“You coddle her.”
“She’s sick. She needs to be coddled.”
Madoc stood up to his full height and stared down at her with bright green eyes devoid of all mercy. “Protected. Not coddled.”
“I am protecting her.”
“Not from herself.”
Andra couldn’t take any more of his arrogance. “You’re a fool if you think you know what’s right for her.”
“Then I’m a fool.”
“Fine. You take care of her tonight, but I swear to God, if you hurt her, I’ll kill you as slow as a man can die.” It was a promise, and she felt the angry heaviness of it bear down on her. She stumbled and Paul caught her, holding her up.
Madoc gave her a cold, empty smile. “You shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep. Didn’t Paul tell you that when he collared you?”
“She doesn’t know the ways of our world yet,” said Paul. “But it’s not going to matter, because you’re not going to hurt Nika, right?”
Madoc shrugged. “Guess we’ll see.”
“I’m not leaving him alone with her,” said Andra.
“Sure you are. We have a deal. And while we’re all here making promises . . .” Madoc knelt down in front of Andra. He drew his sword and cut open his chest, right through his shirt. “My life for yours.”
Thank God Paul still had a hold on her arm or she would have fallen on her ass just then. Madoc’s vow felt like a lead blanket covering her. Trapping her.
“What the hell?” she managed to croak.
Madoc gave her another empty smile. “You’d better get used to it. You’ve got a shitload more of that headed your way once we get home.”
Paul ran a reassuring hand over her bare back. “Don’t worry about it. Everything is going to be fine.” He shot Madoc’s chest a meaningful glance. “Clean yourself up.”
“Sure will. Then the two of you can get the hell out. The crazy girl and I have work to do.”
“She’s not in any shape to work,” she told Madoc as he went to the adjoining bathroom.
Andra moved to follow him, ready to pound on him until he stopped being an ass. Paul stepped in front of her and she ran into his hard body.
“Leave it alone, Andra.”
“I can’t. She’s my sister. She’s weak and she can’t look out for herself.”
“Madoc won’t hurt her. And someone needs to be with her so she won’t try to escape through the window again.”
“It should be me,” said Andra.
“You told him he could stay. Now you’ve got to live with it. Trying to stop him is only going to hurt you, and I can’t let that happen.”
Nika had quieted, but she was still staring at the ceiling, her lips moving over and over in a silent chant. Andra hadn’t been able to do anything for her, but Madoc seemed to at least be able to get her to listen. Maybe it was best if she let him try things his way. Nothing else was working.
Except that thing Paul had helped her do earlier to get her to eat. Maybe if she could convince him to show her how to do that, she could learn to help Nika on her own. He said she had power now, and she knew exactly how she wanted to use it.
“Okay,” said Andra, feeling a glimmer of hope.
“You know what she likes to eat,” said Madoc as he came out of the bathroom. “Make her something and leave it outside the door. I’ll get her to eat.”
Andra prayed his confidence wasn’t hollow. “Just be careful with her.”
“Yeah, yeah. She’s fragile and all that shit. I got it already. Now get the f**k out.”
Chapter 12
Paul took care of burning the clothes he and Madoc had bled on during their oaths to Andra. While the cloth burned, he found her a clean shirt to cover the tempting swell of her br**sts.
When he came back into the kitchen, Andra had made a mountain of food for Nika. “There’s no way she’ll be able to eat all of this,” he told her.
“I know, but she freaks out over certain textures and colors. This way she’ll have some things to choose from. Besides, I could use a meal, and I figured you all could, too.”
Her movements were jerky and awkward, and he could see an angry red patch of skin where she’d burned her hand on something. Through the luceria, he felt her frustration. Her fear for Nika’s life. Her determination not to fail her sister.
He didn’t dare tell her it would be okay. Life had taught him that it often wasn’t. People died every day. Eventually, Nika would, too.
“I want to try to reach her,” said Andra. “The way you did with Sammy.”
“We can try,” he told her.
Hope lit her face, but he held his hand up before she could get carried away. “Don’t get your hopes up too high.”
“Hope is all I have right now.”
“I get that. Believe me. But there’s a good chance it won’t work because the damage happened so long ago.”
“I don’t care how small the chance is. I have to try. Just tell me what to do.”
“You’ve got to learn to control my power so you can use it.”
“How do I do that?” she asked.
“Practice. We go outside where we won’t blow anything up, and start trying things to see what works. Eventually, you’ll get the hang of it.”
“Eventually isn’t good enough. I’ll just have to push myself until I’m able to do whatever it takes to save Nika.”
