By the time he finished with the second woman I was more than ready to satisfy my lust, but Rufus entered with two more women.
“Really? Are there no men out tonight?” I grumbled, earning a laugh from Rufus.
“This is why I suggested you leave,” Ian said, a smile on his lips. “You know that I get more from women than men.”
“Yeah, I know. It’s okay. I’m okay. Just get it over with so we can… uh, move on.”
When Rufus finally left the room with the women in tow, Ian grabbed me by the waist to pull me into his lap. He kissed me with his renewed vigor, and I melted in his hands. If I was excited before, it was nothing compared to what I felt now. I was on fire with wanting him.
“How about that shower?” he asked as he slid his arm under my legs to carry me to the bathroom.
We washed each other slowly, stroking, caressing, and kissing every inch of each other’s bodies. Then he suddenly took me in his arms, pressed my back to the wall and lifted my legs to wrap around his waist. He slid inside me on a long, deep groan.
Gripping his shoulders, I moved with him.
“Give me your essence. I want it. I want to become banshee,” I whispered in his ear.
His movements faltered for a second before picking up speed and driving me over the edge. Even before the spasms slowed, he took my lips with his, sliding his tongue in to meet mine as he released his essence into me. I gasped from the intensity of it, fresh from a feeding, and clung to him as I accepted it. Willing it to turn me. Willing myself to become banshee.
I moaned as our auras merged and his essence mingled with mine, flowing into and over me, even as he moved inside me. The mixture of sensations was glorious. I cried out again as another climax overcame me. I gripped his shoulders, riding the waves until he buried his face in my neck as his own orgasm pulsed through his body.
We clung to each other for a few moments, letting the water wash over us as we basked in the afterglow. He turned off the water and carried me to the bed.
“Something happened this time. Something that hasn’t happened the other times you’ve given me your essence. Our auras merged, didn’t they?” I asked.
“Yes. We were connected even before sharing essence. I felt it the night we met in the park; you may have too without fully understanding what it meant. It became stronger each time you took my essence. This time seems to have completed that connection. You will sense my emotions, especially when I am in danger. Fear or physical weakness will make it hard for me to shield my feelings from you. Also, sleep. That is how you knew Gabriel stabbed me.”
I had recognized him the night we met… or at least my aura had. When he had walked into my room that night, I remember feeling excited to see him, as though he was someone I cared about returning from a long trip.
“Does it work both ways?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“So, you felt my pain when he tortured me?”
“Yes. It is how I found you.”
“Is this typical?”
“No. This connection we have is rare… and special.”
“Good. That’s good.” It meant he had never had it with someone else.
He grinned knowingly.
“Do you think it worked? Am I banshee now?”
“I do not know. Only time will tell.”
We fell into silence again, caressing each other.
“Gabriel said we killed the Angels,” I said.
“I heard.”
“Then it’s over? We did it?”
“We cannot be sure just yet. Gabriel may not have worked alone.”
“Right. Of course, why would it be that easy?” I said on a yawn.
Ian slid deeper into the bed and I tucked my head under his chin.
“Bryce mentioned a fairy named Matilda possibly working with Gabriel. And Matilda having an unknown sidekick… which I’m guessing is Squeaky. If we can find where Lydia is holing up, we can find Matilda.”
“Makes sense… Let us sleep now. Tomorrow we will go to Bryce and discuss this further.”
I lay awake for what felt like hours listening to him breathe until I finally drifted to sleep.
********
“Qadira,” she called, her voice melodic and enticing.
“Yes?” I couldn’t see who the voice belonged to through the thick fog.
“Come to me.” Her voice drifted to me from every direction at once.
I turned in a circle, but there was no break in the cloud.
“I can’t. I don’t know where you are.”
“Use your inner sight.”
“My inner sight?”
She laughed. “Yes. Concentrate on finding me and you will.”
“I don’t even know who you are, how can I concentrate on you?”
“You don’t recognize my voice?” She was becoming agitated. “You’re her daughter, you can figure this out!”
“Lydia?”
“Yes! Now focus and come to me.”
I concentrated on the image of Lydia. Her long red hair, curvaceous body, and the slight smirk on her full lips. Something in me pulled me to her.
The fog began to clear. As it did, a beautiful forest appeared. I was in the center of its clearing standing beside a fire pit. That vision of fairies dancing around the fire flashed through my mind again.
“I’ve seen this place before… in my dreams.”
“Of course, you have, only this is no dream. This place is in your blood. It is part of you.” Lydia was standing across the fire pit from me. Her sheer white gown flowing in the wind.
“How did I get here?”
“I brought you here,” she said as she sat and motioned for me to do the same.
I lowered myself onto the log behind me, not quite as elegantly as she.
“What do you want?”
“I am to bring you to Matilda. She would like to meet with you.” She sat with her hands folded in her lap looking proper and perfect.
“Why?”
“You will know all you need to when the time is right.”
“Why didn’t you just take me?”
“She sent me to ensure the rumors are true. After all Ian had to say and feeling your power, I have what I need to report back to Matilda. Then you will come.”
“Nope. Not gonna happen. I am happy right where I am.” I looked around me. “Well, I am happy where I am when I am awake.”
Her hand was on my throat. “You have a lot of love in you,” she said as though it were a disease. “It will be too easy to make you come to her, whether you want to or not. You will have no choice.”
“It was you. You let Gabriel into the house. You… what did you do?” I muttered to myself before realizing that I had the answer.
Rufus had said Ian had no control when it came to Lydia.
“You bespelled Ian so Gabriel could get to him. Kill Ian, get to me. That’s it, isn’t it?”
In response she tightened her grip on my neck. I couldn’t breathe and since I was still sitting, I couldn’t get good traction to get her off me. I dug my nails into her arm, but it seemed to have no effect on her. I tried calling the fire but there was no answer.
I was putting those I love in danger just by being around them. This Matilda would use Ian and Bryce… anyone I care for to get to me. My loved ones were the bait and I the big catch. The only way to keep them safe was to leave and stay away until I was sure the threats were gone. That is if I survived this whole dream-strangulation predicament.