Page 61 of Catastrophe

“There’s nothing she could do that I wouldn’t forgive,” Zaide replied reverently, devotion shining in his purple eyes. She squeezed his hand, and I noted the tears welling in her eyes.

It was … almost spiritual witnessing such powerful love, and I hoped one day to be on the other side of his loving gaze.

Charlie simply sighed in defeat since Zaide’s words proved my point and stroked her head. “You try telling a cat what to do. See how well that goes for you.”

“You’re making out like I’m a misbehaving pet.” She frowned at him and, at his pointed gaze, huffed and folded her arms. “Well, I don’t appreciate it. I apologize for the worry I caused, but I only did it because I saw no other way. It was my only chance to get to the compound and save him.”

“Why was it the only chance? Why couldn’t you have come and got Charlie and me first?” I pressed.

“We weren’t certain about where the wards were and what might trigger them,” she muttered. “I thought if I waited, I’d forget the exact place to portal.”

“We?”

Clawdia sighed. “Your mother and me.”

“Who?” Charlie asked.

“Nisha,” Clawdia muttered.

Charlie’s eyes widened and swung to me. “The vision lady is your mom?”

I ignored him and continued to address my sunlight. “I might have known. Was she the reason you portaled into the last warehouse?” Clawdia nodded, and I stroked her cheek as I explained. “She has a way of making you feel as though the weight of the world is on your shoulders alone and action is immediately necessary.”

“So, you understand,” she replied and smiled brightly. “I can’t be blamed for being overwhelmed by the visions.”

I shook my head. “The visions may make you feel you need to respond urgently, but you do not. You share that weight with us. We are bound. We decide together.”

“You’re determined to punish me, regardless of what I say.” She pouted, momentarily distracting me with her plump and enticing lips.

But her wiles couldn’t fool me as they did the others. I explained, “It’s not punishment. It’s a correction. It’s protection from yourself. You need to stop endangering yourself, Clawdia, because it is not you alone who suffers. I understand your need to help, but you can’t save someone if you cannot save yourself. You charged in without a plan and were simply hoping for the best.”

“How did you know I didn’t have a plan?” she asked with furrowed brows.

I gave her a soft smile. “Because your heart leads you. It is a wonderful trait, my sunlight, but a dangerous one. I want to make sure the next time your heart takes hold, you think twice and make a better decision.”

The dreamscape changed around us as I imagined my rooms in Tartarus, golden and bright with the light streaming in from the large windows and my dark wood, four-poster bed with deep red curtains and matching bedspread, which was the only part of the room that felt like home.

“Where are we?” Charlie asked as he headed to the window to look at the view.

“My rooms in Tartarus,” I replied and grasped Clawdia’s wrists before pulling her toward the bed.

“There are golden apples!” Charlie exclaimed and pointed.

Zaide joined him at the window to look out and said, “My siblings and I used to play in an apple orchard.”

“But they are golden.” Charlie went on to explain that golden apples didn’t exist in the human realm yet a golden apple caused the Trojan war.

Clawdia tried to pull from my grip. When I didn’t let her go, she mumbled, “I want to see the golden apples.”

“Do you remember what I said about restraints?” I whispered in her ear as I placed her palms above her head against the posts of the bed.

“You want to tie me up?” she asked.

The catch in her breath and her dilated irises told me the prospect exited her. I kissed her ear and used my fangs to scrap at her throat. She shivered. Using my control over the dreamscape, I created two sets of ropes from the posters and then wrapped them around her wrists and ankles until she was standing with her legs and arms spread and her chest heaved with each gasping breath.

“Gentlemen,” I called to the males by the window, “I think you’ll agree the more stunning view is this one.”

She gasped as her clothing disappeared in a cloud of glitter and fell in a pool around her. Zaide and Charlie made noises of appreciation, prowling toward her with hunger in their eyes.

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