by Emma Dawn
I passed the sixth floor and sweat was streaming down the sides of my face and my breath came in gasps. More from the anxiety than the output of energy. This was no worse than a work out at the gym. Except at the gym there was no man with magic behind me, no lives on the line. Right now, Rose was dying and it was my fault.
I burst through the door to the seventh floor. Two nurses stared at me and I pointed at the door. “There’s a man with a gun in the stairwell. He was chasing me!”
They stared at me for another beat and then they were running. One toward me and the door, the other toward the phone.
“What did he look like?”
I gave her a quick description of the man I knew as Etterson. “He was yelling at me that he was going to kill everyone.”
The nurse beside me yanked a set of keys from her waist and locked the door.
“What if he shoots it open?” I said. “Maybe we should block the hall?”
She nodded, her eyes wide with fear. “Good idea. Grab those extra beds.”
Between the two of us we filled the hall between the elevators and the stairwell. I backed away. “I have a friend here. I need to check on her,” I said.
I spun and ran down the hall toward Rose’s room. As I stepped through the door to her room, I knew something was wrong.
The same two women were in their beds as before, and there was no one in the bed across from Rose.
But it was the hand holding Rose’s that worried me. I could only see a portion of the hand and arm around the curtain surrounding her and as I walked the body attached to the hand came into view.
Etterson stood there holding Rose’s hand. “I’m afraid this must end, Dominique.”
“You . . .you’re a warlock. Why are you doing this?” I spluttered the words, shocked that they would even come out of my mouth.
“Because I am on one side of the two factions. The Cabal helping you is on the other side.” He smiled, but his smile was off, as though he was not sure himself if he should be happy or sad.
“Don’t do this. She needs medical help. Please, don’t hurt her,” I said.
“I’m taking her away,” Etterson said. “We want to study her at the Temple of Light.”
“What? Why?” I was doing everything I could to stall him. Anything at all to buy Rose and Diego more time.
He sighed. “Because unlike you, Rose is special. She has power in her that has not been seen in a thousand years.”
I sagged. “So, you’re going to heal her?” I could live with that. Not that I wanted her to be far away from me but at least she would be alive.
“No, not at all. I plan to take her power for my own.” He grinned at me then and I saw a glimmer of madness.
“And that will kill her, won’t it?”
He grinned and flicked his eyebrows up. “Yes. But her loss will help me gain the power I need.”
I had to stall, Diego said he would meet me at Rose’s room. I had to just wait until he got there. “But why didn’t you take her before?”
“Ah. Well, I wasn’t sure which one of you was the special one. It isn’t you, by and by. I can only take one.” He held up a single finger. “Otherwise, I would have just taken you both. But I’ve been watching you with the Cabal. They are trying so hard to open you to your power, and even the marks cut into you weren’t enough to open you. Believe you me, I tried to make it you. Your bloodline would have one think you are special, but it turns out it’s Rose. Not you.”
I shook my head. “Please, I don’t understand. Why is she special? Why would you not just allow her to be healed and—”
“There are no healers in our world, not for an injury like this.” He waved his free hand at Rose. “You see, the healers were weak. They let themselves be used up.” He shook his head. “I digress. I told the nurses that you escaped from the ninth floor. So, you’ll be all tied up soon enough.”
He waved at me, and the orange sparkles danced down his arms and enveloped Rose’s body.
“NO!” I screamed the word as I leapt toward them, crashing into the now empty bed. I spun around as the two nurses who’d been at the front desk before circled around the bed.
“Miss, everything is going to be fine,” the one on my left said, a needle tucked in her palm.
I shook my head. “No, you don’t understand. Do you not see that Rose isn’t in this bed?”
The other nurse smiled. “There has been no one in this bed all week.”
“No.” I held up a single finger and pointed it at her. “No. She was in an accident. The big one on the highway and she was in a coma and then I phoned in and they told me she was dying so I came here and Dr. Etterson tried to stop me from getting to her. He took her away!”
