools of their own blood. But Aiden was lost to her now.
Damn him!
And yet…he was nearby. After working with him for years, Angie knew the vibration of Aiden’s mind in the noise that filled her head. Right now he was close and extremely agitated. Curious, Angie tried to find the voice of Aiden’s witch in the maelstrom of minds that relentlessly plagued her. It was difficult to locate a specific person in the din unless Angie had already met them, so that she could connect a certain mental voice to the person. But Angie could feel witch’s mind through Aiden, so it would be a little easier.
Don’t bother, Hellraiser’s telepathic voice ordered. It was cold and solid. Get out of my head. She’s dead.
Elation and pure relief bubbled up inside of her, but Angie tried to suppress it for now. She was afraid to hope that it was true. She kept her mind calm. Ah, she replied, that’s why you’re so overwrought. I can feel it. Did you finally get past that vexing soulmate principle and grow a pair?
Your vagabond girl did it, Aiden said tersely. I watched it happen.
Is that so? Angie was surprised. She’d ordered Alexandra Harper to go after the male witch and the Wild Power, but Angie had only hoped that Lex would distract them or slow them down. But the luscious Soul Stealer had actually killed a Wild Power. How did she do it?
Does it matter? Aiden snapped. It’s done.
Angie paused. She’d never heard him sound so edgy. Maybe losing a soulmate did that to a person. Angie sure as hell didn’t know. How does it feel to be free? she asked him lightly. Are you ready to come back to me?
His response was overly forceful and Angie was assaulted by a fleeting image of a baseball bat coming down on her head. About the same. And no.
I would have thought you’d be more relaxed, Hellraiser.
She heard the vampire’s telepathic hiss. I told you not to call me that, he reminded her heatedly.
Angie’s stomach tightened. There was something going on with him. You’re still a raw nerve, Aiden. Where are you going now? What aren’t you telling me?
Angie suddenly felt a cold wall close around Aiden’s mind. Oh, the vampire was definitely hiding something. All of his answers were brusque and deflective, and now he had pulled away from her. He’d learned to block her out of his mind, somehow. Very irritating.
Switching tactics, Angie searched through the din for Lex’s voice. Soul Stealer’s mind was a deliciously open book. But Angie couldn’t find her. Strange, she had been able to hone in on Alexandra so easily a while ago and now Angie couldn’t feel the vampire girl at all. It meant that Lex was dead or unconscious. Either way, she was useless at the moment.
Carefully she touched a cut at the corner of her mouth and found that it had healed. A quick examination of her limbs showed that the worst of the bruises had faded to a pale yellow hue. It was past time to get out of here.
Angie summoned a ride and one of her drivers pulled up to the curb in a silver Lexus a few minutes later. Slipping into the back seat, Angie noticed that the driver glanced at her in his rear view mirror more than once. But at least he knew better than to comment on his boss’s appearance.
On the ride back to her penthouse, Angie rested her head against the window of the car and closed her eyes. She was tired and aching, but the voices buzzing in her head kept her awake. Angie couldn’t remember the last time she had truly slept. There were too many minds, too many people swarming around her.
Soon, she promised herself. Soon there will be quiet.
She needed to know that Aiden had been telling the truth, that the Wild Power was really dead. Once she was back at her penthouse, she would make a few calls and find out what had happened. And she would assign someone to follow Aiden and learn what the vampire was hiding.
She was so tired. The car window was cool against her pounding forehead.
A line of poetry came to her as she tried to block out the din…
“And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.”
Her screams began not long after the Daybreakers had cast their spells. Reece could barely see the vampire girl through the blinding white light that the witches had conjured for the sedation spell. But he could hear her muffled screams through the massive door to the cell and he truly understood the term “blood-curdling”.
In quick glances Reece saw that the girl’s eyes were closed and she clutched at the sheets on the tiny bed as her head thrashed back and forth. She sounded as if she was in pain, but Reece didn’t think the girl was even awake. Still her screams unsettled him.
Trying to get another glimpse of the girl without burning his retinas, Reece didn’t see the vampire come up behind him and draw a knife. But the witch felt the air around him shift as the knife was thrust towards the back of his head. Reaching over his shoulder, Reece grabbed the arm that was holding the weapon, twisted it, and got the attacker in an arm bar. With the vampire’s wrist bend upwards, the knife fell to the floor.
