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“Thank fuck," I hear several of the guys groan, and some of them straighten to their full height the second they hear me speak.

“What do you mean? I figured you’d tell us what happened,” Justice says, coming closer as Primal lifts his head so he’s not the only one I see.

“I don’t know . . . why are you holding me?” I ask Primal. I’m not trying to be a bitch, but nothing about this is normal.

“What the hell did you want me to do? Let you fall on your face. If I hadn’t caught you, you’d be on the floor right now.” Primal glares down at me but doesn’t let go. Instead, he slowly rises, sets me on my feet, and waits until I’m steady before backing away.

“You’re right. I’m sorry. I’m not trying to be difficult about it. I’m just. . . confused.” I reach toward Primal but stop myself before touching him.

In this moment, especially after such a vision, I don’t want to be around so many people. In fact, I don’t want to be around anyone, period. There are too many questions, especially about what just happened. I’m not used to it. There’s simply too much interference. It feels like I’m getting fragments of visions from everyone in the room, colliding with the one I just had. My body hums, and I feel like an antenna trying to dial into a single focus, yet all of their consciousness is somehow streaming through me. I don’t know what’s causing the change, but I’m really not a fan of it.

“You need to sit down. What was that? What happened?” Corbin demands as he pushes through the crowd, Karsyn at his side, her eyes shimmering with concern.

“No, I’m fine. I don’t want to sit down. I, um, just need to be on my way.” I try to back away from them again, but no one moves a muscle.

I don’t think they’re going to let me just walk out of here without answering Corbin’s questions. None of them have ever seen me have a vision that intense. It’s one of the reasons Orpheus and Aziz are so protective of me. They’ve only recently relaxed the protection details. If they find out about this, I’ll be stuck with a bodyguard again.

“Bullshit, Sibley. You just had some sort of fit. There’s no way I’m just going to let you leave here right now. Not until you explain what that was. Has something like that happened to you before?” Corbin growls, eyes flashing. "Do I need to call Orpheus?"

"No," I say, shaking my head.

"Corbin," Karsyn calls quietly, getting his attention. She shakes her head slightly as she reaches for his hand. The two share a connection unlike anyone else’s.

Suddenly, Corbin grunts and jerks his head in a nod.

"You know, when you two do that, it’s freaky as fuck," Dane remarks.

"Shut up," Corbin growls, looking at me again, questioning. "Can you just tell us what happened? Is it something we need to worry about?"

I know the best thing for me to do right now is probably to lie, to tell them it has happened before so I can leave, but that would be a mistake. I don’t really want to leave, to go out there alone. I’m not one for lying or making mistakes. Not to mention, I’m sure they’ve all seen the complete fear I’m feeling.

No, the truth. I need to speak only the truth. I will tell them what they want to hear, then leave. Being around so many people right now isn’t good. I need to understand what I saw, and I can’t do that in the safety of this place.

“No, that was a first. I’ve never experienced anything like the vision I just had, but staying here is making it worse. I need to get out of here.”

“We’re hurting you?” Primal asks, his voice not disbelieving but shocked.

“No, you’re not hurting me. There’s just a lot of input right now. Too noisy. I need to get to the quiet. I need to get home and be with my own thoughts.”

“I don’t know about this,” Tucker says. "What if something happens to her on her way home? We can’t just leave her like that.”

"Sibley’s right," Annahi pipes in quietly, resting a hand on Justice’s shoulder. "She needs to focus on her own thoughts and sight, not on what’s around her."

Out of everyone around me, she would understand best.

I raise my hand and snap it in the air so everyone is looking at me again.

“In case you all have forgotten, I’m not just a seer or a vampire. I’m a very old vampire with special abilities. Weird things happen to me all the time, and I can take care of myself. You don’t need to keep me hostage here just because you think I might get a boo-boo.”

What they don’t know, no one knows but Orpheus and Aziz—well, maybe Jett and Cassia, but that’s irrelevant. When Aziz drank the nectar of the Gods, what happened to him happened to me through the blood we share. The bond between us has always been special. It’s another reason they’re so protective of me.

A slight murmur ripples through the crowd, but I know this is far from over. These men don’t give up that easily.

I meet Justice’s gaze head-on. Of all the guys here, he’s the one I’m closest to. "Truly, Justice, I’m fine. It was a shock to my system, but right now I need peace and quiet, and my bed. I’m going home to sleep this off, and I’ll be fine tomorrow morning.”

“Did you see something? Something that concerns us?” Corbin asks.

I shake my head and give him a tight smile. I wish this were some sort of vision I could understand, one I could discuss with them. However, even I don’t understand it. Until I do, I can’t talk to anyone about it.