Although she desperately wanted to agree, Annora knew the guys would never let her get away with avoiding practice. “I have plans this afternoon.”
“Oh, of course.” Loulou’s face fell before she could cover it, her eyes dropped, the bright smile dimming slightly. “I—”
“But I should be free after supper if that will work.”
Loulou’s head snapped up, her mouth forming an ‘o’ of surprise, before she began to nod like a bobblehead. Then she thrust out her hand and wiggled her fingers. “Give me your phone.”
Annora checked her pockets, then fished around in her bag before pulling out the device Logan bought for her. She didn’t even have time to hand it over before it disappeared from her fingers.
After a few seconds, Loulou thrust it back. “There. Now you have my number.”
Loulou hesitated for a few seconds, her wide eyes just slightly too big, making her look so damned innocent that Annora couldn’t help smiling. “I’ll text you when I’m finished with practice.”
“Great!” Loulou beamed again, then turned on her heel and bounded away like she was skipping, her hair streaming behind her. That’s when she spotted Lionel waiting in the distance. The rabbit threw herself at the young man, and he hugged her close. He nodded to Annora, a small smile crinkling the corners of his eyes before he pulled Loulou away, smiling down at the little rabbit while she prattled away a hundred miles an hour.
“That was kind of you.”
She nearly jumped out of her skin when Logan pushed away from the wall and sauntered toward her. She waited for a sarcastic or cutting remark, but he seemed sincere. He was already dressed, but he must have done nothing more than run the shower to get here in time to be waiting for her, and she raised a brow at his still-dripping hair.
“Until we know more about your father and who drugged you last night, we decided to take shifts watching over you.” Logan nudged her to get her moving. “Xander will be along shortly.”
They barely reached the entrance outside the arena before Xander silently joined them, looking completely refreshed, as if he hadn’t just spent the past three hours kicking her ass. He took lead, Logan automatically falling in step beside her.
Because of Logan’s comment, she was surprised when they stopped in the middle of the busy campus and took a seat on the edge of a water fountain, the guys taking up residence on either side of her, so close their arms brushed against hers. “What are we doing?”
“We’re going to practice with your abilities.” But Xander wasn’t looking at her, he was surveying the crowd for any possible threat.
“Xander told me you’re able to tell a person’s species by just looking at them.” Logan glanced at her admiringly for a heartbeat, then he turned and tipped his chin in the direction of a couple of students crossing campus. “What are they?”
Her mouth went dry at the thought of touching the darkness so eagerly waiting for her. Xander spoke, cutting off her protests before she could even formulate them. “You’re afraid of what you call the darkness, but it’s a part of you. Keeping your other nature separate from you is dangerous, like ignoring a bomb ready to detonate.”
She swallowed hard at the thought of what he was asking. To rip away all her shields would leave her exposed and vulnerable. Her shields have kept her hidden and protected. Without them, she wasn’t sure what she would become…a killer or worse. “Or it could be like releasing a plague onto the world. You don’t know what I’m capable of.”
Xander turned to gaze at her with clear teal eyes. “And neither do you. Until you learn, you’ll always be hampered by that fear. You’ll never grow into your full potential.”
“And if I don’t want to reach my full potential?” What kind of monster would she become? She shuddered at the thought of becoming a bridge to the afterworld, burdened with the ability to throw open a door so all the deadly creatures could escape and consume the world.
Logan reached over and threaded his fingers with hers, not looking at her as he placed their joined hands on his knee. “You’re afraid of the wrong things. You are a lot stronger than you believe, but I worry about what will happen when your uncle finally shows. If we’re not allowed to kill him to protect you, we’re basically defenseless, and I’ve had enough of being helpless.” He squeezed her fingers and looked at her. “I think you have too. Only when you accept the darkest part of you will you be able to defeat him and finally be free.”
He sounded like a damned fortune cookie. She blew out an exasperated breath, recognizing he spoke the truth. These next few minutes were going to suck. “Fine. Let’s do this.”
Xander pointed to a girl talking on the phone. “What is she?”
She tried to pull her hand away from Logan, but he refused to release her. “You need to let go. I don’t want to risk using my abilities while you’re touching me.”
Instead of agreeing, Xander took her other hand. “You don’t get to choose the setting when you’re attacked. You’re going to have to learn how to roll with the punches.”
She opened her mouth to protest, then closed it.
He was right.
Dammit!
She concentrated on the girl he indicated. She was already halfway across the quad, and nothing about her suggested she was anything other than human.
She called the darkness, felt it stir to life like glitter caught in a whirlwind. Instead of letting it seep through her skin and risk touching the others, she kept it inside, allowing it to cover her eyes. She wasn’t in the afterworld exactly, but somewhere in between. A large snake seemed to slither around the girl’s hips and up along her back, resting its head on her shoulders.
“A snake.” She blinked to clear her eyes, tension leaving her spine when the darkness didn’t threaten to drag her into the afterworld.
Instead of being pleased, Xander frowned. “You’re holding back.”