The vampire laughed. “You’re awfully jumpy, Cahill.”
“Christ, Carden,” Reece gasped. “Don’t sneak up on me like that.”
“Just testing you. You’ve got pretty good reflexes. But now that you know I’m not going to stab you, want to let me go?”
“Oh, sorry,” the witch mumbled and released his hold on Carden. “Where’s Nigel?”
The vampire straightened the sunglasses on his face. “Nigel?” he asked with mock confusion. “Oh, you mean the gimp. He’s getting his broken legs healed.”
Carden looked around, taking in the cold, empty hallway. “What the hell is that noise?”
Reece nodded towards the cell. “Our newest Wild Power,” he replied.
Carden looked through the window into the cell and jerked away. “Shit that’s bright.”
“It’s a spell,” the witch explained. “The light mimics sunlight and is very effective at weakening vampires.”
The vampire had taken off his sunglasses and was rubbing his eyes. “Why is she screaming then?”
Reece sighed. “I have no idea. But she’s been at it for a long time now. I was about to call Anton to see if he’ll agree to stop the spell. Whatever else it’s doing, the spell is hurting her.”
Retrieving his cell phone from his vest pocket, Reece turned to find Carden smirking at him. “What?” the witch asked.
“Nothing,” Carden replied innocently, still smiling. And then offhandedly he asked, “The girl is pretty hot, don’t you think?”
Reece rolled his eyes. “The girl barely looks older than a child.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t say that. I’ve never seen a child with curves like that. Besides, this is the Night World, Cahill. Appearances are deceiving. Would you believe I’m forty-three years old?”
“With your personality I wouldn’t have put you a day over thirteen,” Reece replied as he turned his attention back to his cell phone.
“Ooh, and now the gloves come off,” Carden muttered.
The witch shook his head as he called up to Anton Parish’s office.
“Is she awake?” the lamia asked as soon as he answered the call.
“Not exactly,” Reece replied. “She’s screaming bloody murder, but I don’t think she’s actually conscious.”
“I’ve never heard of anyone having that kind of reaction before,” Anton said. “Strange.”
“Yeah,” Reece agreed. “I’d like permission to take the spell off.”
“Absolutely not. That spell may be the only thing that can protect us from her.”
The witch paused as he listened to the girl’s screams. “Sir, this girl is in pain. And how are we supposed to interrogate her if she’s unconscious and screaming her head off?”
Anton sighed in frustration. “Just give it some more time and see if she comes out of it. I’ll see if there’s something else we can do to keep ourselves safe from her.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Keep me posted.”
Reece hung up his phone and looked back in the cell at the vampire girl. She was still writhing on the bed, her hair in tangles as it whipped around her.
“What did Anton say?” Carden asked from behind him.
“He said to wait and he’ll see what he can do,” Reece murmured.
“Not what you wanted to hear, was it?”
Reece shrugged. “Orders are orders.”
They were both quiet for a long moment and the silence was somehow comfortable. As difficult as Carden had been this morning, Reece had to admit that he liked the vampire. Their fight with Angie had changed things; without speaking, they had learned to work together and had earned each other’s respect.
Carden cleared his throat. “They found the vampire who shot Beth,” he said quietly. “Did you hear?”
Reece couldn’t answer. He struggled to swallow down the grief that was suddenly threatening to choke him. He only shook his head in reply.
“He’s dead, Cahill,” Carden assured him and Reece was disturbed by the relief he felt. A life was a life. It wasn’t right to revel in anyone’s death. “They found him lying outside a parking garage only a block away, shot in the head.”
“Do they know who it was?” Reece asked in a dull voice.
“Something Chaucer,” Carden replied. “I can’t remember his first name. It was something girly…Anyway, he wasn’t local. Daybreak checked with their Night World contacts and nobody ever heard of the guy. One might have seen him in a bar a few weeks ago, but that’s it. The interesting thing, though, is that when he was spotted in the bar, he was with a younger dark-haired girl. A vampire.”
“This just keeps getting better and better,” Reece replied sarcastically.
“Yup,” Carden agreed. “So listen, screw orders. We can’t exactly get her to talk when she’s going crazy like this. Go in there and stop the spell. Get some answers.”
