Page 151 of The Never List
I don’t feel the bottom of Kal’s power, don’t feel the need to conserve it for when I need it most. There is an endless well of his energy flowing through my veins, and it’s downright intoxicating. Or that could be the fact that I know I’m not about to become splatter on the ground below, but still—
The night sky disappears so suddenly, I scream, losing hold of Kal’s power in my blood. I crash into an ocean that definitely wasn’t there seconds ago. The impact shocks my body. The water is freezing, the cold biting into my skin so fiercely it burns. My muscles lock up despite my mind demanding theymove. I didn’t get a good breath before crashing beneath the water, and I’m sinking like a stone.
A powerful current churns around me as I thrash and kick for the surface. But it’s like something is locked around my ankles, yanking me down, down, down. My lungs burn, begging for the air I so desperately need. Panic makes my vision flicker, the iciness sluicing through my veins.
No, no, no. I can’t drown here. I can’t. I have to get back to my mates.
Something zaps inside me, like the crackling of a fire, and I’m sure it’s my lungs exploding in my chest, but after a few more seconds, I realize it’s Axl’s power.
His power.
I want to smack myself, but instead, I mentally clutch that power and tug. My descent stops, my momentum propellingme toward the surface as I control the water around me. I clear it in seconds, gulping in lungfuls of precious air as my mind clears—
My body slams into a hard, polished emerald floor, the pain of the impact radiating through my bones. I cringe against it, then haul myself upright before I get trampled by the throngs of people rushing around the room.
They move as if I don’t exist, bumping into me, their motions jostling me this way and that until I’m ready to throat punch the next person who does it—
It hits me at once—the thoughts.
All of them.
Every single person’s thoughts, worries, dreams, fantasies, and fears slam into me like an avalanche. I rush through the crowd, shoving my way through the bodies until I find a solitary corner, my head bursting with an icy pain that digs through the center of my mind with razor-sharp claws. I grab at my head, massaging it with my fingers like that will make the voices stop, make the images flashing behind my eyes stop.
Pierce’s power. Just a fraction of it.Goddess.
I close my eyes and breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth. He taught me a little about mental shielding. It’s all about control and breathing. I can do this. Remember what he said…Empty your mind until you are alone in the room you’ve created for yourself.
Blowing out a breath, I picture closing a hundred doors. One by one, I slam a door on every distinct voice I hear in my head. The volume inside decreases with each one closed. My breathing comes easier as the roar dwindles, and my muscles relax when I hear nothing but my own thoughts.
Carefully, I peel open my eyelids, terrified of the crowded room, but it’s empty. Nothing but the glimmering emerald floors and the blank walls. It’s peaceful and welcome after the onslaught, and I’m able to stand up again. I flick my fingers, conjuring the emerald ribbons of energy I’ve seen Pierce create a thousand times, and I giggle when one spirals from my fingertips. I can feel the ribbon of power like it’s an extension of my body. It’s beautiful and strange and endless.
It disappears when the room goes black.
I widen my eyes in an attempt to see better, but the darkness is thicker than midnight.
Only one power left. My Nightmare’s.
I steel myself for what I’m sure will be a barrage of emotions flooding me, like the voices, but nothing comes. I move around in the darkness, trying to find anything that will help.
A light flickers in the farthest corner of the area, and I instinctively move toward it. The closer I get, the more dread fills the back of my throat. It’s a distinct sensation, almost with its own flavor. I try to swallow around it, then freeze when I see Jax in the corner. He’s dressed in his usual black, leaning against the wall, glaring at something I can’t see.
“Jax?” I call out to him, but he doesn’t look my way, doesn’t act like he’s heard me.
His indigo eyes are cold, hard, and this side of hateful. In fact, I can feel the hatred radiating from him, can taste it on my tongue. Goddess, it’s haunting. What is he looking at?
I move closer, finally able to see properly.
It’s…
Me.
He’s looking at me while I talk to Kal, a smile on my face and my hand on his forearm. I recognize the memory because it’s mine, just from a different point of view.
Hunger pulses right alongside the hatred with a dash of fear. I look back at Jax, my heart aching as his emotions storm me.
He hated me; we’d already established that. And he had every reason to, but now? Now I know he loves me. He knows how much I love him. Still…these emotions are intense and threaten to ruin everything I know in my heart.
Fuck, he lives his life like this every day? Feeling all these raw, unforgiving emotions? But he can control them, too. I’ve seen him in action. If he can do it, so can I.
