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She couldn’t yet see Thorne. She was too lost in the middle of the experience.
But she was aware enough to know that she still had hold of his arms and that he was rubbing her back very gently. Her hands were wet, but she didn’t know why. Her fingers even slid around.
So this was obsidian flame, the breadth of it. She tried to measure it but what she felt the most was how easily she now held the vision at bay—as though it had moved several feet from her and sat limp in the air, powerless to affect her anymore. From this time forward, no vision would ever again crash down on her.
She didn’t know if she should feel relieved. Certainly she had more control, but a corresponding thought sliced through her: What would be the price of such control? What would be left of her life now? Where would her precious freedom be?
Thorne, thank God, didn’t intrude on her thoughts; nor did he speak to her. He just continued his gentle touch on her arms, her shoulders, her back, soothing her, comforting her.
He was a good friend, tremendous support, an anchor. Who else could have done for her what she needed? Who but a warrior could understand that sometimes pain just had to be tolerated?
She smiled when it occurred to her that he’d essentially just popped her obsidian flame cherry.
She finally drew back and looked him in the eye. She could tell he was no longer in her mind. She was pretty sure that obsidian flame had shot him the hell out of there. “So did you get fried or anything?” she asked.
He smiled and shook his head. “I got a taste of what you endured, but it was more like a punch in the ass when I left the center of your power.”
“You know, you seem really pleased with yourself.”
“Not with myself. I’m pleased because I can feel the difference in you, in your obsidian flame power. It tastes complete, and very big, as though before it was just a shadow of what it could be. But how did you know you needed it pierced?”
She shook her head. “I remember Fiona went through something similar but it wasn’t Jean-Pierre who had done the deed. It was Endelle.”
“Well, I’m sure it was no picnic.”
“I felt like you were carrying a blowtorch and had it lit the entire journey. And once you got there, you used a chain saw to cut through some really sensitive tissue.”
“Good to know. Okay, so tell me about the vision.”
“It’s just there, waiting. When I’m ready.”
He smiled. “That’s fantastic. So obsidian flame has done this for you, given you command of these visions?”
She nodded. “I think so, at least to the degree that they can’t just incapacitate me.” Her hand slipped down his arms. She drew back and gasped. “Look what I did to you?” Her horrible inch-long nails had dug into him and created a bunch of small wounds. Blood oozed down his arms. “Oh, God, I’m so sorry.”
But he scoffed. “Please. You really think I’m not used to much worse? Besides, I could tell how much this recent penetration hurt you.”
At the sound of the word, she smiled. “I haven’t had a penetration hurt that bad since I was fifteen.”
“Oh, now, please don’t bring that up. That is so not the kind of thing I can handle.”
She rolled her eyes. “Thorne, how old are you?”
“Two mil.”
“And, uh, just how many women have you penetrated in the past twenty-four centuries?”
He could only grin, so she leaned up and kissed him full on the lips. “Wish you’d been the one, if that makes you feel better.”
“It does.”
“But man, with the size you are, that would have hurt a helluva lot worse than what I went through.”
“Again, I need to remind you that I don’t want to hear about you with other men, even if you were just a teenager. I’m also guessing we need to take a look at this most recent vision.”
“Right.” She frowned as more of her intuition kicked in. “I have a feeling this vision concerns you, just like the last one, so maybe you should just jump in.”
“I agree.” He took a deep breath then pushed his mind against hers.
This vision was like a black cloud, which really didn’t bode well for the contents. She held her obsidian flame power at the fore and very slowly opened the door to the future streams. The images wanted to rush, but she simply thought the thought and they slowed.
She was back at the Convent, inside the cell she shared with Grace. That sight alone was enough to almost make her want to shut the whole thing down. Instead she held steady and let the next images come. It was as though she stood in the center of the cell facing Grace’s bed, her former cot behind her. As she began to pan toward the wall with the desk that sat between the beds, the images simply became murky and unrecognizable, something that never happened in her visions.
She felt uneasy. She had a sense that there were two people in the room, Grace and someone else.
I don’t understand. Why did the images stop? Thorne sent. I mean, what the hell happened to them?
She thought for a minute. She extended her senses toward the vision once more, then she knew.
Oh, shit, Stannett.
You mean he’s interfered?
Exactly.
Sonofabitch.
She prompted the vision once more, hoping that perhaps there was a way to enhance her obsidian flame power in order to overcome the interference. But she could feel that her new power was flowing in a perfect stream—yet there was nothing she could do to affect what Stannett was doing. He was one powerful vampire.
She closed the vision down and pulled back to look at Thorne. He disengaged from her mind so that the familiar rubbery sensation followed. She was alone within her mind once more.
“That was your Convent cell,” he stated, frowning.
“Yes, it was.” She felt restrained in her spirit.
He put his hand on her arm and met her gaze. “What are you not saying? I can feel your hesitation. What’s going on?”
She looked up at him, at his somber expression, the pinch of his lips. It was simple: She didn’t want to go down this path.
Unfortunately, this path involved saving Grace, her friend, her cellmate. She even suspected that it would involve all the devotiates in the Convent as well.
“Is this an attack?” he asked.
“I don’t know.” That at least was the truth. “All I know is that Stannett is blocking the vision. Maybe he suspected I’d be reading it, or maybe he’s just taking precautions. I don’t know.”