Reece thought about it. Anton was right; the spell might be the only protection the Daybreakers had from this Wild Power. By taking it off, Reece would be putting everyone in the compound at risk. But he could get answers from her. And for a reason that he couldn’t explain, Reece didn’t think that this girl was as dangerous as she’d been perceived. He kept picturing that smile she’d given him before she collapsed—that grateful, brilliant smile.
“Go,” Carden urged. “I’ll cover you from out here.”
The witch nodded. “Thanks.”
“No problem,” the vampire replied, the smirk reappearing on his face. “Just don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
“Bite me,” Reece retorted as he began to unlock the door to the cell.
“Oh, you wish.”
The witch heaved open the massive door and stepped into the white light. The vampire girl was right there, lying on the bed a few feet away from him. Looking at her, Reece felt a vague pressure on his chest. He closed the cell door behind him and took a moment to breathe and calm his nerves before getting to work.
The bed underneath her was lumpy and Lex could feel a spring poking into her back. From behind her eyelids, the world was a blazing red from the glaring white light that filled the room, beating down on her relentlessly, hour after hour. Dimly, she knew that the light was a spell because she’d been at the edge of consciousness when she heard it being cast. But it was extremely potent. It slowly drained and weakened Alexandra until it took all of her effort and concentration simply to breathe. She felt sick and feverish as she writhed on the mattress, lacking the strength to even lift her limbs.
There was no way to keep track of the time. The light on her was incessant and in her solitary confinement, there was no one she could ask. And as time went on, Lex couldn’t even form words any more. She began to drift, sliding into the waking dreams of the mad.
The bed beneath her seemed to tilt and Lex felt as if she was upside down, sinking into the mattress heel over head. No…she was on a wave, lifted up and down as the ocean stretched toward the shore. She smiled, she laughed. The bright sky above her did not hurt, but instead calmed and soothed her. The water was cold as she floated on her back, but the sun was warm and she felt so alive…
She was drowning, dying. She had been sucked under the surface, pulled under him. His body melded with hers as he filled her mind and tore at her heart. He swallowed her life away, one drop at a time, until she ceased to be. But then there was blood in her mouth and she could breathe again…
His breath was hot in her ear as he lay on top of her. Then his hands were on her, and she pulled away into her own mind. No, no, he wouldn’t stand for that. With his teeth in her throat, he forced her back into her body. He took her soul into him, stealing her memories and emotions. She was eternally young, forever small and weak. But maybe she didn’t fight back because she simply didn’t want to. His words became her truths as he became her god. He brought her life or death, pleasure or pain. His will was hers. She was a slave, living only for his lips, his touch…
His sword sliding through her flesh as he laughed, letting her fall helplessly to the scalding floor. Flames dancing in his eyes and his spit sizzling on her forehead as her Maker left her for dead in the inferno. Her skin blistering, her hair on fire, she screamed…
Darkness slammed around her so fast that for a moment, Lex believed she had finally died. But then she felt air moving in and out of her lungs more easily, the crushing weight on her chest suddenly gone. For a long time she lay on her side and reveled in the sensation of the air passing over her lips as she breathed.
Slowly Alexandra opened her eyes and found herself surrounded by darkness, the unnatural white light dissolved. As her vision adjusted, she realized that there was a column of fluorescent light spilling onto the floor of the tiny room from a window on the door. And standing just beyond the light, there was a figure.
Lex tried to push herself up on the bed to scramble away, but her arms collapsed under her own weight. The springs of the mattress creaked loudly as she fell back on her side.
“You’re still weak,” a voice said. It was a deep and soft voice that seemed to slide across her skin like a warm breeze.
In the dimness of the cell, Lex could see the sharp spikes of his hair, the chiseled line of his jaw, the curve of his biceps. He was tall and muscular, and sensing the waves of Power that radiated from him, she knew that he was a witch.
He started to move toward her and Lex again tried to claw away from him.
“Easy,” the witch told her. “I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to check and see if you’re okay. Will you let me do that?”
Alexandra hesitated and then finally nodded.
The witch came closer to her very slowly, as if to prove that he meant no harm. Carefully, he sat down next to her on the bed as Alexandra curled her legs underneath her and wrapped her arms tightly around herself.
