Page 20 of Out of My Flocking Mind

“She is unique. I believe that is why the attacker has targeted her multiple times. The structure of her brain must be different enough to entice the suspect, because he appears to have fixated on her.”

The woman stepped closer, her bright blue eyes locked on me in a way that made me want to back away. Something about that look rooted me in place, though. A strange sensation ran through me, like someone stroking across my mind with feather-light touches.

“I wonder what that feels like,” the woman whispered, her tone sounding as though she spoke only to herself. “I wonder what she tastes like.”

And fuck did I dislike that familiar phrasing. I got to my feet that time, knocking the chair backward, especially as the light touches turned to pressure. It wasn’t the same pain I’d experienced before, not the stabbing through my temples. That had felt like a sledgehammer, whereas this was a flick.

Though, given the woman’s gaze, I doubted she held back on purpose. It must have shown a difference in power—or maybe this Cloud thing?

I found myself jerked backward, the action finally breaking the contact. Harrison pulled me closer to his side, and being so near felt oddly like he’d taken me within his protection. Suddenly, the woman could no longer reach me.

“Enough,” he snapped, his voice rougher and lower than usual.

The woman blinked quickly, as though waking up, and the moment she came to her senses, she gasped and covered her mouth. “I didn’t mean to,” she rushed out. “I just wondered what someone would see in her to do that and before I knew it…” Her voice trailed off, her body trembling. She didn’t look a bit like the terrifying thing that had closed in on me, once again appearing frail and small.

“You just attempted to attack someone with your powers, someone I had afforded my protection to. You thus forfeit your life.”

“Her life?” I pulled away from Harrison, placing myself between the two, my back to the woman. Right now, she seemed the lesser danger. “Whoa, whoa now. Let’s not get quite so murdery right off the bat, huh?”

“She attacked you. Had I not been here, there is no telling what might have occurred. I cannot let that go unpunished.”

“Pretty sure it’s my life and what little is left of my brain we’re talking about, right? That means it’s at least a little my business. You can’t kill someone over giving me a very slight headache.”

“She knew the risks. If I allow this to go without retribution, such behavior will continue.”

One glance up at Harrison’s face made me want to back away. Sure, Harrison was a stick in the mud, but I hadn’t viewed him as all that dangerous before.

I should have. He headed his clan for a reason, and that reason was his power.

This was the first time I really thought he might actually use said power, though. And for this reason?

Insane.

“She didn’t hurt me. You really think someone should die because they had a split second of thinking about something that never happened?”

He pressed his lips together. A tic in his cheek said that was exactly what he thought but voicing that would make him look like a monster. Ah, good old social conditioning. People didn’t like to look heartless. “Very well,” he muttered, his words sullen. “I’ll let you decide, since you were the victim. However, if anything occurs afterward, it will be your fault.”

“Enough stuff is my fault that I probably wouldn’t even notice.” I let out a breath when Harrison folded his arms, a sign that he wasn’t going to go all brimstone and vengeance.

It let me turn around to face the woman, who hadn’t moved an inch. She reminded me of a kid whose parents fought. The last thing she wanted was to draw that sort of attention to her. “Thank you,” she whispered. “I didn’t mean to…”

Harrison shook his head. “You made this choice—you deal with it.” He left those words for me before walking out, though I had a feeling he wouldn’t go farther than the storage room.

It left me alone with the others, but the threat of Harrison remaining so close would keep me safe. Probably.

The best I could hope for was probably.

“I really am sorry,” she said again. “And thank you for stopping him.”

I shrugged before grabbing another muffin—a blueberry this time—and sat down again. “No harm, no foul in my book. I’ve gotten an actual taste of what one of you can do. I can let anything short of that slide.”

The woman sat as well. “My name is Reba.”

“What is this Cloud shit he was talking about?”

She furrowed her brows as though surprised I wouldn’t know, but didn’t call me out on that ignorance. “It’s a drug that enhances the abilities of Mind Spirits. However, it also creates a euphoric high and removes their abilities to control themselves. Minds on that drug, especially at high doses, often kill others.”

“Why would anyone make something like that?” I went with that question because it felt more polite than asking why any idiot would take it, sitting in the room of addicts.

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