This time, I take a deep breath, attempting to feel the ground beneath my feet, encouraging it to keep me rooted as I close my eyes. I dive into the depths of my soul in a way I’m sure isn’t really possible, seeking the magic inside of me. All that greets me is darkness, and I’m ready to give up when a tiny flicker of something sparks inside of me.
My eyelids snap open and my sights set on Walker. He tilts his head, almost goading me. I feel the top of my lip curl up in a sneer as I lift my hands, slamming them against his chest with a sense of purpose I don’t expect.
Walker’s face pales as his cheeks hollow out and my eyes widen in surprise as he drops to his knees, trembling against my palms. The sound of Jude cackling behind me makes me stumble back, disconnecting us as my chest heaves with every breath.
I wait for claws or fangs to appear, but nothing shows, extending the moment as I watch Walker curl up in a ball on the floor, trembling from the experience he just endured.
“I didn’t tell you to stop,” Jude grunts as my breaths continue to come in shallow patters. “Again,” he commands, and I shake my head.
“No,” I croak, my gaze still fixed on Walker, but Jude doesn’t seem to care whether he’s okay or not. I hate that I do.
“Again,” he repeats, as if he didn’t hear me.
“I said no,” I repeat, louder this time with much more bite, and he snarls.
Daring to turn my attention away from Walker, I stare into the pits of Jude’s eyes to find delighted rage burning bright. I’m moving before I realize it, my palms against his chest, magic radiating through both of us.
His smile is plastered across his face, and I dread to imagine what his cock is like, but I’m too distracted by the ache at my jaw and the sound of my pulse quickening in my ears.
“Keep your feet grounded, connect with the earth beneath you. No matter what it is you have to offer him, it’s at your command. Breathe it in, but breathe it back out too.”
Her words roll in my mind as I take a deep breath, each one stronger than the last, almost as though I’m breathing my magic in through one leg, and exhaling through the other. Jude falls to his knees, his eyelids at half mast, but the smile remains on his lips.
“That’s enough now, Elodie,” Walker murmurs from behind me, and I shake my head.
“I can’t stop,” I rasp, feeling the magic more intricately, as though it extends from my left arm and draws his abilities to me from the right. I’m a vessel, and I don’t know how to stop the flow now that I can feel it.
“That’s enough,” Walker repeats as if the man before me cares about him at all.
I want to stop. Everything hurts. I just don’t know how to make it happen.
“Walker, I…” My words drift off as my chest tightens and I cry out with panic, suddenly dropping to my knees. My scream grows hollow and my eyes slam shut as they burn. Theoverwhelming sensation that takes root is unbearable, leaving me lightheaded and disoriented as I grow weaker, writhing in pain as my teeth pulse.
When I’m sure I’m going to pass out, my hands finally grow slack, falling limp at my sides before I crumple in a heap of limbs on the hardwood floor.
My eyes burn like unshed tears refusing to fall. My jaw aches unbearably, but the thirst for blood is rampant. I feel like I’m choking without it. It’s a scary, surreal sensation that engulfs me, bringing me to the brink of death.
I sense arms slipping under my legs and behind my back, but I can’t open my eyes to confirm to whom they belong. I can’t fight, I can’t protect myself, I can’t do anything but succumb to my fate. I’m sure I’m being led to my grave. From what I’ve seen of Jude, he won’t allow me to live after that.
My head pulses as soft words are spoken, and I feel the firm ground beneath me before the clang of a heavy door falls closed.
A soft hand drapes over my forehead, making me stiffen, but it doesn’t stop. Stroke after stroke, I feel myself slowly calming down, my muscles untangling as I feel a sense of relief wash through me.
“It’s okay. You’re safe. We’re here.” The words are mumbled over and over again until I finally feel calm enough to pry my eyes open, only to find the woman from earlier peering down at me. A soft smile touches the corner of her mouth as she sweeps her thumb over my cheek. “Are you okay?” she asks, and I blink at her, unable to form an answer that doesn’t leave me feeling overwhelmed and exposed. Her mouth dips slightly as her eyebrows gather. “Your eye,” she whispers, tapping her fingertip at the side of my face, and my eyebrows furrow.
“My eye?” I repeat, my voice hoarse, and she nods, waving to someone off to our side before she turns to face me again with a handheld mirror in her grasp. Slowly, she turns it to faceme. It takes me a few seconds to focus, but the moment I do, I understand.
Staring back at me is a pale version of myself. My hair is disheveled, sticking up in every direction, my lips are swollen and puffy, but my teeth are no longer elongated.
None of that matters, though. It’s like she said, it’s my eyes.
Well, just one.
The other is still blue technically, but…an almost red ring frames my pupil, rippling in waves as it cuts across my iris, tinging the edges purple where it blends with the blue.
What has he done to me?
6
