He fought to hold on to it, but he hadn’t a hope. Blackness shimmered at the edges of his vision, and then it pulled him under.
He was submerged in a swirling, dark fog. Small bursts of red static, like miniature lightning bolts, chased through it and over him. It felt as though a million fingernails dragged across his skin. Not quite painful. But not pleasant, either.
Lucas forced his feet to move, to carry him forward. His heart pounded like he was running full bore, his every instinct shrieking that he was in mortal danger. He desperately needed to wake up, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t manage it.
He began to run. He couldn’t see the ground, but his feet hit a hard surface, his footfalls echoing dully through the fog.
Then they hit something much more, and he stumbled. He turned the forward momentum into a roll, coming full circle to land again on his feet, and then spinning to see what had tripped him.
A body lay crumpled and unresponsive to the impact of his feet. He leaned closer—and saw the long hair. Bright red, laced with gold...
Aria.
His heart constricted as he dropped to his knees beside her. His hands detected her warmth, and when he leaned close, he heard the soft sigh of her breath. Even unconscious, she was so beautiful...
“Aria.” Her name rolled naturally off his lips, as though he’d been calling her all his life.
She moaned and stirred, but did not awaken. Was she affected by the same malady as him? This psychic leech, threatening to take her life?
Even as he thought about it, something loomed over him. Something dark, and his instincts screamed, dangerous.
Lucas turned toward it with a snarl. The black, swirling fog was so thick that he couldn’t see through it to its cause. But he sensed it. A huge form hidden within.
“Show yourself!” he screamed into the wind.
The swirling fog froze for a moment, as though surprised. And then a deep voice boomed, “Who are you?”
“I am Lucas. And you have to stop.”
But the presence wavered, as though its concentration lay elsewhere. The fog regained its frantic swirling, and red lightning forked through it. Lucas’s heart spasmed at the sight.
His instincts screamed that the threat was real—whatever this creature was, it could snuff him out like a candle in a gale. Every hair Lucas possessed rose in defiance. But the draining of his essence had him trembling on the thin edge of life. And Aria—her life essence flickered at his feet. Fitful. Dying.
“You are killing her!” Lucas’s voice broke in his desperation.
He sensed the attention snap back to him. “No,” the presence denied.
“Yes. You have to stop!”
The fog swirled faster, folding around the lightning until it lit only in flashes from within a frantic tornado of black. Then, suddenly, it swirled away, revealing a figure so tall, he towered over Lucas, with steel-gray hair and eyes so pale they were almost silver...
Lucas only caught a glimpse before he was gone. And he took not only the fog, but Aria, as well. She shimmered and vanished.
A moment later, the blackness closed around him, and pulled Lucas under.
13
Aria trembled, taking deep, gulping breaths of air. Had she passed out?
She was lying on the cold stone floor of her prison. Her limp body tingled all over as though it were frozen, and try as she might, she couldn’t move.
Her mind spun with blackness as she strained to hear something, anything, beyond the heavy metal door. But there was only silence.
Then something drew near—an energy so powerful that she sensed it despite being almost sucked dry of her own. It flooded her with adrenaline, sending new life to her limbs. Shaking, she pushed herself to a sitting position and leaned against the wall.
The knob turned and ran up against the lock. A thump, as though a palm was slapped against the metal, and then wisps of black fog engulfed the entire door—red lightning shot through it, focusing on the knob. It glowed red-hot, and shattered. A millisecond later, the hinges followed suit.
The door trembled and crashed to the ground.
