Chapter 49

Lynda pushed open the door to Andrei’s chamber with her heart in her throat. If none of the witches had been able to heal him enough to wake him from his coma, doubt clawed at her insides that she could. Less than a week ago, she was merely a human with a matchmaking service for supernaturals. Now she was on the run from Dracula, indebted by a blood contract with Russian vampires, and discovered her witch powers. She’d inherited the latter from the woman who had turned Vlad the Impaler into Dracula. Ekaterina.

“You got this,” Pierre said from behind her.

Unable to answer his trust in her abilities because they were uncontrollable at best, she gave a short nod and entered the room.

Mihnea closed the distance between them in three strides. “Are you okay?” He pulled her against his chest, then lifted her chin with a bent finger to meet his stare. “There are still dark circles under your eyes.”

“Can’t be helped. I’ll be fine, I’m just tired.” And worried about Andrei.

His condition hadn’t improved. Lying on a metal cot, his skin was too pale and besides a permanent furrowed brow, he didn’t change expression or move. Perspiration lightly coated across his skin, but as a vampire, he shouldn’t sweat at all. Her stomach double-knotted. Whenever she found the witches who were responsible for this, she’d go all Carrie-esk like the prom scene from the movie on their ass.

“Give me a moment alone with him?” she asked.

Mihnea brushed his lips across hers, then released her.

His brother, Pierre gave her a wink. “We’ll be right outside if you need us.”

“Thanks.” She rose on her tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss.

After the vampires left, she sat beside Andrei and combed back his hair. Both his brothers had straight hair, but his was lighter and naturally curled. She figured it was from his mother’s side of the family.

“God, I’ve missed you. Terribly.” She took a shaky breath and clasped her hand in his. “Wait until you hear the mess I’m in.” Her laugh stuck in her throat. At least Andrei hadn’t witnessed her magic collapsing a building. The guilt of that clung to her like a symbiont. A stain on her soul she’d never be able to wash off. Constantly reminding her of her mistake. If she lived to be a hundred, she’d doubt the remorse would lessen even an ounce. Which is why she asked for Pierre and Mihnea to wait outside. Truth though, she’d rather them go back to the city to their safe house that way she wouldn’t have to worry about hurting them while she attempted to heal Andrei.

But they wouldn’t leave her.

Worry nagged at her. What if she made Andrei worse? Or somehow broke the witches’ headquarters and allowed Dracula to find them? The look on the master vampire’s face when she last saw him told her everything. That he would kill her whenever he got his hands on her. Never mind that she was his best chance of having half-vampire grandchildren. Or that his three sons, the princes, loved her and she loved them too. Guess a father-in-law family counselor is out of the question now.

She kissed Andrei’s knuckles, missing his smile, the ease at which she felt in his company. Just hoped she wasn’t about to make another disaster by trying to heal him when she needed him in her life so bad her body and heart ached for him.

Her magic was linked to her emotions…well, at least until she learned how to control them. All these years she’d spent hiding her true feelings behind her work only to discover pushing away her hopes and fears only made them stronger. Her mom had been like that too, but buried her problems in a bottle of alcohol, drugs, and sex with a different man every month.

Power sizzled along her arms. Control. Healing. She chanted a few times to herself. All she needed was enough magic to bring Andrei out of his coma. Easy. Yeah right then why did her muscles tense at the idea of something going wrong? Fear pierced her, causing her magic to flare up, turning the chamber orange rather than the soft yellow of the few witch lights that hung from the ceiling.

And why did Andrei's room resemble a dungeon cell rather than a guest room?

A knock sounded on the door. “Everything all right in there? It feels like a sudden furnace out here,” Pierre said.

“It's good.” She took a breath, the air scorching her throat. “We're okay, thanks.”

Outside the door, Mihnea muttered, but she couldn't make out the words.

She turned back to Andrei and shifted into a kneeling position. “Ready to do this?”

Placing both hands on him, she closed her eyes and imagined Andrei smiling down at her, holding her in his arms and kissing her until her toes curled.

She wanted him...needed him alive and well with her. Without him, it felt like a piece of her soul was missing. Her magic poured forward into his body.

When he tensed, she peeked at what was happening. A pulsing glow lit his body from the inside out. She was doing it, healing him. Didn't seem too hard.

Her smile faded as he started to convulse on the cot. The metal bed scraped back and forth across the stone floor.

Had she given him too much? “Andrei!” Oh God, oh God, oh God! She yanked back hard on the magic, stuffing her emotions down, but they lashed against her soul like a wild beast. All her fear and worry about making him better crashed and twisted and collided against her control.

The door smashed against the wall with a boom. Mihnea dashed inside. “Lynda!”

She opened her mouth to try and say something, but a banshee scream ripped from her throat.

Without hesitation, he clasped his hands on hers and yanked to break the connection between her and Andrei. Except the glow around Andrei only brightened. Mihnea fell onto his knees.

“Shit!” Pierre raced forward.

“Don't come any closer,” Lynda's words raked out her raw throat. “G-get help.”

His dark eyes widened, but then he nodded, leaving them.

Now that Mihnea was attached to her and Andrei, his health seeped into her like a shiv. His eyes went from dark to crimson along with his humanity. She couldn't move...couldn't budge...as Mihnea's demeanor shifted from sane to that of a vampire deprived of blood for a year.

His fangs elongated, piercing his lower lip.

The only thing keeping him from biting her and gorging on her blood was the magic whipping around them, binding them in place.

What if the witches couldn't help? What if they got trapped in this vortex as well? The room hummed with more power.

Stop worrying. Stop thinking.

After this, she was going to invest in meditation lessons or something. Get her emotions in check and the magic would follow.

Images of the broken skyscraper flooded her mind along with the white sheet covering the dead bodies at the site.

The energy around her crackled against her flesh. She cried out, jerking her hands away.

As soon as she did, a percussion of thunder clapped in the room and made her ears ring.

Mihnea, free of the binding as well, stood. His head bowed.

“It's okay.” She crept toward him and held out her hand. Her body shaking from the exertion.

Was Mihnea himself now that they were free? But Andrei remained unchanged except for the fading glow around him.

Mihnea didn't reach for her but took a step back. Her heart hammered in her chest.

His head snapped up. Dark, soulless eyes stared at her like she was a rare steak put in front of a starving wolf.

Before she inhaled to scream, he leaped through the air, crushing her onto the stone floor. His teeth tore at her throat.

Blood soaked beneath her. Darkness swiftly embraced her thoughts.