An hour was nothing for a vampire my age. Mere seconds, really.
So why did this feel like an eternity?
And what the hell is this sensation in my chest?I wondered suddenly, my palm covering my heart to rub at the ache forming there.A physical response to my growing irritation?
No, that didn’t seem quite right.
Why would irritation stir pain?
Why am I feeling pain at all?
I frowned.
Something is very wrong here.
I glanced at my watch again, as well as Mira’s name hovering over my wrist. I hadn’t minimized the translucent screen. My finger itched to touch the Call button, but an instinctual part of me held back. A part I didn’t quite understand.
A part linked to that odd pang stirring inside me.
I returned my hand to my chest, my fingers pressing into the muscle in an attempt to alleviate the pressure. Yet it only seemed to be growing, the intensity warming my veins and sending shocks to my nerve endings.
My brow furrowed.What is this?
A particularly painful spike sliced through my being, making me wince. Then I gasped as my lungs suddenly fought for air.
It felt like I was dying.
Like I was losing the will to live.
What the fuck is happening?I shoved away from the table, my predator instantly searching for whatever threat was doing this to me.
But I sensed nothing.
Because it wasn’t coming from an outside source; it was coming from within me.
Ismerelda,I realized, my brow coming down.
What the hell are you doing?I demanded, my words slamming through the barrier between our minds as the shield I’d created long ago crumbled to pieces.Why are you…
I trailed off, my spine straightening as Ismerelda’s psyche washed over me.
Devastation.
Despair.
Hopelessness.
She… she was reliving some sort of memory. A horrific one. One where she was surrounded by several men, all of whom intended to harm her.
Only for a shadow to appear.Me,I recognized in the next breath.The night we met.
She’d mentioned something about this, about how I’d saved her, but seeing it in her mind… it… it added credence to the story.
Except the memory seemed to be blending into something else. Something horrendous.
Don’t, she told herself.Focus on real Cam. Remember him. Only him.
I blinked, not understanding what she meant.
