I shifted on the spot then sat down. Folding my legs beneath me I closed my eyes again. "I haven't touched the Source yet. I wascentering myself."
Lie, lie, lie. I was trying to figure out what the hell to do next, because I had no clue what I was doing. After a few minutes I still had done nothing. I didn't want to call on the Source because I didn't know what to do with it, and I didn't want to make anything bad happen. There was no conscious fairy nearby to fix my mistakes. Urgh.
Tomas sat behind me and pulled me onto his lap. I stiffened and my eyes opened. He reclined against a tree, pulling me with him.
"You need to calm down," he said. I looked over at Breandan, who rested so still a few paces away. I could barely hear him breathe, and I was expected to be calm? Tomas placed both hands either side of my face. They were cold, and felt wonderful against my warm cheeks. He sighed. "Relax, and do what you need to do."
With no more time to lose, I closed my eyes and gasped as pure, blistering energy filled me the instant I reached to the Source. I was learning intense anger or fear helped to focus my mind. I drifted from my body, and sought out the memory I instinctively knew would help me find Conall. Suddenly he was there, aware of me and I locked onto the tenor of his mind like a homing beacon. I reached my hand to touch.
"Conall," I said and he whirled round. "Conall," I called louder. The energy felt like a thrashing rope, crackling and fighting my control. "I need you, can you feel where I am? Find me."
Exhausted, I sobbed and snapped back into my own mind. I slouched backward and the forest canopy swung into view. Tomas caught me and rested me on the leaf-strewn floor next to him.
"Did it work?" he asked close to my ear. "Keep your eyes open, Rae. Did it work?"
Sighing, I didn't have the energy to shrug. "I'm tired," I said.
"Rest then. I will watch over you."
I stared up at him. His face was already so dear to me. How could that be? He was not my kind; he wasn't' even human. Vampires were cold and deadly, and Tomas would have probably killed me if he had crossed my path in any other circumstance. What would I do when Breandan woke? Did I tell him about the kiss that set my heart on fire? Did I tell him the darkness that enveloped Tomas was now my darkness to? I sighed.
Maybe it would be best if I closed my eyes and never opened them again. Life was too complicated. I felt strongly for Breandan. When I was with him here was no one else. But it was the same with Tomas. Oh gods what was I going to do?
Then pain sliced through everything. Breandan was getting worse, much worse. Gulping air, I focused on the shiny space in front of me rather than how difficult it was to breathe. My heart pumped hard and tried to punch through my chest. I clutched at it and squeezed, hoping the pressure would help. It sped up. There was a distant keening in my ears. It tasted like someone had just shoved a fist full of metal into my mouth. Faint, but growing louder was sound of my heartbeat. My vision blinkered, and my heart slowed enough to feel comfortable. A cloying numbness seeped through my limbs, and the darkness hovering at the edge of my vision looked inviting, sweet. I turned to embrace it and float within its cool nothingness.
Someone dragged me backward, away from the painless dark to the murky surface of consciousness. I felt irritation. Who was taking me away from the peace of the dark? A low buzzing grew louder and louder, until I could distinguish words. My eyes flickered open. Tomas had my head clasped in his hands, and his eyes were focused on mine. His hands, clothes and skin were soaked in blood. Of course, only he would drag me back from bliss to painful reality.
"You are bleeding," he said. "But there is no wound. It seeps through your skin."
I was startled to see my top pushed up to expose my midriff. Blood gushed to the ground in a dark puddle beneath me. My blood, the source of the gushing blood was me. I went to speak, but the metallic taste of blood silenced me. Should there be so much in my mouth? Looking down the body I once saw as strong, I could barely move. In the low glow of the moonlight from above, my skin was pale. My tail limply flickered on the ground, and my wings were spread and crumpled, they fluttered uselessly at my sides. I doubted it was a good look for me.
"You're still hungry," I said practically.
Tomas's dark eyes bored into mine. "I am fine."
