Dessie fell onto her side and flipped onto her back. “Yvonne, wait—”
The woman lunged for her, and Dessie kicked up, throwing Yvonne over her head. Yvonne yelled. Dessie turned and levered up on her hands and knees. Maybe she could reach the woman.
Yvonne splashed into the murk, and the creatures rushed for her in a feeding frenzy. She went under, and the water erupted into wild waves.
Dessie turned and heaved.
Ulric clapped from the shore.
Dessie coughed and then formed the words she’d tried to chant earlier.
Ulric laughed. “You can’t leave until I choose, little one.”
“Yes, I can.” She ducked her head and chanted from somewhere deep in her subconscious.
Letting out a scream, she awoke in the plush bed and sat straight up.
Garrett twisted on a light. “What’s wrong?”
She turned into his chest, tears already streaming down her face. “I think I just killed Yvonne.”
* * * *
Garrett paced the waiting room in the medical wing of the lodge, his blood so hot it was a surprise steam wasn’t blowing from his ears. “You’re telling me that my mating her for good might put her in more danger?”
Emma leaned against the wall, her eyes bloodshot. She’d probably been working all night on Dessie’s case. “I’m telling you that it might. There are triggers in her head that shut her down, and I’d assume mating a vampire-demon hybrid might be one of those.”
“That’s insane,” Garrett muttered.
“Maybe. What if her blood or body has been protecting her by rejecting your mark? If the mark stayed, what if her chromosomal pairs unraveled? I just don’t know yet, Garrett.” She reached into her lab coat and tugged out a tie to secure her thick hair atop her head.
He didn’t want to hear that. Right now, Dessie was in a session with Prophet Lily, attempting to remember more about her time with the Kurjans. “I can mate her. It’s her energy that brought on my marking.” Finally.
“True, and it’s her energy that makes plants and flowers thrive around her. It’s also her energy that allows her mind to take ancient symbols and arrange them into a language.” Purple shadows marred the skin beneath Em’s warm blue eyes. “But her blood still doesn’t show any of those enhancements. If I didn’t know of her talents, I’d stake my life on the fact that she was a human. A normal human woman.”
Garrett ran a frustrated hand through his thick hair. “So she’s in danger if I don’t mate her and possibly even more if I do?”
“I don’t know but will find out. Give me a little time.” Emma hunched her shoulders. “Through the years, we’ve seen enhanced humans who are able to naturally mask their status, but we’ve never seen their enhancements completely disappear, especially due to an outside force. This is new, Garrett.” The frustration in her voice matched his own feelings.
Garrett studied his aunt. “You need sleep, Em. Exhausting yourself isn’t going to help anybody.” It was shocking Dage hadn’t already forced her to rest.
She tightened her lab coat over her yellow T-shirt. “I don’t sleep much these days. Not with Hunter away on mission.” He was her only son.
Garrett nodded. “I know. He should be done soon, right?”
She shrugged. “Hopefully. He’s undercover, and it has been too long. He’s only nineteen, Garrett.” Worry darkened her eyes even more.
The door opened, and Dessie walked in, looking ready for autumn in a crimson sweater and olive-green pants. Her eyes were pinched, her stride hesitant.
The marking on Garrett’s palm burned so hot it felt like somebody was slamming a flaming poker through his hand. “How was hypnosis?”
“Just fantastic.” She pulled her curly brown hair away from her pale face. “I remembered a little more, and they sure liked to inject my head with a red liquid. I kind of remember looking at certain symbols on a screen and then feeling intense pain until I blacked out.” She sounded lost. Hurt. Betrayed.
Fury rose from deep within him, but he forced a calm expression onto his face. “That makes sense. Now your body goes unconscious to avoid the pain.” He was going to rip the Kurjan nation apart.
Her bottom lip trembled, and she sank her teeth into it. “Any news on the other women from Stoneton Hills?”
“Not yet.” He had everyone on alert trying to find them. If they’d been let loose as she had, they might also be looking for him. For members of the Seven. If their conditioning was as strong as Dessie’s, they wouldn’t even know what they were seeking. “Did you remember any of them?”