I was panting, my breath coming in gulps as a panic attack clawed its way up my throat. I had to get away. Where was Diego? Why had he left me to this on my own?
I scrambled across the bed and the nurses closed in. The one behind me grabbed my heels and yanked me hard so that I was flat on my belly. I didn’t want to hurt her but I needed to get away. I kicked out, catching her in the thigh, but she never let go. I felt the sting of a needle in my ass cheek and the tingle of a high-powered sedative as it coursed through my blood. The air went out of me in a whoosh and I sagged into the bed that still smelled like Rose’s perfume.
I swallowed hard once and let out a low groan. “You don’t understand.”
“It’ll be okay. We have your file here. We’ll get your therapist in as soon as we can and you can have a chat with her.” The nurses were being so kind after I’d tried to get away which made me cry. I felt bad that I’d hurt the one.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“Ah, it’ll be okay. I’ll have a bruise and a story about the pretty girl who wrestled with me. My hubby will love it.” She winked at me even as she helped my limp body into a wheelchair. They strapped my chest and head back so I didn’t wobble and then wheeled me out of the room to the elevators. In we went and then onto the ninth floor.
The psych ward. I knew the place. I’d been there once before. Dr. Etterson had sent me for an evaluation and that was where I’d met my therapist, Dr. Auralee.
More than all that, my mind kept shifting back to the four men who’d promised to help me. The four men who I knew now I’d spent the last year falling in love with. Tears trickled down my cheeks as I finally admitted how false it had all been.
“Prozalin,” I whispered. “That’s what my doctor has me on.”
“Okay, honey, will get you a dose of Prozalin and once it’s in your system you’ll start to feel better.” The one nurse put her hand on my shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “You’re going to be okay. I promise.”
A sob slipped from me as they wheeled me into a padded room with a single bed. They unstrapped me from the wheelchair and helped me to lie on the bed. Everything was happening so fast and I didn’t understand how my life could spin out of control in a matter of twenty-four hours.
Yesterday, I’d been on the phone with Rose and she’d been on her way to Miami. Now she was stolen away by someone who didn’t exist, and I was in lockdown in a psych ward. My limbs were heavy and I struggled to get my one hand up to cover my eyes, to block out the light of the room, to block out the sight of the padded walls.
I wanted to call the men to me, to call Sterling, Corbin, Diego, and Lucas to come and rescue me, to believe they could rescue me. But the truth was finally in front of me. I’d lost my mind to the delusions just like Dr. Auralee had said could happen if I didn’t take the Prozalin. I’d deliberately not taken it so I could live in my fantasy world and this was the consequence. There was a ping inside my head and I slid my hand from my face. If this was all a delusion, then Rose had to be okay. I sighed softly. She was probably in Miami soaking in the sun and showing off her curves in a mini-bikini. Bright red, it would be bright red with frills. That was her style.
With that, I let myself sink into the oblivion of the sedative, not fighting it
any longer.
Chapter 9
I jerked awake, dreams I didn’t like chasing me out of what I thought was a restful sleep. Dreams of a horrible accident, of Rose in the hospital, of four men I was falling in love with who abandoned me when I needed them most. And here I was trapped in a damn padded room, unable to do so much as even try to help them.
“Hey, how are you feeling?”
I rolled over to see my sister, Ally, sitting at the side of my bed. Her blonde hair and blue eyes were mirrors of my own. I launched myself at her, throwing my arms around her neck.
“Ally,” I sobbed her name, more gratitude than I’d ever felt for my sister flowing through me. “You came.”
“Of course, I did. I can still be contacted at the Hive.” She stroked my hair and I pulled back from her.
“No, that’s part of the delusion,” I whispered.
She tipped her head sideways, a large ruby necklace hanging from her neck. “What delusion?”
