vision blurred, swayed, and sparkled at the edges. The splatter on the opposite wall melted into the shape of a rose. A red rose blooming just for me. The green wall sprouted vines and leaves, twisting and twining from floor to ceiling, a backdrop of life behind the rose. It was calm, tranquil, a perfect picture of serenity and something else …
There were flashes of gold as a creature the size of my hand emerged from behind a vine. It was a scorpion. Not black or brown like a real one, but made of gold. It scurried to the middle of the rose and stopped there, gleaming against the deep red. Its stinger rose, ready to strike the center of the flower, but it paused, hesitating like some kind of warning …
The budding rose was wrong. The scorpion was wrong. None of it was real.
A ball of heat wound up from my stomach, burning me from the inside out.
Really happy?
No.
I pressed away from the morphing splatter on the wall, wishing I could press myself out through the back of the chair, out of my restraints. My ears rang with the roaring buzz in my head, and the burning sensation scorched my skin. I was going to die. He said it could kill me. If I didn’t breathe, if I didn’t find myself, I’d burst inside my own skin.
I sagged—retreated behind the wall of iron I’d created in my head, forced myself to relax, fighting the urge to yank myself upward, to scream against the pressure building inside me, willing my arms and legs to go limp.
“That’s the way, Ava. Just relax. You’re still with us. That’s good.” Reid’s blurry form shimmered toward me. My vision was vague, muddled. I couldn’t see him properly, the nectar had done something to my eyes, but I made out the shape of wide glasses resting on his face. He bent and pushed up the hem of my jeans, examining my ankle.
When he spoke, it wasn’t to me, glancing past me as though there were people there, watching. “The old ankle injury is confirmed.” He rose to my face, peering at my neck and forehead. “Bruising vanished. Head wound healed. Nectar has caused rapid regeneration.” He separated my eyelids with two fingers. His words were a sharp whisper over the hurtling pain in my head. “Pupils dilated. She’s restful.”
He wafted around me, undoing my restraints, one after the other. The leather strap around my neck released my windpipes and I gulped in air. I tried to focus as he crooned at me, putting a hand on my arm, beckoning with the other. “Come with me, Ava. We’ll do the tests now. It will all be over soon.”
Instead of taking the hand he offered, I lurched at him. All the heat inside me burned back to the surface. Air filled my lungs.
I screamed, a sound that tore around the room as wild as a shrieking wind.
I paused like the scorpion.
Then, I smashed my forehead into his.
His mouth parted in shock, eyes wide, no longer hazy, but severe and piercing.
The impact stopped the roaring in my ears, the room turned silent, the thud of our heads knocking together eased the pressure under my skin and turned the room clear, but only for a moment. I wanted to do it again. I needed the release of contact, of energy traveling out of me. I kicked him in the chest, sensing the crunch of bones underfoot, and the force inside me eased up again—for a second.
Reid crashed to the ground, curled up, head in his hands, while panic and chaos swarmed around me.
I jumped away from the chair, crouched, bent my legs, preparing to launch myself forward as people teemed inside the room, all of them grasping at me. Struggling to get away from them, I threw myself at the rose on the wall, my entire body connecting. The flower burst against me and the scorpion slipped away. The collision fed every nerve along my side, releasing something inside me, something that had to get out.
The sound died down around me as though I’d startled them with my crazy jump. One of the watchers threw an arm out, stopping the others as they rushed toward me, herding
There were flashes of gold as a creature the size of my hand emerged from behind a vine. It was a scorpion. Not black or brown like a real one, but made of gold. It scurried to the middle of the rose and stopped there, gleaming against the deep red. Its stinger rose, ready to strike the center of the flower, but it paused, hesitating like some kind of warning …
The budding rose was wrong. The scorpion was wrong. None of it was real.
A ball of heat wound up from my stomach, burning me from the inside out.
Really happy?
No.
I pressed away from the morphing splatter on the wall, wishing I could press myself out through the back of the chair, out of my restraints. My ears rang with the roaring buzz in my head, and the burning sensation scorched my skin. I was going to die. He said it could kill me. If I didn’t breathe, if I didn’t find myself, I’d burst inside my own skin.
I sagged—retreated behind the wall of iron I’d created in my head, forced myself to relax, fighting the urge to yank myself upward, to scream against the pressure building inside me, willing my arms and legs to go limp.
“That’s the way, Ava. Just relax. You’re still with us. That’s good.” Reid’s blurry form shimmered toward me. My vision was vague, muddled. I couldn’t see him properly, the nectar had done something to my eyes, but I made out the shape of wide glasses resting on his face. He bent and pushed up the hem of my jeans, examining my ankle.
When he spoke, it wasn’t to me, glancing past me as though there were people there, watching. “The old ankle injury is confirmed.” He rose to my face, peering at my neck and forehead. “Bruising vanished. Head wound healed. Nectar has caused rapid regeneration.” He separated my eyelids with two fingers. His words were a sharp whisper over the hurtling pain in my head. “Pupils dilated. She’s restful.”
He wafted around me, undoing my restraints, one after the other. The leather strap around my neck released my windpipes and I gulped in air. I tried to focus as he crooned at me, putting a hand on my arm, beckoning with the other. “Come with me, Ava. We’ll do the tests now. It will all be over soon.”
Instead of taking the hand he offered, I lurched at him. All the heat inside me burned back to the surface. Air filled my lungs.
I screamed, a sound that tore around the room as wild as a shrieking wind.
I paused like the scorpion.
Then, I smashed my forehead into his.
His mouth parted in shock, eyes wide, no longer hazy, but severe and piercing.
The impact stopped the roaring in my ears, the room turned silent, the thud of our heads knocking together eased the pressure under my skin and turned the room clear, but only for a moment. I wanted to do it again. I needed the release of contact, of energy traveling out of me. I kicked him in the chest, sensing the crunch of bones underfoot, and the force inside me eased up again—for a second.
Reid crashed to the ground, curled up, head in his hands, while panic and chaos swarmed around me.
I jumped away from the chair, crouched, bent my legs, preparing to launch myself forward as people teemed inside the room, all of them grasping at me. Struggling to get away from them, I threw myself at the rose on the wall, my entire body connecting. The flower burst against me and the scorpion slipped away. The collision fed every nerve along my side, releasing something inside me, something that had to get out.
The sound died down around me as though I’d startled them with my crazy jump. One of the watchers threw an arm out, stopping the others as they rushed toward me, herding
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