Then it occurred to me that I might actually be able toaskher.Because of Vesperus.
Can you hear me?I asked her, curious as to whether or not that power was now mine to use.
She didn’t respond, just continued to stare at me.
Maybe I’m doing it wrong.I tried to focus on her mind, onher, and asked again if she could hear me.
But she didn’t react.
Vesperus?I tried, wondering if perhaps I could speak to him in this coma-like state.
Silence.
I longed to frown but couldn’t. So instead I blinked, hoping the female would understand that I wasn’t yet dead.
She gaped at me. “What are you?” she asked, searching my body for clues. “No, wait. Iknowyou. From… from the street…” Her lips parted. “Klas shot you.”
Klas?I repeated.Your dead mate?
“How are you…?” Her brow furrowed as she glanced over me. “How are you alive?”
Because I’m hard to kill,I wanted to tell her.Although, your magic is doing one hell of a job holding me down.
Or I assumed it was her magic, anyway.
I could see the power in her gaze as well as taste the darkness in her energy, and that fractured aura around her made me question her sanity.
She swallowed, her focus shifting to the cemetery and the trees beyond. “Gods, he did it, didn’t he?” Her words were a whisper, her hands curling into fists at her sides as she shook her head sadly. “He finally did it.”
Finally did what?I wanted to ask her.And are we still talking about Klas?
She fidgeted with a bracelet on her wrist, her gaze distant. “I tried to stop him. But… but I couldn’t. He’s… he’s my mate.” She shook her head, then frowned down at her hand. “My charm…”
Her attention went to the grave, her panic palpable as she ran back to her burial site and started digging frantically through the dirt.
“Where is it? Where are you?” She sounded manic. “Where are you?!” She was frantic now, her eyes overrun with tears as she started repeating, “No, no, no. Tell me he didn’t take you. Tell me he didn’t find you.”
What are you looking for?I demanded, not understanding this woman’s behavior.
She froze, her gaze slowly returning to me. “Did you just say something?”
Not aloud,I thought.
Her eyes widened. “How are you doing that?”
You can hear me?I countered.
“Of course I can hear you. You’re in my mind.” She palmed the sides of her head and began to shake. “I’m going crazy. He’s finally done it. He’s finally broken me entirely.”
Who?I asked, rather than saying that she’d clearly passed crazy a few minutes ago.
“Klas,” she hissed. “My fated mate.”
She started pacing, her hands still on her head.
He’s dead.
She snorted. “No. He’s really not.” She grimaced, then glanced at her grave again. “And he took my charm.”