I blinked a few times. “Ally, vampires aren’t real. Magic is not real. I . . . I’ve been struggling for the last year with delusions, hallucinations, and the therapist I’ve been seeing was prescribing me with Prozalin to combat them.” I was jabbering, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t hold it back any longer.
She took both my hands and held me tight. “Dommy, listen to me.”
“No, you listen. They told me we aren’t really sisters. That we have different fathers but that can’t be right. It isn’t right.” I clung to her, my rock in a sea of uncertainty and fear.
She sighed. “Mom told me that she had an affair around the time she conceived you. So, it is possible that we are only half-sisters. But it changes nothing. You are my sister, through and through.”
I stared at her, my mind putting the pieces together as fast as I could. “But the person who told me that was Sterling.”
She nodded. “He is one of the guardians. He would know your bloodline if it has anything to do with magic.”
My brain wanted to leak out my ears, it was so confused. Was it all true? Was it all a delusion. “Ally,” I asked, “are the other three guardians Corbin, Diego, and Lucas?”
Her head canted to the side. “You know them? They are fighting to protect the magical world from those who want to rule it themselves.”
Which meant . . .it meant that the men were real. That Rose was in trouble. And I had to save her.
I tightened my hold on Ally. “You have to get me out of here. Rose is dying and the man who took her is going to steal her power, and when he does, her heart will stop. I must get to her. I . . .” the words I wanted to speak were on the tip of my tongue and I wasn’t sure if they were true or just a pure spark of hope.
“You what?” Ally didn’t pull from me. “What is it, Dommy? What happened to Rose?”
“I can heal her.” I whispered, “I’m sure of it.”
The words were out of me and as they left my mouth the truth of them settled around my heart and soul like the pieces of me that had been missing for my whole life. I was a healer. That was my calling. It was why I’d been drawn to the medical profession, but unable to make myself dive into it. Because so often, more harm than good was done.
Ally stood and strode to the door. She knocked once. “We’re done here.”
No one came to the door. She banged again. Still nothing. We were trapped. Dom wondered about her sister being here. Why would someone want to lock away the vampire queen?
I stood on wobbly legs. “Ally, is there any reason the . . .warlocks would want to get rid of you? Are you fighting in this war of theirs? Why are you here?”
Ally snarled, showing an impressive set of fangs. “Auralee sent me to you. She said I needed to go to you without my men. She must’ve done this so she could trap us both in here. I’ve been pressing her for more help in bringing the other Hives into agreement. She disagreed. I’m guessing this is my punishment. What do you want to bet that the door is made of silver?” She took a step back and I put a hand on her arm.
Her words made no sense. “Wait, how do you know Dr. Auralee?”
She twisted and stared at me. “Dr. Auralee? The oracle is Auralee.”
“No, that can’t be. She’s my therapist, the one who prescribed me the anti-hallucinogens.” My mouth slowly dropped open as I spoke. “Ally, she did it to block me from the Cabal. From finding my power. If she’s the oracle, then she’s behind this.” A part of me didn’t understand because the men said the oracle had sent them to me. Why would she block my power, and then send me four men in a powerful Cabal to connect with me?
A slow clap exploded the air behind us and we spun around to see a woman of great beauty, her hair silvery and flowing around her, wearing a gown that looked like it was made of spider webs and fog. “Well done, Dominique. I must say you are quite clever when you put your mind to it. But you will never take my place. And to answer your question, I sent them to you so all five of you would go down together. They have become quite difficult in the past year.”
I stared at her, the words registering slowly. “Your voice is the same, but is this how you really look?”
Auralee stared hard at me. “Yes, this is my true visage. You should know that the Cabal were in my bed before they were in yours. How could they ever love a flawed woman like you, scarred and hideous when they could have my perfect body? I realized that they were beginning to question my decisions when they chose to back the wrong faction of Warlocks, when they began to see you more and more in your dreams.”
Pain lanced through me but I didn’t move. “What is your point?”
