Page 85 of Dark Night of the Soul

“If only.”

He ignored me and said, “So, what do you want me to do?”

“Sit there and look hot.” And then instantly regretted the words.

His mouth curved. Enough I knew he’d heard me. Enough I knew he was filing that comment away for later.

My new superpower seemed to be lack of filter. Also, why was I flirting with him?

I knew why. Because I’d been trapped in this cabin with him for over a week and he’d been patient and careful and it was making me insane.

I closed my eyes and reached for that familiar sensation. The shift in consciousness that let me slip into someone else’s dreams or mind. I could do either.

“Okay, so be quiet and let me concentrate.”

“I didn’t say anything.” He sounded amused.

“Shh.”

I placed my palms flat on the table to ground myself and reached inward. To the place where my dream walking ability had lived my entire life.

And I knew it had been altered.

The pathway was there but warped. Like a corridor that had collapsed inward. I could sense the outline of it, but when I tried to step into it, my awareness slid sideways instead of forward.

I tried again.

Nothing.

It should have been instant. It always had been.

I should have been able to lock onto him without effort. I couldn’t.

And then the realization hit. Not fear, not hesitation, not trauma.

Damage.

Whatever they’d done hadn’t blocked my ability.

They’d altered it.

I opened my eyes, sitting there stunned. And furious. Wasn’t it enough they took him from me, they had to take that from me, too?

“What is it?” he asked carefully.

“I can’t reach it.” My voice came out cold, flat. “That part of me is damaged.”

He didn’t interrupt.

“He didn’t just take you from me, he took everything else with you,” I continued, heat creeping into my chest. “He stole the one piece of me that was always mine.”

My throat tightened. I shoved back from the table so hard the chair toppled behind me, slapping the floor.

He stayed where he was, watching me. Fury mirrored in his eyes.

My heart pounded in a wild, furious beat. “That son of a bitch is going to pay for everything he did to me.”

I said it like a vow.