Declan nodded and reached out to me. He pulled me from the table into his lap and wrapped his strong muscular arms around me.
“Once we go down this path, there is no turning back.”
“I know.” I swallowed. “She gave me no choice.”
15
Now that the spelled cuff had fallen from Dia’s wrists, the gloves were coming off. We faced one another in the lower-level sparing room beneath the Compound. Arrangements needed to be made before we struck the H.A.C. so Declan was somewhere above working out the logistics of moving a force against them.
He’d hinted I could join him in the preparations, and I knew he’d wanted me to, but I still didn’t feel right stepping into that role. The Pack needed a united front, and right now wasn’t the time for me to force myself on them.
Their trust in me would grow with time.
I didn’t want to overstep.
Not right now at least.
After yesterday’s attacks and the Clan meeting, the choice was made: we would strike tonight when darkness fell.
We couldn’t afford to wait any longer than that.
But every hour that ticked by was another hour Melody was in my mother’s clutches. It was another hour she was being held captive, trapped, abused, and experimented on for all I knew.
It was killing me.
Which led me to where I was right now. In the bowels of the Compound getting my ass kicked by Dia. To say it royally sucked was the understatement of a lifetime.
“Is that all you’ve got?” Dia sneered as I wiped blood from the corner of my mouth.
Inarus and Jason stood to the left of us, watching—Jason impassively and Inarus with weary tension. He shouldn’t have been out of bed. He was still recovering but had insisted on coming in case things got out of hand.
Which given my and Dia’s feelings toward one another, was not only possible, but probable.
The rules were simple and if you asked me, entirely unfair.
We could use fists and we could use telekinesis. That was it.
It was a crapshoot that left me at a severe disadvantage. I relied heavily on my pyrokinesis and skill with my twin daggers. Having neither had me overthinking my strikes and kept me on the defensive as Dia lashed out again and again.
She fought dirty, easily yanking my feet out from under me by using telekinesis to pull at the soles of my boots or causing the matts beneath our feet to roll like ocean waves.
I’d been smacked in the face with more inanimate objects than I could count and she never let me get close enough to punch her, which was all I could think about as fury coursed through my veins.
“I’m just warming up,” I spat.
Dia’s grin widened “Well, hurry up already. I thought I’d get a workout today and I’m barely breaking a sweat.”
God, I wanted to hit her.
Before she could taunt me further, I lunged forward, and when she dove to her left, I wrapped my telekinesis around her jeans and yanked.
I may have yanked a little too hard.
As her body went left, her jeans went right, and I got a good look at her polka dotted panties.
I couldn’t contain the laugh that exploded out of me. “Polka dots? Real—”
She lashed out, jerking her jeans back up, she twisted her hands through the air, grabbing something invisible. She’d grabbed me by the throat and lifted me in the air as I flayed kicking and gasping for breath.
Sonova—
I kicked and writhed to no avail before it dawned on me that I needed to stop trying to escape my invisible bonds, and needed to strike out at her.
Black spots filled my vision. Inarus shouted in the background to let me go. Blocking him out, I reached out a hand and wrapped invisible fingers around Dia’s neck, jerking her towards me. I fought the urge to light her on fire. I was still playing by the rules. For now.
The grip on my throat relaxed for just a moment, allowing me to suck in a lungful of air before it was back with a viselike grip.
We floated in the air facing one another. Her milky complexion quickly turned pink, then purple. I had a feeling my face matched.
Fan-freaking-tastic.
I’d stopped kicking and now it was a battle of wills. I refused to let her get the upper hand.
Her eyes bulged.
Mine filled with moisture.
In my peripheral, Inarus argued with Jason, probably on whether or not they should intervene. It didn’t matter.
My vision grew fuzzy at the edges and my leg jerked involuntarily. I wasn’t going to last much longer. And that was fine. It wouldn’t be the first time I’d blacked out, but I sure as hell was going to make her blackout with me.
Before my next thought could formulate, my legs were yanked down, my concentration lost, and both Dia and I tumbled back to the mats.
She landed in Jason’s arms—lucky duck. And I landed on top of Inarus, who’d probably tried to catch me and was too weak to hold himself up, let alone shoulder my weight.
“Ow!” My back creaked and Inarus groaned as I rolled off of him.
“What were you thinking?” I admonished, reaching down and helping him to his feet.
He didn’t answer, instead just shook his head, and then my mind was careening under the onslaught of emotions and memories.
I gasped for breath.
“Aria? Ari?” Inarus’ voice held an edge of panic. “Shit. I’m sorry.”
I shook myself like a dog shaking off water and choked back the emotions—that definitely were not mine— and widened my eyes toward him.
“So that was…” Hell, I wasn’t even sure. It was like being bulldozed with … not love … that had a different flavor to it. Infatuation maybe?
Inarus ran a hand through his midnight hair, an apology stamped across his face. “I’m
