"Trust a short ass to tackle someone at knee height," he muttered, blue eyes diamond bright in the dusky light.
"Blame Maddie. She's the one who told me that if all else fails, tackle them." Nikki grinned. "You're just lucky I didn't grab you where she told me to grab you."
"My wife told you to grab me?"
"Yep. Said she didn't mind, as long as I didn't bruise you too much."
"Charming." He smacked her leg. "You'd better get going." She nodded and rose. But her smile faded as her gaze swept the remainder of the room. One vampire stood between her, the end of the room and the end of this damn test. And that vampire was the one who felt so wrong.
* * * *
"Why the hell is she just standing there?" Jake's voice echoed loudly in the control room. Michael glanced at the screen. Nikki was a small and slender shadow surrounded by the dusky shades of the testing room. Her breathing was rapid, a fact confirmed by not only the fast rise and fall of her chest, but by the beeping of the monitors on the main panel.
"She's afraid." And he could feel it.
He didn't know what she feared. She knew nearly everyone in the room with her, knew no one would hurt her. Yet her fear crawled inside his mind and begged him to take action. She'd kill him if he did.
He flexed his fingers and resumed his pacing. While he knew this test was necessary, he didn't like watching. It was hard to stand back and let someone hit her, even if he knew they weren't about to hurt her. He should have stayed away, as he'd said he would.
But he just couldn't. Passing this test was important to her. When she came out of that room, he had to be here to celebrate or commiserate.
"Temperature's still rising in the room." Camille pushed her blue-rimmed glasses back up her nose as she glanced at him.
"It can't be Nikki," he said. "The room is a psi dead-zone."
"Then explain how the temperature in an environmentally controlled room suddenly shoots up ten degrees in a matter of minutes."
"You're the witch. You tell me."