Edge of Dawn Page 0,104

that.

But that didn’t make the prospect of what lay ahead any easier to accept.

Although she could see none of the Breedmates gathered in the room with her now, only shadows on shadows against a field of darkness, Mira heard their voices close to her. Heard more than one of the women quietly sniffling back tears after she had explained everything that happened during her all-too-brief reunion with Kellan.

“I’m glad it’s gone,” she murmured into the quiet room. “My sight. If losing my sight is the only way to mute my visions, then it will have been worth it.”

“Don’t say that, Mouse. You don’t mean it.” Renata sat beside her on the bed, holding Mira’s hand in a comforting, protective grasp. The Breedmate who had rescued orphaned Mira when she was a little girl, taking her under her wing as her own child, was as skilled a warrior as any—the first female to fight alongside the Order as one of their own. Tough and deadly, impossible to break, Renata had hardly said a word in the time since Mira’s arrival with Kellan and the others.

She was afraid. Mira felt it in the pregnant Breedmate’s silence and the soft trembling of her fingers as she held Mira’s hand.

Where Nikolai had been furious and vocal in his concern for Mira and his contempt for Kellan’s part in all that had transpired, Renata’s quiet, heartsick fear was even harder to take.

“Look at all the hurt I’ve caused,” Mira said. “My vision is to blame for everything, Rennie. It was a curse that never brought anything good.”

“No,” Renata replied. “That’s not true.” Gentle fingers on Mira’s chin turned her face toward the sound of her mother’s voice. “You showed Niko that he and I were destined to be together, remember? And before that, your gift gave Hunter a glimpse of hope that not only saved your life as a result, but his as well. There’s been good with the bad. Don’t wish that all away too.”

Mira didn’t resist the tender, loving arms that drew her close. She rested her hand lightly on the swell of Renata’s belly, smiling in reluctant joy when she felt the strong kick of a tiny foot against her palm. Her soon-to-arrive baby brother, already jealous of the attention he might be forced to share with her.

She wanted to see that child one day. She wanted to see Rennie and Niko holding their newborn son, who would no doubt be every bit as adventurous and bold as his parents.

And she wanted to see Kellan again.

He wasn’t in the mansion anymore; Renata had informed her that JUSTIS had taken Kellan into custody a short while ago, but Mira’s blood bond told her in a more visceral way that he was no longer under the same roof with her. Being separated from him now was torment enough, but if her eyesight never returned—if she didn’t get at least one last chance to be with him, to see his handsome face . . .

She didn’t realize she was crying until a small, jagged sob tore out of her throat.

“Mira,” said a gentle, nurturing voice from somewhere above her. Not Renata, but one of the other women of the Order. Dante’s Breedmate, Tess. “I’d like to help you, if you’ll let me?”

Mira had known Tess nearly all her life, had seen her talent for healing firsthand on more than one occasion when the Order had been headquartered in Boston. Trained as a veterinarian before she met Dante and bore their son, Rafe, Tess was still adept in traditional medicine and procedures. But it was her other healing ability Tess meant to employ now: her extrasensory gift for healing with the power of her touch—even the most grievous injuries and diseases.

“Close your eyes for me,” Tess instructed as Mira sat up to let her assess the damage.

She did as she was told, feeling the other woman’s thumbs come to rest lightly atop her closed eyelids. Tess’s palms cupped her face, fingertips spread across her temples, creating slender bands of warmth. The heat from her touch fanned up and out, palpable energy running in tiny currents across the top of Mira’s scalp.

And where Tess’s thumbs hovered over her closed eyes, a stronger heat bloomed. A core of soft light began to flicker there, twin points of minuscule illumination that slowly ignited into a piercing bloodred glow. Mira flinched as the brightness blossomed behind her lids, glowing so intensely she thought her corneas might smolder.

“Am I hurting you?”