“Look at me,” the witch said and Alexandra lifted her eyes to him. In the dark, she could not tell what color his eyes were, but she remembered that they were green. This was the witch from the alley, the one that had looked at her in disgust.
Alexandra stiffened and turned away from him.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. There seemed to be no revulsion now, only concern.
Lex shook her head, feeling ashamed.
“Are you hurt?”
Alexandra started to shake her head again, but stopped. “My—my throat hurts,” she replied hoarsely. Her vocal cords were raw and sore.
“You were screaming,” the witch replied. “For a long time.”
Given how vivid her dreams had been, Lex was not surprised. But the witch seemed disturbed. “Do you want me to heal you?” he asked.
“Where am I?” Alexandra asked instead.
“You’re safe. You’re in a Circle Daybreak compound.”
Lex looked around her cell and back at the witch. “Circle Daybreak?” she asked skeptically. “I thought they were passive.”
The corner of the witch’s mouth turned up. “Sometimes it seems they feel that the end justifies the means.”
“What end?” Alexandra demanded, raising her voice as she became more anxious. “What do you want from me?”
“You’re here so we can protect you,” he answered.
“Then why am I locked up in a cell? Why was I beaten down with sunlight?”
“That was for our protection.”
“From what?”
“From you,” the witch replied simply.
The answer was so ridiculous that Lex burst out laughing. When she saw the confused and worried expression on the witch’s face, she only laughed harder. She rolled back onto her side on the bed, a tear sliding from her eye and across her temple.
Her eyes stung and Alexandra was abruptly silent.
“You’re a Wild Power,” the witch said as if he’d been oblivious to Lex’s outburst. You killed Genevieve Harmen. You work for Angela Catellini.”
Alexandra closed her eyes before another tear could escape. This was just too much to take and she was too tired to understand. All she knew was that she was a prisoner here, powerless and alone. No, no, never again. Tristan would come for her, he would save her.
“Where’s Tristan?” she demanded, bolting upright again.
“Tristan?” The witch frowned. “Is his last name Chaucer?”
His careful, professional tone filled her with dread. “Where is he?” Lex gasped.
“He’s dead,” he replied.
“Oh, no,” Alexandra groaned. He couldn’t be dead. She needed him. He’d died while he was still angry at her. She hadn’t told him anything and now she never could. “No, no, no, no, no…” She got up on her hands and knees and heaved violently over the side of the bed.
And then the witch was there, pulling her hair back from her face as she wretched. “It’s okay. Calm down,” he said softly, as if he cared. It was comforting and disconcerting. He was too damn close.
When she finally lifted her head, Lex shoved at him. “Get away from me! What happened to him? Did you do it?”
“No,” the witch replied coldly. “We’re not sure what happened. He shot down a member of my team, one that was made to look like Genevieve Harmen.” His voice was unsteady. Pain flashed in his eyes for a moment and was gone. “Then he was found shot in the head outside of a parking garage near here.”
Lex remembered that strange pulse that she had felt from Angie when the fiery vampire had telepathically mentioned Tristan. Angie had known, Alexandra realized. “Oh god,” she whispered. “Angie.”
The witch looked sharply at Lex. “You do work for her, then?”
“No,” she replied. “I mean—yes. But no.”
“Which is it?”
Alexandra didn’t want to explain. The disgust was back in the witch’s gaze and she knew there was nothing she could say that would make him understand.
“What’s your name?” he asked.
“Why the hell are you asking so many questions?” Alexandra snapped loudly, sitting up straight.
The witch looked towards the door, as if he were waiting for something, and then turned back to Lex again. “Calm down, okay?” he pleaded.
“Stop telling me to calm down! If you’re going to rape me, just go ahead and get it over with. Just stop asking me all these questions and stop screwing with me. Please.”
Alexandra heard the witch’s quick intake of breath, as if she had startled him. “I—I’m not screwing with you. Goddess, I am not going to hurt you.”
Lex laughed bitterly. She gave him a coy smile that came too easily to her. It was like riding a bike. “What’s the matter?” she asked him salaciously. “I’m locked up here, weak and helpless. I can’t fight, but I can still struggle. Doesn’t this do it for you?”
“Does it do it for you?” the witch countered.
She shrugged. “It has its moments,” Alexandra replied lightly.
