“Suppression.”He sounded pained, like he was speaking from experience.Hellion jerked back like Irishen had slapped him.
“Sup—but why would she…”
“Why would she hide power?”Irishen sounded derisive.“Yeah, I wonder why.It’s not like there could be good reasons to do so.”
“You two, don’t start now,” Ilijas cut in, eyes flashing.He focused on Irishen.“What makes you say this is caused by suppression?”
“The way she acted and reacted,” Irishen replied quietly.“Loud noises made her control slip more, strong feelings made her unconsciously flinch.”
“And?”Ilijas kept pressing.
“And the way she held on until she had sucked in the entire fucking storm.You don’t pull in a thunderstorm like that if it’s your first time trying to hold in power.”
“She did what?”Sim broke in.He was usually calm and collected, but now even his eyes were wide.Jarred growled again and started pacing.Marc shared his sentiment, but he was rooted in place.What secrets was she holding?
Hellion nodded slowly and looked sick at the same time.“Suppression of power is like a weight on your chest.The more power you push down, the more the pressure builds, until it starts to leak over.At that point, you either release it, or…”
“Or, say you’re afraid, you suck it in and pray that you are strong enough to come out on the other side,” Irishen finished it for him.
“It’s a torture method,” Hellion murmured darkly.“Contain someone powerful long enough that the pressure builds and then…” he trailed off.
Ilijas muttered something not very nice under his breath and then carefully reached out.As soon as his hand landed on Wayla’s shoulder, the whole house shuddered, and Ilijas flew across the room, like Sinister had.
“Well, that’s not going to work,” Sim deadpanned.Marc almost punched him, but Ilijas got up and shook himself.
“We need to figure out a way to get some of the power siphoned off.”
“She allows only me, Hellion, Jarred, and Irishen to touch her,” Marc muttered, thinking.That got a raised eyebrow from Ilijas.Sinister sat down on the couch and held out his hand.
“Care to fix this since she’s not letting us help?”
“How did that happen?”Ilijas asked.
“Same as you, but I landed wrong,” Sinister groaned.“I bet Marc is planning on throwing me around the ring tomorrow to fix that.”
“Hell Moon is in two days,” Jarred suddenly cut in.“She can’t shield shit and now this.What the fuck are we going to do?”
Irishen’s head snapped up.“What do you mean she can’t shield?”
Marc sighed.“We’ve been trying to train her since the semester started.She’s not getting it.”
Irishen laughed.He actually slumped closer to the floor, cradled Wayla’s hand in his, and laughed hard.“Can’t shield.”He chortled.“Gods, morsel.What secrets are you hiding?”Just as Marc was ready to punch him, he looked up at all of them.“She can shield.”
“What?”Jarred snarled.
Irishen shook his head, no longer laughing.“I can’t believe you missed that, Marc.She’s shielding even now.It’s so ingrained in her that she’s doing it even while unconscious.”
Marc’s mind turned blank.It couldn’t be true, could it?
Chapter 44 – Jarred
Jarredhadhadenough.They were getting derailed while Wayla lay unconscious and in pain on the fucking floor.Her breathing was too fast and shallow.Her face was mottled with bruises and trickles of blood kept staining her lips.
Fuck all of this.Ilijas had said something about siphoning off some of the power so he could get in and heal her.He didn’t care what she was hiding or what she was.She washis,and she had claimed him in return.His jaguar roared in agreement.
He still didn’t know how he had let her walk out of his room, but he could do something about it now.Stomping over, he took one of the moist towels Sim had laid out and knelt next to her, gently wiping her face clean of blood.She didn’t blast him across the room, and that was all the reassurance that he needed.
Carefully, Jarred leaned in and kissed her cheek, trying to ease the ache.His lips caressed her skin, and it felt like he had stuck his face into an anthill.He was about to jerk back, but a hand landed on his back.
