“You…can’t allow that.”
“Poppy—”
Her eyes snapped open as she clutched my arm. “There’s something—” Her features contorted with agony, her nails digging into my skin. “There’s something wrong with me.”
My heart lurched at the tremor in her voice. “We’ll figure out whatever it is and fix it. Together.”
“It’s not…safe.” Her eyes opened to thin slits. “You need to stay away from me.”
“That, I cannot do.”
“I’m sorry,” Poppy whispered and then inhaled deeply. “I love you.”
A heartbeat later, the air crackled with essence. Without warning, she wrenched herself free, and my ass was skidding backward across the stone. So was Reaver.
“Fuck.” I grunted, popping to my feet the moment she let up. I’d ended up clear across the chamber.
Poppy was on her feet in an instant, and those blotches of silver churned around her pupils as the streaks of gold and thin bands of crimson brightened. Those weren’t the only changes, though.
Along the swells of her breasts, gold-and-silver shadows blossomed under her skin. I watched them spread across her shoulders and climb up her throat, just as I’d seen them move in my flesh earlier.
“I…I don’t want…to hurt you,” she rasped, the crimson streaks dulling and then brightening in her eyes.
I blinked. “I know.”
A wave of burning-cold power drenched the chamber as she twisted her neck to the side. The essence in my blood stirred frantically in response while Reaver let out a low, staggered growl.
The air charged and crackled. Lightning flashed outside, briefly turning the chamber silver. The shadows raced down her arms as the streaks of red brightened in her eyes. “I will…kill you.”
“No.” I shook my head, squaring my shoulders. “You won’t.”
She went utterly still. Not even her chest moved. Then, her lips curled into a thin smile. “You can’t stop me.”
My entire body recoiled at the sound of her voice. It was all kinds of wrong—thready and brittle like dried bones and as cold as the darkest cell.
That smile wasn’t hers.
The voice wasn’t hers.
But she was in there.
That much I knew.
Latching onto that knowledge, I stalked forward. “You won’t allow yourself to hurt me.”
Poppy’s laugh felt like ice against my skin, but I didn’t stop. Her head—her body—moved in an almost serpentine manner as she straightened. The essence in me pulsed more frantically—
Reaver crashed into me a second before the chamber flashed an intense gold and silver. We both hit the floor.
“You’re a fool,” Reaver growled, his eyes wide. “You’re a fucking lovesick fool.”
“Get off me.” I shoved him to the side and sat up.
He rolled onto his back with a groan. “You’re welcome.”
I started to respond, but the first thing I saw was the cracked,smokingstone tile right where I’d been standing.
I shook my head.