“I don’t believe that.” His voice was too warm, then, too serious.
Her eyes stung again with scalding tears. “Believe whatever the hell you want to believe!” she cried. “I don’t give a damn. Just let me go when you’re done!”
And then somehow she was sobbing. The bed squeaked as she brought her hands up to cover her face. It was humiliating, and she strained to push all of the memories, the dreams she’d been having, into the recesses of her mind. It was over now. It had been three years. The girl she’d been had died in the fire, she would never be her again.
The witch gently pushed her hair back from her face. “Hey,” he said softly. “Look at me. I promise you, nothing is going to happen to you. We couldn’t hurt you even if we wanted to. You’re a Wild Power.”
Lex looked up at him, puzzled. He’d said that before, but it hadn’t registered. “A—what?” she asked.
The witch looked at her doubtfully. “Don’t you remember the blue fire you threw at me in the alley?”
Alexandra shook her head slowly and felt her tears drying on her cheeks. Her memories were still hazy and clouded by the dreams she’d had.
“Tell me what you remember,” the witch pleaded.
“I don’t know,” Lex said shortly. “I was dying when I saw the witch girl—Genevieve—and then she was dying. And then you were there and you were looking at me like…”
“Like what?” the witch prompted her after a moment.
Lex turned her face away from him, embarrassed that she’d started this. “Like you hated me, like I was the most repulsive thing you’d ever seen.”
“And that mattered to you?” he asked her incredulously.
Staring at the wall, Alexandra didn’t answer. She couldn’t say why she’d been so hurt by the witch’s hate. She didn’t even know him.
“Tell me,” he implored softly, almost a whisper. He’d moved closer to her and Lex shivered in spite of herself.
His fingers were in her hair again, pushing it back behind her shoulder so that he could see the profile of her face. It felt too good, the way his hand tugged at her curls as he swept them back. When was the last time she had noticed the allure of such a simple gesture? Maybe she never had.
Out of the corner of her eye, Alexandra could see the witch watching her. Waiting for an answer, waiting for a response. It reminded her of Tristan, of the many times he’d tried to be patient with her, waiting for her to trust him some day. But Tristan’s gaze had never had this kind of magnetism. The witch’s eyes were pulling at her, and without wanting to, Lex found herself turning to face him.
Close, he was too close, but she didn’t back away. She could feel the warmth of his body next to her as she slowly lifted her head to meet his eyes. The green depths startled her and against her will, Alexandra was being drawn into them. She could feel her Power rising to the surface, demanding that she delve into this witch, sink into his soul.
Lex squeezed her eyes shut, trying to force the Power back. It had already taken over her too many times that day and she was afraid that it was getting stronger. She was afraid that Angie had told her the truth those months ago, that her power had a will of its own.
“What is it?” the witch asked. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she whispered. “Nothing.”
The witch sighed. “Look, you’re going to have to start answering some of my questions,” he said quietly.
“Why?”
“You’re a Wild Power and Gen was supposed to be the last. We need to know what’s going on in order to protect you.”
“I don’t know what’s going on,” Alexandra snapped. “I’m not a Wild Power. I don’t even know what you’re talking about. All I know is that my…my friend is dead and I’m being held prisoner by a witch who doesn’t understand the concept of personal space.”
The witch flinched and moved back a bit on the bed. “Better?”
Lex glared at him. He was still only a foot away.
“I’m sorry. I want you to trust me,” he told her.
“That’s a tall order. I don’t trust anyone.” Her own words stung because they were so painfully true. For all he’d done for her, she hadn’t trusted Tristan. And she’d never trusted herself.
“Sounds lonely,” the witch murmured. “What are you afraid of?”
“You dare to ask me that when you’ve got me locked up in here?”
“Good point,” he conceded. He relaxed his posture, leaned back on his hands on the bed. He was changing tactics. “Okay. What do you feel safe telling me?”
“Fuck off,” Lex ventured.
He smiled. “Anything else? Can you tell me your name? It would be nice to call you something other than ‘Hey you’.”
Alexandra crossed her arms in front of her. “What’s your name?” she countered.
“Reece,” the witch answered easily. “Reece Cahill.”
She faltered, took a breath. She didn’t even realize that she was going to answer the witch until she did. “Lex. Well, Alexandra, really. Harper.”