Paul wasn’t about to let her hurt herself, but the idea of her needing him was a heady thought. If she needed him, she’d stay with him.
“I won’t make you any promises, but we’ll do what we can.”
She turned and looked at him with a kind of frantic desperation. “This has to work, Paul. It just has to.”
At that moment, Paul knew the truth. If Nika died, Andra would, too. She’d never be able to forgive herself or let go of the pain and move on. The two sisters’ fates were tied together. If Paul wanted her to live, then he had to find a way to save Nika.
So that was what he’d do. No matter what it took.
Andra followed Paul out into the night. The house was situated along one side of a cornfield, tucked back behind a clump of tall trees and thick scrub. She couldn’t see the road from here, or any other houses, but there was a faint glow in the distant sky that she guessed belonged to Omaha.
He led her away from the house and out to the edge of the corn. His hand was warm and solid, and she held on to it like a lifeline. If this failed . . .
It couldn’t fail. This had to work.
“So, what do we do?” she asked.
“First, you have to get a feel for drawing on the power inside me. Think of it like a big swimming pool filled with energy and you can siphon off as much of it as you want at a time.”
“How do I get to it?”
He slid one finger over the band around her throat. “The luceria connects us.” He held up his hand and showed her the matching ring. “Power can flow through them, from my ring into your necklace.”
Andra could almost see it happen as he explained it. It was as if she had been born with the instinctive knowledge of what to do, and that knowledge was just now waking up inside her.
“Try something simple at first.” He picked a stick up off the ground. “Try to light this on fire.”
“How?”
“Close your eyes and relax.”
Andra did, and felt his body move until he was standing behind her. His voice was quiet in the darkness, flowing over her skin like a breeze. Crickets chirped all around them, and a soft wind whispered through the cornfield. She could smell the richness of the earth rising up from the warm ground, feel Paul’s strong body pressing close against her back.
His hands stroked her arms in a slow, lazy rhythm that calmed the beating of her heart. The skin of his palms was slightly rough, totally manly.
“That’s right,” he said against her ear. “You’re doing great. Now, I want you to focus on the luceria. Feel the weight of it against your skin, the warmth of it as it holds your body’s heat close.”
She did. She could feel that and so much more. It gave off a subtle vibration so faint she hadn’t noticed before. It was as if the necklace were shaking—about to burst with energy.
Andra’s mind reached out and touched that energy, and like a shock of static, it gave her a sharp jolt. She jumped back from it and let out a little yelp.
Paul’s hands tightened on her arms and held her in place. “It’s a lot, I know. I’m sorry, but there’s no other way. It’s probably going to hurt a little.”
Like losing her virginity. Best to just grit her teeth and get it over with so she could get on to the good part.
Andra made herself reach out for that flow of energy one more time. She braced herself for the shock, and this time it wasn’t so bad. She accepted the pain and let it flow over her, let it fill her up.
“Good. Now let go of it. Let the power out so it can burn the stick.”
Andra wasn’t exactly sure how to do that, but she figured she’d better get her aim right. She didn’t want to set the house on fire or singe their toes.
She looked at the stick and imagined she was Superman, sending out a beam of heat with her eyes.
That wasn’t even close to what happened. There was no beam and the stick didn’t burst into flames, but it did start to smoke as she felt the power inside her dissipate, making her feel lighter.
Victory surged through her and she jumped with the thrill of it, only to find that on the way back down, her legs could no longer hold her up.
Paul’s thick arms caught her and he lowered her to the ground. “Easy, now.”
Andra’s head spun a bit and her body felt watery, but she’d still done it. She’d tapped into a source of power that might save Nika.
Paul held her in his lap as if she were dainty enough to fit, which made her smile. She’d never met a man who made her feel as feminine as he did. She’d worked out and packed on muscle because she needed the strength to fight the monsters, not because she enjoyed it. In fact, it would be kinda nice not to have to pump iron for hours each week just to feel like she had a fighting chance at survival. With Paul and his deadly sword around, maybe she wouldn’t have to.
It was just three days, she reminded herself. Nothing more. She shouldn’t go getting all excited over changing her lifestyle just because a man was around today. That didn’t mean anything about tomorrow.
She had to stay strong and keep pushing. Nika needed her.
“Let’s go again,” said Andra.
“Give yourself a minute,” he said as his thumb slid over her arm.
His touch felt nice. Maybe too nice. She was almost content to sit here all night and let him touch her. Hold her.
And who was holding Nika? Sure as hell it wasn’t Madoc.
“I’m good to go,” she told him. “What’s next?”
“How about I teach you to see in the dark?”
“I’d rather learn how to help Nika.”