Page 13 of Gift from the Nexus

My gaze widens as I take in the shifter with a new wave of caution. The predatory gleam in his eye, the way he smoothly shifts from side to side, and the muscular, lean build make more sense. No, I still don’t think he’s stronger than my dragon, or at least he wouldn’t be if I weren’t trapped in these cuffs and she weren’t locked behind my restraint, but he’s most certainly stronger than any wolf in Terravile. Other than Lyker. I believe Lyker could take him, but I can understand why they’d assume he’ll be able to dominate me.

“Next, we have Trex,” Donald says, pointing to the man standing off in the corner by the door. He’s examining my face for every little movement, and his body language screams uncomfortable, but he’s obviously not that uncomfortable if he’s partaking in this. “He has the ability to hear every little nasty thought that runs through your mind.”

Fuck, his gift is mind transference.

Panic flares through me at the possibility he’s been listening to every thought that’s crossed my mind since they walked inhere, but then I sense the faint knocking. Until now, I’ve ignored it, figured it was a headache from the number of times my skull has bounced off this table, but now it’s obvious. It’s been his attempt to break through my wall, and he can’t.

“This fine specimen is Bryce.”

The small twitch in Trex’s nostrils tells me he doesn’t like that I’ve been able to block him out and broke his eye contact before he could continue his attempt to tear me down. I want to celebrate my small victory, smile in his face, until my attention solely focuses on this Bryce guy.

All prideful thoughts flee when I lock on eyes red as fire and fangs as sharp as daggers. I force myself to calm my breathing despite the fact I want to freak out. As far as I know, the only vampires roaming around freely in Elementra are in a true Nexus, or those that comply with the feeding laws.

Bryce doesn’t look like he falls into either category.

“Bryce here has worked incredibly hard to get his bloodlust under control, and our Leader was gracious enough to allow him to join our Nexus for his hard work. But you never know what may happen with the smell of blood in the air,” Donald mocks, laughing at my horror-stricken face.

“And your blood smells truly divine.” His smooth, deep accent flutters across the room.

His voice is one that I’m sure would have women gladly offering up their veins to him, but it makes mine shrivel up. The guys’ warning about how if a vampire’s able to get their fangs in you, you’re at their mercy, ignites all kinds of new fears in me. He’d be the one to decide whether I receive pain or pleasure. And I don’t want either from him.

Slowly, with my heart pounding in my throat and my chest heaving heavily, I turn my head to Donald, my living nightmare. I’m almost too terrified to know what kind of monster he’s become. He was bad enough non-power wielding, but that shiphas sailed and it’s better for me to know what my enemy is capable of than not.

“And you?” I ask.

A broad smile stretches across his face, then he simply… shimmers out of existence.

Just poof, gone.

Craning my head as far around as I can, I search for any signs of him and where the hell he went. I surely would’ve died if he could’ve done this back in the nonmagical realm. I already walked around day in and day out, waiting for him to pounce on me at any second.

“Invisibility, dear Willow,” Donald whispers in my ear, appearing next to me on the other side of where he just was, and an embarrassingly loud shriek falls from my lips, making everyone laugh.

My heart and mind race wildly from fear as I process all their powers and their true potential.

“So what will it be?” Donald asks expectantly.

Contemplating both choices he gave me, playing out each scenario, I don’t see where either will be better than the other. Of course, option one seems the easiest, the least painful if I can use it as an opportunity to escape, but it seems almost too straightforward, which makes me worry that I won’t be able to get free, and they’ll be able to bind me to them. That creates a whole other level of trauma I’ll have to endure. And what if they do bind me and I can’t unbind myself somehow? Then I’m lost to the guys. I’ll be at the mercy of the Mastery, Franklin, Donald, and this wannabe Nexus possibly forever.

Option two is physically horrendous. My mind has an amazing ability to conjure up the most gruesome and pain-inducing torture they could inflict on me while I’m strapped and cuffed to this table. I know they could beat me bad enough to weaken me, but I don’t know if it’ll weaken my magic or any ofmy power. And with these cuffs on, I can’t check in on anything to see if I’ve been drained already.

“This would be a great time for some guidance,” I murmur in my mind hopefully.

“Take the path you know better than most,” CC says begrudgingly.

I close my eyes and take a moment to collect myself. I was hoping and praying for some groundbreaking knowledge or killer plan to get me out of this, but I guess freedom is still too far out of my reach.

Forcing my lids to peel open, I blink away the tears that have gathered behind them. Meeting the glares from everyone in the room, starting with Franklin, who’s changing my blood bag out, to the shifter, the mind reader, the vampire, I settle on the one who deserves my hatred the most.

“Even with the stolen powers you’ve so wrongly been given, you’ll never be enough. You’re unworthy. So do your worst. It’s truly all you are good for,” I say venomously, and despite the tremble in my tone, his eyes widen a fraction at the malice behind my words.

A loud, humorless laugh falls from his lips, and as one, scarily synchronized, the four of them take a purposeful step toward me. As Donald slowly traces his palm across my chest, Max traces the cut from my belly button to my hip and whistles low.

“Master Franklin, you sure did a number to this side.”

“Yes, well, she allowed one of those traitorous mutts to mark her, so I figured I’d remove the issue for her.”

“Did she really?” Max asks low, glaring at me like a scrap of meat that was his and he’s pissed I was shared with someone else. The possessiveness makes me sneer in disgust. I only like one certain shifter looking at me that way.

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