Her smile fell away. “You don’t allow your beast out every time you want to use your senses.”
“No, but I don’t call for my beast to enhance my hearing. My senses are always waiting for me when I need them, our beasts resting right below the surface, watching and waiting. You shouldn’t have to call on them.” He ran a hand along his jaw, then looked over at the campus. “You might have only seconds to react, but those seconds could mean life or death.”
She couldn’t refute his insight, but the very idea sent her pulse pounding. “Then how do you keep your monster from taking over?”
Xander lifted their joined hands and pressed them to his chest. “Oh honey, you’re not a monster. We’ve all had to do things we regret to stay alive.”
“Letting your beast free doesn’t mean it will take over. It actually makes you stronger, helps you react faster. It’s a part of you.” Logan played with her fingers, cupping her hand in both of his. “We’ve all lost control when our emotions get the best of us, but with enough practice, you’ll learn when to let your beast free and when to lock it down.”
“Try again.” Xander leaned forward, resting his free elbow on his knee, then nodded to a boy who had just dropped his books. “Him.”
She shifted her feet restlessly against the urge to bolt, resisting for one reason…what if they were right? What would happen if she just let go? Biting the inside of her lip, she relished the flash of pain—needed it to keep her head free from emotions trying to clutter it up—and decided to trust them.
When she called upon the darkness without restricting it, she didn’t expect it to surge out of her in a violent wave and swallow them whole. A shiver of pain prickled along her skin as the darkness rose. They guys grunted as it slammed into them. She tried to jerk her hands away, but they only tightened their grip, refusing to release her.
Seconds later, the pain faded, replaced by a hum of pleasure flickering along her skin, and she pried open her eyes, her heart in her throat, afraid to see if she’d pulled them in the afterworld.
Instead, the landscape was awash in colors.
Logan rubbed his thumb distractingly along her palm. “What is that?”
She opened her mouth, but Xander answered first. “Magic.”
At the edge of the campus, a large dome stretched up into the sky, soft pink swirling along the barrier. Some people were swathed in brilliant colors while others were pale in comparison. Almost everyone exhibited some type of magic.
The shifters were slightly different. Instead of bright colors, they glowed. Some beasts actually blended with their human counterpart to form a single creature, while others prowled behind them like a shadow. Each shifter was different. She focused on the boy who finally managed to pick up his books. The kid’s beast merged with him for a few seconds, giving him a boost of speed, enough for him to leap across campus and catch up with his friends.
“He’s a deer.” She turned toward Xander, then nearly swallowed her tongue when his beast stared boldly back at her. The creature rested just under his skin, his sharp teal eyes watching her carefully. He had a face like an eagle, his white hair actually feathers, as if part of him had bled through to his human form. His hands were large golden paws topped with lethally sharp, two-inch black claws, his creature pinning her fingers to his thigh as if to stop her from running screaming in fear. Large, ghostly wings arched out of his back, the brown and white feathers majestic. “You’re a gryphon.”
The great creature bowed his head regally, seeming pleased when she didn’t flinch away. Gryphons were whispered to be nearly extinct, vicious creatures who loved to hunt. The few remaining gryphons kept to themselves, often sought out and killed for use in various potions and spells.
Though she was often left alone for days on end in her cell, she had unfettered access to the computer when she obeyed her uncle, often hacking into the system when her uncle wasn’t looking. She was monitored, her ability to post restricted by a firewall, but she was still able to read whatever caught her interest.
And read she did, fascinated by anything and everything mythical.
She imagined she was one of them, something special.
She would never have guessed they were real.
“Is this your afterworld?” Logan asked, awe and curiosity making his blue eyes shimmer.
She tore her attention away from the gryphon seated next to her, glancing at Logan in bemusement. “No, the afterworld is a dark place where the dead and dying linger.”
This was something completely different.
“You must be tethering me to the human world, boosting my ability to see more without having to be dragged into the afterworld.” She allowed the darkness to rise to her fingertips, the cloud of mist opening a small window for her to peer through into a dark world that resembled a post-apocalyptic landscape. Everything was dark, the sun hidden behind the gloomy overcast, while particles floated in the air like debris carried by a current.
“That’s where you go?” Logan sounded appalled, unable to tear his attention away from the grim realm.
She shrugged, closing her hand into a fist to scatter the mist. “It’s actually not so bad. My uncle can’t reach me there. When I visit, I’m stronger, and my injuries heal almost instantly. It’s…” she couldn’t put into words what she felt when she physically ventured into the afterworld.
“Like going home,” Xander murmured.
She glanced up at him in surprise. “Yes.”
“But the afterworld also terrifies you,” Logan’s voice was stark, his kitsune bristling.
She pursed her lips, dropping her gaze and blinking away the enveloping darkness, and the colorful world around them faded. She didn’t want to tell them, but they deserved to know the risks, especially if she accidently pulled them into the afterworld.
She refused to leave them vulnerable.
