Blade Song - By J.C. Daniels Page 0,86

shaking so bad, I could barely speak. Couldn’t think. Blood roared in my head and I could still feel the weight of him inside me—”Get away from all of them. They’ll harm you, Kit. Come to me. I’ll take care of you.”

“Kitasa…”

I flinched at the sound of my name. Es touched my arm. Instinct grabbed me—get away, get away—

“No, Kitasa…I won’t hurt you,” she murmured. Her hand touched my temple. “You know this. He’s in your mind. You have to let me help you get him out.”

The battering in my head increased.

Get away—get away—I bolted.

Or at least, I tried.

Powerful arms grabbed me from behind.

He’s going to kill me—

“No, dearest. He means you no harm…be at peace…”

Panic crowded my mind and the only thing I knew was that I had to run—

Bright, blinding light exploded behind my eyes.

Chapter Twenty

“Shhh.”

Vaguely I grew aware that the room was moving. Swaying back and forth, like a ship tossed on the waves.

Or maybe I was the one swaying.

The dull ache inside my head subsided enough for me to make a judgment call. Yep. It was definitely me. And that pitiful moaning sound? That was me, too. Kit Colbana. Descendent of the legendary Amazon race. Nearly drowns herself in her own bath. I think. And moaning like a pitiful little baby.

“Shhh, it’s okay, baby girl. It’s okay.”

Damon. Damon’s voice. His chest under my cheek. Moving rapidly. I could feel the bang of his heart against my cheek and he had a hand in my hair, kneading, flexing—agitated.

Judging by the rough growl of his voice, I suspected very agitated.

As another one of those little whines rose in my throat, I swallowed it down.

Go, me.

I managed to stop whimpering.

“Kit?”

He eased back enough to look down at me and I found myself staring into glowing, shifting eyes. Yeah. I’d say he was in an agitated state.

“I…I think I’m okay,” I whispered, jerking my eyes away. Fear danced on the back of my tongue, but I was going to deal with that, too. I didn’t know what happened. Needed to understand that before I had another break with reality.

Es was still in the room. So was Kori. At some point, Jo, Tate and the other one had left. My hair was drying and my skin felt tight and itchy. How much time had passed?

Licking my lips, I darted a look at the mother. The calm look on her face should have been reassuring, but in that moment, nothing could reassure me. The bones in my legs felt like they had dissolved, but I needed to move. I eased away from Damon and some part of my brain told me he wasn’t going to let me.

He’s going to kill me—

I twitched under the memory. It didn’t feel right. Even now. But the terror. Shit, that terror.

His arms fell away and when I had a hard time standing, he eased me upright and his hands didn’t move until I was steady. Shame crawled up my throat, a nasty, awful thing that just wouldn’t go away. Scratching at my arm, I looked at Es, at Kori, glanced at him from the corner of my eye. “What happened?”

Es and Kori shared a look, but then they looked at Damon.

I followed their glance, because it seemed if I wanted answers, he was the one who had them.

“You were under the water,” he said flatly. He had moved to stand over the fireplace, staring down into it. The dancing flames cast him into light and shadow as he stood there, eerily reflecting off eyes that had yet to return to normal. Lids drooped low, shielding his gaze from me. He rolled his neck, his shoulders—it was like he had too much energy trapped inside him and I realized something. All of that power he normally had dancing above him, he had it locked down. I couldn’t see any of it.

I flexed my wrist, absently.

He looked at me. “Your sword is on the bed. You were thrashing around and it was…”

Instead of finishing, he just shrugged.

I nodded. “The water. What happened? You said…”

“I walked in.” He turned away from me. “Es was getting Doyle settled down. Said he might do better with no outside stimulation and she had a room where she sometimes puts…damaged people. She could keep him safe there. Unchained, unrestrained, and safe. He wouldn’t hurt anybody else, and he wouldn’t have to be chained up either. The way he was going…fuck. Anyway, once we had him in there, I came up here. It’s night.