She tried to scramble away from Saiden, but he held her down on the bed.
A memory sparked. The bed. She knew this bed, recognized the black comforter. And, oh God, the scent. It was like she could smell nothing else but him.
Saiden’s bedroom. The compound. She was back in the mansion with Saiden. So why wasn’t he helping? Why was he holding her there?
“Tressa, do you mind pitching in a little?”
Saiden’s words skated through her mind, triggering more memories. She knew Tressa. The sweet female vampire who looked like she belonged on an island soaking up the sun instead of hiding from it. She was the one who was all big laughs and wide smiles. Fun and happy, like a spring day.
“I am trying, Saiden. It’s just not working.”
“What do you mean it’s not working?”
“What do you think I mean, dumbass? She’s clearly not calming down.”
Arguing. Why were Saiden and Tressa arguing? They liked each other. Cousins. Family. Were they arguing over her? Was that why everyone was shouting? Did she do something bad?
Bad. Compound. Cousins. Bad.
The floodgates opened and memories started pouring in. There was an attack. They came back to the compound, and something was wrong. Everyone was gone. Saiden went to investigate, and then…
She racked her brain, sorting through all the visuals, trying to decipher dream from reality.
There was nothing. Empty. A black void slowly being filled with images brighter than the sun and noises louder than a nightclub.
“What are we supposed to do now?” Saiden barked, and Cora flinched at the cacophony threatening to pierce her eardrums.
“Too much. It’s all too much.” Her voice trembled through the spinning and whirling. Like one of the circus rides. Maybe she was still there, still in the circus. Saved from the dangerous tiger only to be trapped inside a tilt-a-whirl of sensations designed to smother her under so many lights and sounds that she could never leave.
“She’s overloading,” a calm British voice filtered in from somewhere off to the right. “I’ve seen it happen before. She wasn’t prepared ahead of time, so she has no idea what’s happening. Let me put her back to sleep, and we can move her somewhere dark and quiet.”
Sleep? No, she didn’t want to go back to sleep. That’s where the beast waited for her. The Circus of the Damned. She couldn’t go back there.
Cool hands cupped her cheeks, and a porcelain face blocked out some of the strobing lights. A female with harsh features and chestnut hair evaluated her.
Raven. She knew Raven. Raven was a friend. But why wasn’t she helping her then? Why wasn’t anybody here helping her?
“Sleep,” Raven urged. “Be at peace and sleep.”
“No,” Cora yelped, wrenching herself from Raven’s firm grip and scrambling backward until she slammed into the headboard. Trapped. She was trapped in this torture.
“What the hell, Raven?” Saiden growled, and Cora tried to focus on him again. It would be a lot easier if he would just stand still.
“Bloody hell,” Raven muttered. “Either something is off with me and Tressa or… or I have no idea what’s going on.”
The others went quiet for a moment, and the brief silence allowedCora to think clearly long enough to beg Saiden, “What’s happening to me?”
“Are you all really this naïve?”
A new voice. One that was peaceful, calming, and it flipped a switch inside Cora’s brain. Slowly she turned to the bedroom door.Angel, she thought as she stared at the ethereal beauty. Eliana, she corrected a moment later as that memory clicked into place in her mind.
Then Saiden’s mom flicked a switch on the wall and tossed a blanket of gray over the world.
Not an angel, but a savior all the same.
“Cora,” Eliana said slowly. “I need to put these in your ears, okay? It’ll help.”
She nodded slowly. Help. She needed help.