“No, not like you think. The afterworld is a place where the living go to die. When a person’s soul crosses over, their essence bleeds away. The creatures of the afterworld feed on them. The longer a person remains in the afterworld, the faster they die.” She pulled her hands away from them, twisting her fingers in her lap.
They needed to know everything, and her heart ached at the thought of what they would think of her once they knew the truth. “My uncle would sell my services to the sick or dying.” She licked her suddenly chapped lips. “The creatures of the afterworld seemed to obey me. I can order them away long enough for the injured to recover. Since my uncle doesn’t associate with fine, upstanding citizens, most of the people I helped deserved their fate.”
“Shit.” Logan stood and began pacing. “No wonder your uncle wants you back.”
“He had planned to auction me off to the highest bidder.” She smiled bitterly. “You see, I can’t cure people. If they’re sick, their illness will eventually return, but injuries are a little different. I can sometimes prevent death long enough for a person to heal.”
Xander knelt in front of her, leaving her no choice but look directly at him. “What else waits for you in the afterworld?”
He hit the nail on the head, easily guessing her real fear.
“I don’t know.” She straightened, pushing her hair off her face. “I know he’s not one of the creatures. I’m afraid he’s like me, but he’d somehow gotten lost in the afterworld. He’s been stalking me for a while, always watching—as if he’s waiting for something.”
Just talking about her stalker sent a chill down her spine.
“Whenever he’s near, I can feel his hunger.” She licked her lips, her throat scratchy, her breathing erratic as her agitation increased. “One of these times he will catch me. I’m afraid if he gets his hands on me, he’ll drain me of my power and abandon me to the afterworld, trapped to wander forever, and he will be free to roam the world, feeding on whoever he touches.”
Xander dragged her to her feet, tucking her against his chest. “We won’t allow that to happen.”
She rested her head to her chest, letting his heartbeat soothe her, wishing she could believe him, but whoever was stalking her was relentless. He would never give up. “You—”
“You said we tether you.” Logan hunched down until their eyes met. “You’re stronger than you think. We make you stronger. I promise you that no matter what happens, we will not let you go without a fight.”
Which was exactly what worried her.
Chapter Eighteen
“She’s gone.” Mason entered the house, tossing his keys on the table, a massive scowl on his face.
“Who’s gone?” Camden looked up from the file he was reading on the computer. Xander came in from where he was working on the deck, while Logan continued to put together supper.
“Vicki has disappeared.” Mason slipped off his shoes, then took his customary spot at the table.
Annora stacked up the school books Logan and Xander had collected for her to help her catch up on her studies before school officially started. Since she didn’t grow up around paranormals, she was missing a lot of their basic education. “Where did she go? She didn’t seem the type to run from a fight.”
Mason leaned back into his seat, running a hand down his face. “I spoke with the wolves, and they don’t have a clue. She’s simply missing.”
Everyone gathered around the table. Camden leaned forward, closing the lid of his computer. “Did they make it official?”
Annora glanced back and forth among them. “Official?”
“If they make it official, she becomes part of our case.” Camden glanced at her for a second before turning back toward Mason, waiting for the answer.
“Not yet, not official, but they did give us approval to talk to anyone in the pack.” Mason turned toward her, looking a bit worried. “You should kno
w she disappeared at the party. She never returned home, and you were one of the last people to see her.”
Annora wondered if they thought she had anything to do with it, and she narrowed her eyes at them. Though they didn’t know each other well, the idea was like a knife to the gut. “I can assure you I have the perfect alibi. She was alive and well when Logan dragged me off. After that I didn’t spend one single second alone…you guys were there.”
Xander harrumphed at her comment. “No one is casting blame on you, honey, but it does bring up an important question…you were drugged that night. What if she was as well? What if you were the target, and she just got in the way?”
Her skin crawled at the thought of someone watching her, watching the guys without her being aware of it, and it took her a good minute to push past the terror. “Do you think it was my uncle?”
Camden brushed a thumb along his lips as he contemplated her question. “Doubtful. In the first place, he has no access to the drugs. The drug is supposed to enhance a shifter’s abilities, which is the last thing he’d want. Not to mention your uncle is human. Vicki is enough of a bitch to rip apart anyone, human or not, who tried to take her.”
Relief had Annora wilting back into her seat as the guys continued to discuss scenarios. But she couldn’t get over the one question that repeated in her head. “If she was enhanced, then how was she taken?”
The guys quieted, turning toward her and waiting for her to continue. Logan turned off the stove behind her and joined them.
“Explain,” Camden ordered.
“We fought. She was already incredibly strong. If she took the drug afterward, she would’ve been even stronger. Not to mention she never goes anywhere without her posse. Where were they?” Needing to do something, she stood and grabbed the plates off the counter and began setting the table. “Think about it. A group of shifters could possibly have taken her, but not without her inflicting a lot of damage.” She passed out the silverware, her mind worrying the problem. “But what if our original theory was correct? If she drugged me, then she’s part of the operation. Why take her?”
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