Without warning she could feel the need to touch Aidan creeping up on her, entering her mind. No matter how hard she tried to wipe the idea away, it persisted. She wanted to know he was there, somewhere close. Insanity! Her own mind had turned against her! The more she fought herself, the worse it became. She needed him. Needed his reassuring touch.
Marie gave a soft exclamation as droplets of blood dotted Alexandria’s forehead. She turned toward Stefan, afraid for the girl. They needed Aidan immediately. Clearly the struggle taking place in Alexandria’s mind was causing her agony. Tears welling up in her own eyes, Marie knelt beside Alexandria and put a comforting arm around her shoulders. She felt so small, so fragile, her body trembling so hard, Marie was afraid she might shake apart, break into a million pieces.
“Please let me help you, Alexandria,” the housekeeper begged softly.
“What can you do?” Alexandria asked hopelessly. “What can anyone do? He’ll never let me go.” She looked up at the older woman plaintively. “Will he?”
Marie’s silence was her answer. She felt the girl’s shudder of fear. “Aidan is a good man and means only to protect you. Trust him.”
“Do you?”
“With my life. With the lives of my children,” Marie said solemnly, truthfully.
“But then, he doesn’t want the same thing from you that he does from me, does he?” Alexandria asked bitterly. “He would do anything to keep me here, even deceive me about what is real and what isn’t.”
Without warning she leapt to her feet, nearly knocking Marie over. Then she was struggling to open the front door. Stefan yelled a warning. Marie shouted for Aidan. And Alexandria jerked open the heavy door and ran out into the relentless, murderous sun.
At once a thousand needles pierced her eyes, and her skin blistered, smoke swirling around her as she burned. She didn’t know if she screamed because of the pain or because Aidan had told the truth. This agonizing reaction was not the result of a hypnotic suggestion.
Stefan tore off his shirt, flung it over her head, and lifted her collapsing body into his arms, rushing her back into the safety of the house. Marie was sobbing, reaching anxiously for her, but Aidan got there first, dragging her out of Stefan’s arms, cradling her against his chest. For a moment there was absolute silence as he laid his head on top of hers, his eyes closed, his heart pounding, his soul scarred.
“Never again.” He hissed the words aloud. Never again, cara, will I allow this kind of defiance. He repeated the warning in her mind, meaning it, swearing it. He was frightened for her. Furious with her. Furious with himself. The emotions swirled and flared within him until the conflagration was nearly out of control.
She could feel his rage beating at her, in her. His arms were like steel bars as he held her.
“I am in your debt, Stefan,” he said simply, his voice, as always, calm and peaceful, at terrible odds with the rage like a living entity inside him.
He swung around and was gone, his supernatural speed blurring their movement to human eyes. Alexandria heard the bang of the basement door as they moved into the narrow stone hall leading to the sleeping chamber, but Aidan himself made no sound. None. Not even the sound of breathing.
Alexandria remained quite still. Her pain was tremendous, her blisters large and ugly. Aidan was careful not to jar her burns, careful not to hurt her. She was beyond caring. She knew something terrible was about to happen. Aidan, always so cool and calm, was a seething cauldron of black emotion.
The walls of the tunnel rushed by, a blur of granite, then Aidan was placing her on the bed and turning away from her. She sat up carefully. “You’re very angry with me,” she said softly.
He didn’t reply, instead busying himself crushing herbs in a bowl made of agate. She could smell their fragrance rising. Then he lit candles, and a smoky aroma mixed with the scents of the herbs.
Alexandria swallowed hard and lifted her chin in defiance. “I’m not afraid of you, Aidan. What can you do? Kill me? I believe I’m already dead. Or at least living some kind of life I don’t want. Will you take Joshua away? Threaten him? Harm him? I’ve been in your mind, and I don’t think you are like that,” she said bravely.