If he’s siphoning energy from Amara, when I gave her that stone to amplify her abilities, I might have damned us all. Again.
Chapter 23
Amara
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Raiden shuts the frontdoor and triple checks the lock before turning on Kodi with a scowl. “You seriously couldn't have given ussomewarning? You’re supposed to be in charge of security.”
“I didn't know either until we got there and he sprung the new weapons on me. He said they were tranq darts!” Plastered to my back, Kodiak presses his face into the crook of my neck and takes a deep inhale, heart still pounding heavily in his chest. He hasn’t stopped touching me since he crawled into the backseat of the SUV after tearing into Evren over all the fun surprises of the night, and the guys haven’t stopped snapping at each other the entire ride home. But even if it’s grating on my already frazzled nerves, I get that it stems from fear.
Raiden and Stone just had their first taste of what it’s like to feel completely powerless.
Bright side, they get to join me in the food paranoia struggles now.
Raiden scrubs a hand down his face and looks at the briefcase he purchased that cost a nauseating amount of money for only twenty-four single use weapons. “This changes everything. Fuck.”
Stone is hardly any better than Kodi, stroking his knuckles soothingly up and down over my arm, jaw clenched. “Malcolm didn’t bid on a single thing, and from everything we’ve gathered, it doesn’t sound like he could afford to anyway. Yet, he looked genuinely surprised to see Amara tonight. Do you think Evren knows about his obsession with her? Thatshe’sthe ‘thing’ he thought Malcolm would be interested in, and they’re working together?”
Exhaustion, both mental and physical, begs me to sleep for the next three days, but the growling pit in my stomach wins out by a fraction. “If you guys are going to keep biting each other’s heads off, can we at least move this to the kitchen? It's already been a long night, and if you want me to be of any use to the conversation, I need a sugar rush before I fall asleep standing up.”
Raiden is still staring down at the briefcase like it’ll magically contain the answers he needs the next time he opens it and answers absentmindedly. “Of course, darling, what are you in the mood for?”
My appetite sours as my heart plummets into my stomach like a rock, nausea hitting me with a violent cramp. Adrenaline rushes through my system hard and fast, goosebumps rising on my flesh. Each of my nerve endings become pinpricks of pain as the sickening sensation ofsomethingwrithing just beneath my skin spreads throughout my limbs.
Raiden goes deathly pale, gaze whipping up to mine with panicked eyes. “Shit, Amara, I swear I -”
Another lurching in my stomach has me breaking out of Kodiak’s arms, and I barely make it to the potted plant around the corner before vomiting. Footsteps slap against the stone, and harsh, scathing whispers are followed by a punch getting thrown. Stomach in knots, I grip the edges of the pot, silently gagging as I choke back bile. Stone drops to his knees in my line of sight, but I still flinch when he reaches for me, and I hate myself for it. Embarrassment and anger couple together to make everything worse, my head as much of a mess as the rest of me.
I was so proud of myself for facing him tonight, for actually talking to him. I held myself together like a champ for hours and was genuinely okay, now I’m falling apart over a fucking petname?
Raiden looks completely wrecked, and not just from the red mark blooming across his jaw where someone hit him, stark against his colorless face, but the wild look in his eyes.
“I’m so sorry, I wasn’t thinking, I... fuck!” He combs a trembling hand through his hair, silently begging for the answer of how to fix this.
Fumbling to get my purse strap over my head and open it on my lap, I unearth the new package of cherry hard candies I’d pulled from Kodi’s stash and wrestle with the plastic. Popping one in my mouth, I swish it around and spit in the plant to get some of the taste off my tongue, grabbing another and sucking on it. It’s not perfect, but it’ll at least hopefully get me to the bathroom without a repeat puke-fest.
