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“Soon,” Henry tells her. “We just need to finish up here, and then someone can take you home.”
James moves on to a woman next. She is a phoenix. She’s lying on the ground in her cage, coughing. “Will you give of your blood freely?” he asks.
“Never,” she spats, her voice scratchy. She coughs some more.
James blinks at the woman as if surprised by her refusal. Henry lets go of my hand to walk over to her cage. “And why not?” he asks. “You know Nora is a good person. She deserves this gift. You can save her from herself.”
The woman’s response confuses me. “But I can’t save her from you.”
I walk over to her cage to stand beside Henry. He takes my hand. “What do you mean?” I ask the woman.
The woman cannot answer me. She’s coughing too hard now. But she manages to glare at Henry with a look so full of hate I stumble back.
“Because he has compelled you,” Aziel answers for her. “He’s manipulating you into a relationship that you don’t want. He’s made you forget yourrealmates, and he plans to bind you to him so that he’ll have complete control over you and your powers.”
What?
The man is weak, but I can tell he tries to make his next words sound as strong and defiant as possible. “I will not help you steal this woman’s life, and I will not give you access to her power.Sheis worthy of my help.Youare not.”
Henry grinds his teeth, and his eyes begin to glow an eerie red. He hisses once and flashes a mouthful of fang. “Fine. If you refuse to help us, then I will kill the girl.”
I gasp, and so does the phoenix. “Henry!” I cry. “You can’t!”
He shrugs. “I already have what I need from her. She is of no more use to me. James, bleed her dry.”
James hesitates, but Henry glares at him and says, “Do it, or I will, and then I will bleed you next!”
James swallows hard but moves back toward Sapphire. I dash over to the little girl’s cage, push James out of the way, and block the door with my body. “You can’t hurt her, Henry. I won’t let you.”
He glares at me, and I gasp again. Why would he glare at me? He loves me. And why would he kill an innocent child? He’s not a monster. Or…is he?
My brain hurts, but small memories come back to me. There are big, gaping holes, as if parts of my memory have been tampered with. Was Aziel telling the truth? Have I been compelled?
I think back on my memories of Henry, and they conflict with what I know of him. I remember he once kidnapped me and held me hostage. He hurt…someone…I can’t remember.”
The harder I think, the more my brain hurts. I’ve been compelled by him before. A vampire was missing. Nadine. Henry forced me to help find her. He compelled me! Could he have compelled me again? Compelled me to love him? I love him now, but I remember hating him. I trust him now, but I remember being scared of him.
“Nora,” Henry snaps, “Come to me.”
For some reason I don’t want to, but my feet obey. I do as he asked. I go to him.
That’s not right. I didn’t want to go to him. I really must be compelled. What else has he done? What’s real and what’s not? Are the gaps in my memory his doing? What am I forgetting? No. That can’t be right. Henry wouldn’t harm me. He wouldn’t manipulate me. I trust him. I shake my head, trying to clear it of the fog and confusion.
“James!” Henry snaps. “Now!”
James opens the little girl’s cage and pulls out his needle. “No!” I scream. I try to lunge at James, but Henry holds me tight. I thrash against his hold. “Let me go! Henry, you can’t do this! She’s a child!”
The girl backs away from James and then cries out in pain when her back hits the gold bars of her cage. “No, please,” she whimpers. “You promised I could go home.”
James grimaces and captures her arm. He puts the needle into her arm, and when the red line of blood starts flowing from her, she begins sobbing. I can no longer hold back the tears, either. “Please, Henry! I don’t want her to die! Not for me! I’d rather die to get rid of my curse than let you kill her.”
Henry gives me a cold look. “That is unacceptable, love. I can’t live without you, so I will do whatever it takes to save you.”
I’m so angry and devastated. How could I love a monster like Henry? I want nothing more than to stop him. I’d kill him if I had to in order to save the girl. I don’t care that I love him. He’s killing a child! I want to fight him, my siren is raging inside me, but no matter what I try to do, I won’t attack him. It’s as if Ican’tattack him. My body refuses to listen to me. Is that another compulsion? Has he compelled me never to hurt him?
“All right, stop!” Aziel shouts. “I will do it! Just don’t harm the girl!”
