“What do you mean? Is there a chance you’ll quit breathing?”
He hated to make her worry. “I’ll be fine.”
Cain sat so he wouldn’t fall down and make a fool of himself again. Slowly, with great care, he let go of her hand. As soon as the tip of her finger left his, pain slammed into him, wringing the breath from his body. Every muscle inside of him went tight and hard, straining against the force of so much agony. A feral growl burst out of him as he fought to breathe. Little, stuttering breaths filled his lungs, but it wasn’t nearly enough oxygen to keep him going. The edges of his vision faded into gray mist. The couch beneath him rattled against the floor. He tried to regain some kind of control, but it was no use. He couldn’t fight it. There was too much agony to fight. So he did the only thing he could do—he gave in and let the darkness have him.
* * *
Rory freaked.
Cain was shaking like he was having a seizure, and his skin had gone pasty white. Veins stood out in his neck, and the necklace he wore seemed to have gone still and dead. All color had vanished, but at least she could see his heart beating in the band’s shiny surface.
She clenched her fingers together to keep from reaching for him. His big body thrashed on her couch until it bumped against the wall, and then he went still.
His chest rose and fell fast with his labored breathing. Sweat dotted his forehead, but she didn’t dare touch him enough to take off his leather jacket for fear she’d make a bad situation worse.
She stared at him for several long minutes, aching with indecision. He seemed to be through the worst of it, but she could still sense his pain, as if it were coming off of him in palpable waves.
She didn’t know how to help him. She wasn’t like the woman she’d seen in his memories. She had no power.
And that pissed her off.
He’d said that power would be hers once she met the right magical guy, and while all of that had the ring of truth to it, she felt as though something was off. He’d purposefully left something out.
As Rory tried to figure out what that omission might be, she occupied herself with work. But no matter what she did to distract herself, her gaze kept sliding back to Cain. He was sprawled on her grandma’s dainty yellow couch, this thick arms and legs hanging off. He looked completely uncomfortable, but she didn’t dare try to adjust his body.
She could see through his eyes intermittently, but it wasn’t as intrusive as usual. His eyes were mostly closed, and the silent darkness trickling from him was calming. As long as she could see that darkness, she knew he was still alive.
Minutes ticked by slowly. She was too distracted to accomplish much. She read e-mail, chatted with one of her online friends, saying nothing about the recent, gargantuan developments in her life.
Lunchtime came and went, and Cain didn’t so much as shift positions as she heated and ate a frozen meal.
Finally, after struggling with herself for too long, she gave into the urge to stare at him.
He really was a fine-looking man, carved from stark angles and hard planes. Even in his sleep she could see the smooth ridges of muscles along his chest where his jacket gaped open. His dark hair fell carelessly across his forehead, tempting her to brush it back. Stubble shadowed his jaw, but it was a good look for him, making the thought of beard burn more appealing than she’d ever thought possible.
She really wanted to touch him. The effort to resist was all but consuming her willpower.
His luceria had reacted to her, just as he’d said it would for those men who could offer her the kind of power the woman in Cain’s memories had. Even now, simply reaching close to him, letting her fingers hover an inch from his skin, she could feel energy tingling just out of reach. The closer she got, the more the colors danced inside his ring and necklace.
So pretty.
Rory stared for a long time until her eyes burned from not blinking. She’d never seen anything like it before, and the urge to slip that necklace on and see how it would look on her was nearly overwhelming.
She should have been afraid of the unknown, but it just wasn’t in her. As many horrible things as she’d seen—as much as she hated having monsters haunting her every move—she craved more knowledge. There were things she’d learned about in the last few hours she hadn’t even known existed. How many more things could a man like Cain show her?
He’d said he wasn’t right for her, but he’d never said why. And it wasn’t like she was going to promise any man more than a few days. A trial run to see if she even liked having access to that kind of power. For all she knew it would hurt or make her itch uncontrollably or turn her skin orange.
As trapped as she was out here all alone, she craved new experiences. And being able to wield magic was definitely that.
Excitement hummed through her, vibrating under her skin.
What harm could there possibly be in giving it a shot? Cain seemed like a decent guy, if a little barbaric. He certainly hadn’t hurt her, though he’d had ample opportunity. In fact, he seemed so earnest in wanting to help her. Surely he wouldn’t mind if she practiced with him first before giving others a test drive.
Patches of sunlight slid across the carpet as Rory sat there in indecision. Nana’s clocked ticked away, counting the seconds. The heater switched on and off again. The ice maker dumped out another batch of ice in the freezer.
Her instincts were pounding inside of her, chanting, take it, take it.
She wanted to listen. She wanted to know what it felt like to have that pretty necklace lie close to her skin. It belonged to her. She wasn’t sure how she knew that, but she did.
Rory moved closer and stood over him. His pulse beat beneath the iridescent band, strong and steady. Her own heart pounded twice as fast as she undid the tangle of chokers and chains around her neck. They landed in a shiny pile on the carpet, discarded and forgotten.
She knelt beside him, driven to get closer. She couldn’t see any latch or closure, so she used the tip of her fingernail to carefully lift it up so she could slide it around without touching him. The instant her fingers gripped the slippery surface, it came loose in her hand.
His body’s heat clung to the necklace, sinking into her skin. It was smooth, heavy. The ends were blunt, as if they’d been sliced. She wasn’t sure how she was going to fasten it, but the thing was buzzing with magic, and her instincts were listening.