But I could feel his hand grip mine in return as my sight faded completely.
* * *
"We haveto stop meeting like this."
Ava's words seemed to be lighthearted but there was no humor in her voice. I opened my eyes to ask her what was wrong and realized I was lying on the bed in the guest room at Callum and Marcus' house.
Ava sat beside me where Marcus had been and her hand hovered over my forehead, a warm golden glow shining in my eyes.
"I agree," I mumbled.
"Good, because we're going to have to do some things you're not going to want to do."
My eyes finally focused and I could see the worry etched on Ava's face.
"Am I dying?" I asked.
Her eyebrows lifted as she shook her head. "No, no, nothing like that. Just, well, given your wariness of any sort of magic, I'm pretty sure you won't like this." She cleared her throat. "Why would you assume you were dying?"
"Because you looked so worried."
She studied me, her gaze sharpening. "I'm going to ask you a few questions and I want you to answer as honestly as possible. Okay?"
I shrugged. "We'll see. There are some questions I prefer not to answer."
"Like what?"
"Like what I weigh."
Her mouth quirked in a small smile. "I won't be asking you those sorts of questions."
"Okay, then we should be fine."
Ava took a slow breath and kept her eyes on mine. I could almost feel the intensity of her focus.
"Can you usually tell when people are upset just by looking at them?"
I shrugged. "Of course. People who are angry or emotional usually have frowns on their faces or their body language announces it for them."
"Have you ever felt the atmosphere in a room change as soon as someone enters it?"
"Yes. Haven't you?"
She smiled again. "Yes, but this is about you. Okay, here's a more complicated one. Have you ever picked up the phone and called a friend because you justknewthey were upset or in trouble?"
"Yes," I whispered.
She sighed. "Well, I have some good news and some bad news."
"Bad news first."
"You're connected to Andre Dumont. Mentally and magically," she stated.
"Is that how he forced me to do what he told me while we were on the phone?"
She nodded. "It's also how he's been feeding from you."
My heart did a strange twist in my chest. "What?" I asked, aghast. "How?"
