Kara tried to put up walls in her mind to keep the pain away.
“Leave your thoughts open,” Ember snapped. “I have to remove all the magic from your mind. That’s why your memories are blocked.”
Kara wanted to tell the fae that it wouldn’t matter if her memories were blocked if her brain melted out of her ears.
“I’m not melting your brain, healer,” Ember said, somehow picking up her thoughts. “I’m killing the magic that Alston allowed to take root, like a parasite, in your mind. You get through this, and you’re one step closer to getting your life back.”
The fae’s words were enough to make Kara accept the pain and drop the walls. Scalding waves of fire licked across her skull, down the right side of her neck, shoulder, arm, and straight into her right wrist. Kara instinctively wanted to pull away, but she didn’t fight the elves holding her. She simply gritted her teeth and mentally cursed Alston and Ludcarab to the deepest level of hell, praying that they would endure an eternity of unimaginable torment. The only thing that might make it even better is if she could have a front row seat and some popcorn to watch the show.
“Keep those emotions at the forefront tomorrow night,” Ember said. “Keep the rage, the retribution owed to you for all they’ve done, Kara. They do not deserve mercy.”
Finally, the burning subsided, and the elves released her. Ember also let go of her hand. Kara looked down at her wrists. The marks were still there, but something was different. She hadn’t realized that they’d felt heavy before, like she’d been wearing shackles. Now, there was no weight. The burning in her head was replaced with a tidal wave of memories so intense it drove her to her knees.
Kara sucked in a harsh breath when Nick’s image filled her mind. No longer unfamiliar was his shaved head, handsome face, and black eyes. She remembered the first time she’d laid eyes on him. Every part of her had responded to him in a way she’d never done with anyone. He’d held her captive before he’d ever said a word to her. “Nick,” she whispered as the memories assailed her.
She remembered being in the fae realm, lying in a field with him. He was in his wolf form, unable to speak with her because of Lucian’s punishment. Kara had poured out her heart to him. She’d been brave enough to do it because, at the time, he’d been unable to say a word to her. Not to mention, speaking to him while he was in his wolf form seemed easier. It had made her feel less vulnerable.
“I don’t trust easily, Nick. No one has ever given me a reason to trust until I met Peri and her group of crazy supernaturals. I never believed there were men out there like Costin and Lucian. Men who would die for the woman they love but, even more impressive, will live sacrificially for her. Dying is easy. Giving up your own wants and needs for another, that’s the hard stuff. Can you give me that?”
Kara couldn’t believe she’d been bold enough to say those things to him. But then she remembered how desperately she’d wanted what she’d seen in the other true-mate couples. And she still wanted it. Maybe even more so now.
Her mind continued to play out her memories like a movie—memories Alston had stolen from her. One memory in particular made her smile. She realized the gesture was foreign to her lips. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d smiled. Nick had asked her if she was disappointed that he was her true mate. She’d been unable to keep from word vomiting all over him.
“Disappointed?I’m a lot of things right now: shocked, excited, worried, flummoxed—is that a word? Whatever. I’m curious, overwhelmed, and, yea, even, ah, um, a little, well, aroused. Yeah, I went there. But disappointed? Of you? Have you seen yourself?
“You’re tall and muscular, with these brooding good looks and devouring obsidian eyes. You walk around with this devil-may-care attitude. But you’re also kind and gentle. And really, really strong.”
“Is that important?” he asked.
“Maybe, yes. I can’t say that if I was out hunting for a werewolf mate that I would be like, ‘Hey, who’s the weakest of the bunch? Yeah, I want you.’”
Kara chuckled and shook her head as she remembered the way he’d laughed. She’d been unable to take her eyes off him. He was beautiful. He’d taken her breath away. The memory of that same day continued, and she had no power to stop it, not that she wanted to.
“If I kiss you, I won’t be able to let you go. My wolf is already attached, as am I. But if you let me get even a small taste of you, my mate, I will follow you to the ends of the earth and attack any male who comes near you.”
Kara waited, holding his eyes with her own.
He let out a growl. “I’m going to hell.” His hand slid through her hair, tugging gently, forcing her head back as his lips crashed down onto hers.
Kneeling on the floor in the cage that was her room in Ludcarab’s castle, she reached up and ran her fingers across her lips. She could practically feel that first kiss they’d shared. He was supposed to have been the last male she’d ever kiss. He’d made that perfectly clear.“There will be none after me.”The words reverberated so hard in her mind that she felt it in her soul. Her lips had touched another’s and would again.
“Shit.” She gasped and fell forward, barely catching herself before she face-planted. While the memories were a blessing, they also felt like a curse. Nick might not have been her first kiss, but he was supposed to be her firsteverythingelse. Ludcarab had stolen that from her. She slammed her hand against the floor so hard it rattled her bones up her arm and into her jaw. The pain felt so good she did it again and again. When Kara was sure she’d gotten herself under control, she pushed herself back up into a kneeling position and then stood. When she raised her head and opened her eyes, setting aside the precious memories that she never wanted to lose again, she looked at Ember. The fae female took a step back, and her eyes narrowed.
“You still have Volcan’s power in you,” she said, her voice steady, but everything else about her spoke of fear. “The bracelets must have been suppressing that part of you as well.”
“Volcan?” Dyna asked. The tone of her voice made it clear she knew exactly who Ember was speaking about.
Ember nodded. “Volcan managed to get his hands on the new healers in Peri’s charge. He made them witches.”
“But I don’t feel any evil on her,” Coya said. Instead of taking a step away from Kara, she moved closer. The elf studied her, as if she’d be able to see the magic on Kara that made her something more than just a healer.
“I’m not evil,” Kara said. “Peri helped us change the magic that Volcan used. We have some of the powers that witches had, but not dark magic.”
Ember shook her head. “Everyone has the potential to have dark magic, Kara, especially when it has been passed on from someone like Volcan.”
Kara considered the last couple of months that she’d spent as Ludcarab’s captive. She thought about all that he’d taken from her. And then she looked at Ember. “Perhaps you’re right. After what Ludcarab has done, what he’s taken from me, I will do anything to destroy him. Even if that means using dark magic.”
“You won’t need it.” Ember held the blade out, handle first. “This will kill him. Like any being, he cannot live without a heartbeat.”
