Page 38 of Sin

The steps were only fifty feet away, though. I was almost there. I was right fucking there!

“No!” I hissed, unsure whether I spoke the word aloud or simply in my head. I forced my crumbling barriers up, my very core trembling with the effort to block out the memory of my mother's death. Because that’s what it was. A memory. The past. I needed to remember that.

Another brick shook loose as Mare sent another wave of attack to my mind. Her power felt like a physical blow against my mental shields, allowing more of that memory to slip past my defenses.

My mother mouthed three final words to me, three little words she’d spoken to me every day of my life, three words I didn’t need to hear to know what they were. Then, her eyes rolled back in her head while her body shook with violent convulsions.

Screams blared through my skull, and I couldn’t tell if it was me in the now or in my memory. My wrists felt as if they were being ironed. I shoved and shoved and shoved Mare’s presence out of my head.

“Stop!” I shouted, my voice filled with the full force of my persuasion.

Mare’s manic laugh was all I could hear before the pain finally ceased.

I gasped in air, my eyes flashing open. Every nerve in my head felt like it was screaming as I caught my breath. Because that had been unlike anything I’d felt. No one had ever been able to push against my mental shields like that before.

The light on my cuffs was flickering. The metal smoked.

“That wasn’t too bad for our first time,” Mare commented calmly, looking all too nonchalant as she twisted to lie on her back, crossing her arms behind her head as she propped herself up on the pillows. Hadn’t she been laughing? Or was that just in my head? Was it real? Or had I made it up?

She eyed me with amusement, yes, but I could have sworn there was a flash of regret?

I was beyond angry. I was livid.

“What happened to the rule of not using your ability on teammates,” I seethed, my voice raspy. Had I been screaming then?

Mare shrugged, but she did look a little nervous. “London coddles you too much. You need the practice, and whether he likes it or not, I’m the only person around to help you prepare for mind invasion.”

I was on her in an instant, my fists wrapping around her slender neck, not tight enough to restrict her airflow but to make sure she knew she’d fucked with the wrong person. Her eyes widened briefly, and her nails sliced into my arms. I didn’t let go. Not even when my blood splattered her skin, the white motel duvet.

My cuffs sputtered again as my power lashed out, fighting its containment. As my fury crescendoed, that power built and built beneath my skin, making the energy around me hum and vibrate.

And then I burst.

Whatever kept the dampening cuffs powered fizzled out completely, and I saw the moment Mare realized it because her eyes widened in shock, and then what I could have sworn was fear.

She gripped my wrists hard, and I felt her power attempting to come after me in offense. But I was ready for her this time. She’d lost the element of surprise, and I wouldn’t let her get the best of me again.

“You took something from me,” I said, my voice shaking with rage. “So I think it’s only fair that you receive the same courtesy you showed me.”

Her throat bobbed beneath my palm.

“Tell me, Mare,” I said, voice thick with coercion. While my power was the most effective and strongest when used with short phrases and words, I could lace it into any conversation, and it would still impact the person I’d intended it for. Mare squirmed, fighting my power. But while she was strong, her mental shields solid and seemingly impenetrable from years of practice, the truth was she’d only managed to get through mine because of my lack of self-care and disuse. She’d caught me off guard tonight, but at the end of the day, even after years of neglecting my shields, I was still stronger than she was. “You feed off of other’s nightmares. The memories we lock deep inside ourselves. So what is your biggest fear? What scares you, Queen of Nightmares?”

Her mouth opened without her permission, and her eyes told the story of my death. “I-I-I don’t want to e-end up a-alone,” she choked out, fighting every word.

“Why?” I urged, letting my power coat the word.

Her nose started bleeding with strain as she tried to resist me. But I didn’t relent.

“Everyone always leaves.”

“Who leaves?” I pressed, watching as her eyes widened in horror as the words were wrenched from her. But it was like I couldn’t stop myself. I was furious, and she needed to know I wouldn’t let it stand.

Again, the words left her reluctant lips. “My mom, my sister, my dad. They all left. They promised they wouldn’t. And now, I’m alone. I don’t want to be alone.”

“What the hell is going on?” London shouted, pulling me out of the almost trance-like state my rage had wrapped me in.

I glanced over at him, finding him attempting to stand, his worried gaze on us. On Mare.

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