Page 4 of Unseen Lord

Or the itch on my nose.

Or the creepy crawly that's found a good spot on the back of my neck.

Nope. Not thinking of any of that. I am totally focused on…

What? What am I supposed to be focused on? Clearing my mind? That's not going to work. If my brain were a computer it would have a hundred tabs open and something really big trying to download on a slow wi-fi.

So I need a focal point.

Duh.

Elias, of course.

I think of Elias. Of the way he smiles, and the way his eyes dig into mine as if he can read my thoughts. The way he smells… like a forest of fresh leaves and pine. The way his body feels against mine when his arms are wrapped around me.

And bam! Just like that, I'm in.

I feel him, his body, his essence, everything about him flows in and around me. "Elias!" I scream his name, desperate for him to hear me, to know that I'm alive and okay. Relief floods me as I feel his pulse increase, as something in him jerks at the sound of my voice in his head.

And then I'm pulled out, just as fast, like something sucked me back into my body. My skin is slick with sweat and my muscles shake from the effort. A pounding headache makes me extra unhappy as I peel open my eyes.

I slump to the side, vomiting the nothing that was in my stomach. Bile and some acidy shit I probably needed. When my dry wrenching is done, I lay my head on the cold stone and try to calm my breathing.

That wasn't fun.

But it was fruitful.

Arias wasn't bullshitting me. Eliasisalive.

And he's worried about me.

Desperate to know where I am.

I could feel that much.

He's also in danger. I could feel that too, but I don't think he realizes it. I'm not even sure how I know this. I just do.

I have to get out of here and help him. I have to warn him.

In the corner of the cave, the queen stirs, moaning as she tries to sit up.

I scoot over to her, ignoring a spinning head, and I rip a piece of my shirt to hold against the wound on her head. "Arianna, are you okay?"

She moans again.

"Elias, he's alive! We have to get out of here and help him. You have powers," I say, tying the makeshift bandage so it will stay on its own. "What are you able to do?"

The queen rights herself against the stone wall and holds up her feeble, shackled wrists, bruised and crusting with blood. "My powers are spent, what little I had. I'm afraid I'm of no more use to either of us."

I sigh and lean back on my heels.

"What do you mean Elias is alive?" She asks. "How do you know?"

"It comes with being the Unseen Lord," I explain. "I can sense him. Feel him. And he's in danger. We have to get out of here."

She nods, and a look comes over her face that sends pin pricks of warning over my skin. But before I can react, a sound like a demon being tortured hurtles out of her mouth and she lunges for me, wrapping her chains around my neck. "You will die. You must die!"

Her voice doesn't sound like her, and wow but she's got more upper body strength than I gave her credit for. Woman must do Pilates or something. Being completely unprepared for the attack, my response time is slow as the chain tightens around my neck and her knee finds its way into my kidney. But it isn't until her teeth sink into my neck and she begins to drain me of my blood that I realize too late she could actually kill me.

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