“Your humanity showed them what they thought they should be protecting, and they fought me on taking over the Guild,” she snapped. “Besides, they will have their memories wiped, and if not, I will kill them. I will tell them you cast them out, that you are done with them and want nothing to do with them.”
Her eyes flicked to Ally. “And you, queen of the vampires. You have done more stirring up of the supernatural community. I think you’ll have a nice padded cell laced with silver next to your bastard sister’s cell to keep you out of trouble.”
Ally leapt at Auralee, her body a blur. But the oracle was not there and she landed on nothing. She was gone, done with her taunting of us.
“Fuck.” Ally bit the word out, turned and looked at me. “Any ideas?”
I swallowed hard. “I think I can call the Cabal to me. They said I could call them but I’ve never tried it.”
“How did you see them before, before all of this?” she asked.
“In my dreams,” I whispered. “If I can sleep without drugs in my system, then I think I could talk to them.” I ran to the bed and lay down. But my heart was racing and my mind wouldn’t slow. Everything hinged on my ability to communicate with the men who had been in my dreams for the last year. But would they be there again?
I stared up at the ceiling, and from the corner of my eye I watched as Ally sat next to me. She took one of my hands and then she stroked my forehead with the other. “You want me to sing to you, like Mom used to?”
I smiled up at her. “Maybe you can use a bit of that vampire talent you have to help me relax?”
She winked. “That, too.”
I closed my eyes and she started to sing a soft lullaby that Mom had always used when we were sick. The words were Gaelic, and even though I didn’t truly understand them, the meaning came through.
Sleep and know that I watch over you.
Sleep and know that you are loved.
Sleep and rest your heart from the burdens of the world.
Sleep and know that tomorrow you will find the strength to battle again.
Sleep and know that I will not fail you.
The words echoed through me and I knew Ally was putting a heavy dose of her vampire influence into the words because with each on one I slipped deeper into a sleep that I could only pray would take me to the dreamscape and my men.
My men.
Those two wor
ds resonated through me, and when I opened my eyes, I was staring at the big blank room where they’d always waited for me before. “Sterling?”
Nothing.
“Corbin, Lucas?”
I twisted around. “Diego?” I called his name last because I was afraid of what it meant that he hadn’t come for me. I was afraid that Etterson had done something to him.
I put a hand to my mouth and sunk to the floor, the billowing purple skirts swelling up around me. “I need you.”
A soft footstep and I was looking up as Lucas strode toward me, his normally humor filled eyes dark with rage. “You left him to die!” He roared the words at me and another time I would have shrunk away but not now. Not when I knew what was happening.
I launched to my feet. “We were all fooled and I did not leave Diego for dead! The man I thought was Etterson, a doctor, he is a warlock like you!”
Lucas slowed, his eyes losing the anger and filling instead with confusion. “No one knew about you except the oracle.”
I nodded. “I know. She was pretending to be my therapist. She was giving me a drug that would block any abilities I had because she was trying to stop me from reaching out to you and when that failed she thought you would grow tired of me if she allowed you to just fuck me. She was wrong. And now, she wants to kill you, Lucas, if you won’t bend to her will. And now she’s trapped me and Ally in the psych ward. If we don’t get out soon, Ally will either attack me or she’ll die if they put her in the sun.”
Lucas reached out to me. “You’re telling the truth.”
“I have no bindings on me.” I tried to take his hand but he moved so I missed him. “Please, Lucas. I don’t know what I can say to make you believe me, but there are so many lives on the line. Etterson took Rose. He said she has more power than he’s seen in a thousand years and he’s going to steal it from her. But when he does—”
“She’ll die,” he finished. “It happens sometimes when a warlock dies they give their power to another. But it’s always voluntary.”
“Rose does not want to die. I assure you of that.” I grabbed his hand and pulled him close. “Please. I think . . .if you can get me to her, I can heal her. I think that’s what I am.”
