Wrath

chanting became more urgent as I pushed even farther. I thought I felt another slight nudge north, but I couldn’t be sure, so I tried expanding my whole radius, stretching my mental boundaries as far as they would go. Blossom’s voice fell quiet. I squeezed my eyes tight with concentration, and all sound, all senses—the whole world—ceased to exist around me as I reached as far as I possibly could.

And there.

A pull.

I strained for the distant mind signature. Forced myself to follow it. Almost touched it. And—

“AAAAAAHHHHHH!” A scream. A voice I couldn’t distinguish as either male, female, or even human. Cold pain knifed into my head, like an ice pick stabbing into my brain.

All mind signatures disappeared. My mind went completely blank. And so did the world.

I came back to reality with my eyes still squeezed shut, my hands over my ears, and my body curled into a ball on the couch in Sundae’s office. A soft moan came from my own throat, though I didn’t realize it was me at first.

“Alexis.” Blossom’s voice, a soft whisper near my ear. I opened my eyes to find her on her knees on the floor in front of me, her hand on my shoulder. “Are you okay?”

Slowly I pulled my hands from my ears, only to find blood on them. Blossom reached for some tissues from a box on the desk and handed me a couple. I pressed them against my ears, and they came away with more blood. There must have been a small trickle from each one. Blossom used another tissue to dab at my lip—more blood, from my nose. My brain still felt like an ice pick was lodged into it.

“What happened?” the witch asked, her voice shaky and her eyes wide. I tried to sit up, but she held me down. “Take it easy. Something . . . wrong just went down, I think.”

“Did you hear it?” I asked, my voice hoarse.

Blossom shook her head. “I couldn’t get anything this time. I think my swim in the swamps may have washed too much of Dorian out of my blanket scrap.”

“You didn’t hear it through me?”

“I think you blocked me out somehow,” she said quietly.

“I don’t think it was me. I think . . .” I sat up, ignoring her insistence that I stay down. My nose and ears had stopped bleeding, though the pain in my head remained. “Someone felt me in their mind, and they didn’t like it. They were really powerful and tried to push me out . . . or something. That’s the only way I can explain it.”

“Who? A guy? A woman?”

“I don’t know. The mind signature felt so far away, I couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman or even if it was human.”

Blossom’s brow lowered as she studied my face, her eyes still filled with concern. “I don’t like what it’s done to you. Maybe doing this spell isn’t a good idea.”

I grabbed her wrist with my hand as near panic rose in me. “We can’t give up, Blossom. This could be our only way to find Dorian!”

She studied my face for a long moment as I silently pleaded with her.

“Okay, but if it happens again . . .”

“I’m sure it was nothing,” I said a little too quickly. “I mean, my mind can only reach maybe eight or ten miles out, so it probably won’t happen again once we’re out of here. We’ll be far away from them. And really, it could have been my own mind doing it because I tried to push too hard. I’ll be more careful. So don’t worry, okay?”

I didn’t tell her that with her spell, I was able to reach farther. Probably more like forty or fifty miles out. If she worried too much and thought she was making it worse, she might not try again, and we had to keep trying.

“Fine, but we don’t do it again until we’re far away from here,” she said as she pulled her arm from my grip.

“Deal,” I agreed.

A knock on the door was followed by Sundae entering her own office.

“You have a phone call,” she said to me, and she pointed at the phone on the desk. “You can take it right here.”

Blossom discreetly took the bloody tissues from my hand and followed Sundae out of the office.

“What happened to your phone?” Tristan demanded as soon as I picked up. “It rang, but you didn’t answer. I’ve been worried as hell about you.”

Chapter 12

Hearing Tristan’s lovely voice again sent a thrill through me, though the furious tone of it should have made me pee myself. It probably would have scared anyone else, but I knew the worry behind it. We’d been separated before. Our son was missing. We couldn’t help but worry about losing each other again.

“Sorry. It, um, broke.” I didn’t have the heart to tell him I broke it myself during a minor temper tantrum. “I’m glad you found me, though, and everyone’s okay. I was worried, too, you know.”

“I know, ma lykita,” he said, his voice softer now. “You’re right—we’re all okay, and that’s what matters. We’ll see each other in a few hours—”

“You’re still so far?” My heart sank. I didn’t think they’d started that far away, and I’d hoped he’d been calling to say they were almost here. We seriously needed to talk. And I seriously needed to feel his arms around me.

“We’re headed for the Atlanta safe house with this new convert. You’ll have to meet us there.”

“Okay,” I said, trying to hide the disappointment I felt. “You have Sasha, right?”

“Erm, no. I thought she was with you.”

My heart plummeted again and formed a pit in my stomach. “I haven’t seen her since the fight with the Daemoni.”

“She’s tough, Lex. I’m sure she’ll show up soon.”

“How will she know to find us in Atlanta, though? Maybe we shouldn’t go so far away.”

“We don’t know where she flew to. She could be in Atlanta. She’ll sense the Amadis out wherever she is.”

I blew out a sigh of resignation. I had a hard time picturing the sweet little dog we usually knew as being able to fend for herself for so long. To be able to travel so far. But, of course, she was more than the sweet little dog we usually knew, and I had to keep that in mind.

“So any ideas on how we get to Atlanta?”

I could have probably figured it out on my own, but when you have someone who could see the best solution, why take the time and brain power? Especially after what my poor brain had just been through.

“Trevor will set you up,” he answered. “Just be careful, my love.”

“Of course. I can take care of myself, but I have others here, too.”

“I won’t stop worrying about you until you’re in my arms again.”

“Well, that goes for both of us.”

“See you soon.”

Not soon enough, I thought as I hung up. A knock sounded on the door, and I waved my hand to open it.

“So, you need some transportation,” Trevor said as he strode into the office, wiping his hands on a greasy rag. He chuckled at the look on my face. “I spoke with Tristan before we sent the call back here. How ’bout I give you something so you don’t have to steal this time? Get your group and come ’round to the rear of the building.”

I returned to the bar to retrieve everyone, and we went outside and out back, passing all of the motorcycles.

“Can you ride one yourself?” Trevor asked me. My eyes widened. This was what Tristan meant by the Were hooking us up?