The lips moved beneath mine. He took a deep breath.
Encouraged, I redoubled my efforts. Kissed him as though I wanted to meld my mouth with his. Imagined him as healthy, his eyes gleaming emerald.
A sigh. Then a big hand moved to my waist, and another tangled in my hair.
“Hey, Angel,” he whispered.
“Are you okay?” My own heart thundered as I ran frantic fingers over his face.
He offered a tired smile. “I’m right buggered. You are bloody dynamite.”
The big Dire seemed unaware of the fact his heart had almost stopped. I opened my mouth to say something, but no sound emerged.
What had just happened?
His fingers stroked through my hair. “Sorry we didn’t get you mad. We can try again in a bit. Just need time here.”
I swallowed. We’d come out here to trigger my power. Maybe it hadn’t happened quite the way we’d expected. I shoved off him, my mind in chaos, and grabbed my bra and leggings. My panties had vanished. My tee shirt was in tatters.
He peered up at me. Pushed himself up onto one elbow, and swayed.
“Angel?” he asked as I stood. “You okay?”
“I’m going back,” I said, turning away.
He tried to stand, but staggered. Managed it by pulling himself up with a tree trunk. “Wow. Never been stonkered like this before.”
He’d figure it out—he wasn’t dumb. Clutching my clothes, I spun away and fled up the trail. Jogging at first and then running.
I heard him call after me but knew he couldn’t catch me. I pushed myself faster and faster as branches slapped against me.
I wasn’t telekinetic. It wasn’t my mind that was lethal.
It was my effingtouch.
38
Talakai
I was hanging on a cloud. And it wasn’t providing me with one bit of relief.
I gnashed my formidable teeth together and growled. Nothing was proceeding according to plan. Much as I’d love to blame a certain blonde, it was my own lack of control that was the true issue.
I’d been trained better than this.
That sharding dream.Come to me, Talakai.It had tapped into things better left untouched, and hooked into my soul. And no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t shake it.
Movement below caught my eye. A form, running from the forest that surrounded the back field.
Anna.
Her shoulders were bare—she wore only the briefest of tops and the academy’s skintight workout pants.
She might have gone for a run, despite Night Games being planned for tonight. But something about the way she shoved through the wrought-iron gate radiated distress.
I was diving before I was aware I’d folded my wings. Slammed down onto the field in front of her with so much force that my talons tore hunks out of the turf.
She slid to a halt.Tearstracked down her cheeks. Her hair was more out of her customary ponytail than contained within it, tangled around her face, with bits of leaf debris scattered through it. Her black pants hung half off her hips, and a smudge of dirt marked her jaw, with more on her shoulders...
