went into overdrive as his eyes started to close. “Talon, what did he do? Tell me, I can — I can hel — Please, just tell me...”
He heard the sound of her voice. She was pleading with him, and she sounded like she felt the same pain he did. Talon cracked open an eye, getting a good enough look at her before it closed again. Her pale blue eyes had been like crystals, he thought, gasping at another round of pain.
The fucking collar around his neck was tightening, sending jolts of black shit into his system. He could already feel it settling in, burrowing in to deal out the worst part of the experiment. Pain had cleared his mind, and now he wondered what had even happened to make him want to...want to...kill her.
He balked, a roar springing from his chest. Jamie flinched back, the dull warmth of her hand leaving his skin for only a second before returning, moving frantically. Her hands hit the outside of his collar, and he felt a surge of hope before they left again.
The thing was not only invisible, it was untouchable if you didn’t know it was there. Auro and Lyne were smart bastards. “Jamie,” he said raggedly, ignoring everything but her. If he could look at her, see her and feel her, maybe...
“Talon?” she asked, scrambling around to face him in the front. Her voice was laced with panic, fear, the devastation showing clearly on her face. Something abnormal happened within him as he realized this.
“You feel...bad,” he choked, hands moving of their own accord to wrap around the collar on his neck. It was activated, and wouldn’t shock him now that he was touching it. The scene was all too unreal for him.
The woman in front of him, Lyne in the corner, seemingly passed out.
“I feel...Fuck, I don’t know what I feel. I just know that we need to...we need to leave...okay?” she whispered, the tears in her voice showing in her eyes. She was wavering in and out of his vision, like an ethereal dark angel.
Her hand came up to cradle his straining face. His jaw was locked tight, hoping that it would lessen how much everything ached. He pulled at the collar, a thought coming to him. Maybe...if she looked and realized...His heart did weird things in his chest as she looked at what his hands were doing. They were formed like they were holding a rod, making a doughnut hole out of his fingers. As he pulled, the pain in his eyes increased, yet his hands moved as if...something were there.
Jamie touched his hands lightly, getting him to move. Something was there. Something that was giving him pain. Would it hurt her to touch it? Jamie realized she didn’t give a fuck and took a breath, latching onto whatever was there with a firm grip.
How had she not noticed this? The minute her hands touched his neck — they had done that more than once, so why now? — the thing began to appear before her face. It was like metal, yet a leather material that was cold to the touch.
It was so cold, she realized, that it was burning her hand. She cried out, jerking back. The thing in all its glory came into her view, and so did the marks around his neck. Talon cried out, and his large body shuddered as she pulled away.
“Took it...away,” he gasped out, black eyes latching onto hers. “Took...the pain...away.”
Chapter 9
Talon’s body was immersed in flames. It was brighter, higher, than it had ever been before. Remnants of power from their passionate scene dwindled quickly, and he could only grasp for sanity as every bit of strength left his body.
Flames seemed to surround him, holding him still with pain and the promise of hell. Soft hands... His face, covered, almost drenched with the heat-filled droplets that held pain, twisted with a grimace as he struggled to turn to the caressing hand.
The touch robbed him of his breath. The pain, intense and burning, ceased. An angel... His mind reeled at the thought. What was an angel, so innocent and pure and bright, doing with him? He was the carrier of the devil, blackness filled his heart, his very soul — was God taking mercy on him, something that he had been robbed of for what seemed like an eternity?
“Talon...” Her voice was like bells. Magical. Ethereal. Enchanting. He sought the for the woman who held the power of such a pure