have some time. Winter nights are long.”
I looked up. “Why can’t I see your thoughts?”
“Do you need to?”
Did I need to? I sat up. “That’s not the point. Usually, I can, but not today. Why is that?” Was I losing my power? Was the baby weakening me as I got strong? My next statement was one I never saw myself saying. “I need to speak with Dr. Shaw.”
“I’m sure you're fine,” Zane said. “Perhaps, you’re just stressed.”
“That can’t be it. I’m great under pressure. I fight best when stressed. Something is wrong with me.”
“Nothing is wrong with you. You’re perfect.”
Was he just saying that because I was his girlfriend, or did Zane know something I didn’t? At the beginning of our relationship, Zane had kept secrets. He’d dated my sister, and he’d believed he was in love with her until the love spell he’d been under was broken. After all of that, I’d had to learn to trust him again, but could I?
“Zane, what’s going on?”
Zane’s body took on the motionlessness people associated with the dead. It was the stillness that came without blinking or breath. “Do you trust me, Lorena?”
Why was he asking me that? Why had he said my name like that?
Slowly, I crawled out of his lap and stood.
He didn’t stop me. His hands moved to his knees. His expression remained stoic. It disturbed me.
“What’s going on? Tell me right now.” Power burned in my chest, but I hesitated to release it. What if I failed?
He got to his feet very, very slowly, like he didn’t want to frighten me away. “I’d never hurt you.”
“I don’t know that.”
As if possible, his body went stiffer than ever before, and even without using my powers, I knew my words hurt him. But I refused to take them back. I couldn’t trust people who kept secrets from me. “Are you seeing someone else?”
The question had clawed at the back of my mind for weeks now. Maybe he was doing a whole lot more than feeding on one of the fae. Zane was very handsome even more so now that his body had filled out. Maybe being part of a team wasn’t working for him anymore.
We stared at each other. The silence grew more disturbing by the second. Anger and pain laced itself thought my heart. “So, it’s not a no then.”
He took a deep breath, which was unnecessary, considering he didn’t actually need to breathe. “I can’t even believe you’d ask me that.” He lowered his brows. “After everything we’ve been through, after everything I survived so that I could get back to you, I can’t believe you’d ask me that.”
Guilt pricked my chest, but I put it aside. “Well, we’ve been through a lot, Zane. I want an answer. Tell me the truth.” I sent my power out. It had built until it could no longer be contained.
I searched Zane’s mind for information, just a little. I saw his emotions. Was his anger genuine, or was he hiding shame?
I got nothing.
“Lorena.” He reached for me.
I pushed him back, and he flew across the room and hit the wall. His mouth twisted in rage.
So my power wasn’t completely broken; it was just my necromancer specialties that were acting wonky. “If you can’t give me a straight answer, then you can leave.” I tossed off his sweater and threw it at him.
Zane straightened off the wall. “I’ve been faithful to you.”
“Then where have you been going?”
“I can’t tell you, and I’ve taken measures so you don’t find out.”
“So, you’re purposefully hiding your thoughts.”
He shrugged and swept his sweater up off the floor. “If I were a human male, you wouldn’t be able to read my thoughts. Do you trust men so little that you must monitor everything that pops into their heads?”
“No, but you’re keeping secrets about me. What have you done to me?”
“Nothing.” He pulled on his sweater. “I’ll watch the house from outside.”
“No, you’re not. You’re going to stay and answer my questions.” My power hooked him in place.
He turned around and glared me down. “I can’t tell you any more than I already have.”
“Then I guess we’ll be staying like this for the rest of the night.” I crossed my arms. I meant every word.
I’d let him go an hour before dawn, but he’d be chained by the time we woke up.
He cleared his expression. “I have done nothing to tamper with your magic.”
“Then what is happening to me?”
“As I said, there is nothing wrong with you. You