“Pretty name.”
“You too.”
Reece laughed shortly. “I can’t say I’ve ever had anyone tell me that before. Do you prefer ‘Lex’ or ‘Alexandra’?”
“Doesn’t matter. Depends on how many syllables you want to bother with.”
“Alright. Well, let’s see…I’m from Montreal,” Reece offered. “How about you? Where are you from?”
“Nowhere. Everywhere. We moved around a lot.”
“Your vagueness is impressive.”
“It’s a skill.”
“When did you get to DC?”
Lex shrugged. “A few months ago. Tristan liked it.”
“It’s a nice city. Hell of a lot warmer than Montreal right now. Have you ever been there?”
“We may have passed through last year. I don’t know. Cities kind of blend together after a while.”
The witch paused and licked his lips. “I think you already know that I’m a witch. Are you lamia?”
“What do you think?” cocking her head to the side.
“You’re answering my question with a question, so I think I must have crossed a line.”
Alexandra gave him a tight smile. “You learn quickly.”
“I try.”
Lex was quiet for a moment. “I’m not lamia,” she said at last, and then was appalled at herself. How could she have let that slip? Now the witch knew that she was a made vampire and that she’d been made when she was rather young. And then maybe he would be able to guess why. Alexandra dug her fingernails into her palms and looked down at the floor.
“It’s okay,” Reece said, noticing her anxiety. He pushed himself off his arms and straightened up.
“It’s not.”
The witch reached over to her slowly and placed his hand on her arm. It felt warm through her silk shirt, but for some reason Alexandra felt a chill pass through her. Her breath caught in her throat. When she didn’t shrug him off, Reece slid his hand down to hers. When he touched her fingers to unclench her fist, Lex felt a violent shock of electricity and hastily snatched her hand away.
“What did you do to me?” she hissed.
Reece was rubbing his own shaking hand. “I didn’t do anything. Goddess. It happened to me in the alley and I thought it was some kind of aftershock from the blue fire. But now…”
“Now, what?” Lex asked impatiently.
The witch looked at her and Alexandra could feel the heat in his gaze. Her pulse quickened. “Now there’s only one way to be sure,” he finished.
In one fluid motion, he slid both of his hands up through her hair and drew her towards him, tipping her head back as he leaned down. His lips brushed against hers and Lex was startled into stillness. Reece kissed her lightly, not coaxing or demanding anything from her, and it made Alexandra tremble. She’d never felt something so simple and innocent in her life. The electricity surged through her again, but it was less jolting now. It felt warm and sweet and Lex tentatively began to respond to the kiss.
Feeling her respond, Reece seemed to lose some measure of his control. He pulled Alexandra even closer and kissed her deeply, his fingers tangling further into the mass of her hair. Lex felt as if the bed and floor beneath her had fallen away, there was nothing but this witch’s lips on hers, his warmth flowing into her. At the first contact of his mind with hers, Lex shuddered. She felt greedy and desperate for it; she needed his strength and faith. Reece seemed to resuscitate the parts of her soul that had been ravaged so long ago. She could be whole again.
But as their minds melded together, she began to panic. He was in her head now, he could see what she had tried so desperately to keep hidden, to forget. Her weaknesses were utterly exposed, ready for him to discover and to use against her, the way her Maker had. Over and over again. He was in her mind, taking up space, pressing against her. She couldn’t hide from him, he was everywhere. He was overpowering. She tried to remember her mantra, tried to keep the hysteria from escalating…
Breathe.
Your mind is your own. Everything is okay.
Your mind is your own. Everything is okay.
Your mind is your own. Everything is okay.
Lex…she heard the witch gasp.
“No!” Alexandra cried, pushing the witch away from her. She fell back on the bed, gasping for breath. She brought her fingers to her lips and felt how swollen they were from the kisses. How long had they been doing that?
Oh god, oh god, he’d been in her mind. He’d seen her soul, stark and desolate, so easily destroyed. She could be his prey now, his plaything, his slave. He could play with her the way that Angie played with her.
Lex couldn’t cry now. There were no tears. There was nothing, she was nothing. She turned over onto her side, facing the wall, and pulled her knees into her chest. Closing her eyes, she wished for oblivion.
Part 10
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