Page 123 of Legacy of Danger
A weird echo, like a scream in the distance, made Vaughn wince and whip his head to the side. He checked the room. No one else appeared to hear anything. He rubbed his temples again to try to sweep away the growing headache. The back of his head prickled. Was his power activating? Shit. Why? He tried to relax by taking a few slow breaths.
"It's a really long story. But I'm here now to help you all," Ruth said.
Shelby stared at the door. "Help us defeat that thing? Then you know what it is."
"Not exactly. We have some guesses. And we're not yet certain how you can destroy it. We've never seen anything quite like what you've described."
Kerr leaned back in his seat. "That's remarkably unhelpful. Could you go back to the centuries-old part?"
"Yes, in a moment." She sighed. "I know that this information is not helpful. That's why we didn't want to say anything until we had more details."
Garrison snorted. "Still don't buy the story. And it would have made more sense at the interview last week to lead with the part about centuries-old distant relations—not to mention information on a monster stalking the family."
"Well, the monster part did come later. And I'm sorry to have withheld that background. All I know for sure is that you do not yet want to be together. You're not ready. Once you can all fight, then..."
"Then what? We become bait—" Vaughn grabbed his head and leaned against the mantel, his legs wobbling beneath him. What the hell? Without his consciously releasing it, his power had popped out like a damn parachute from his mind, then collapsed inward into infinite gravity, sucking him in.
Then exploded outward again.
"What's going—oh, no!" Shelby cried, holding up her hands to defend herself.
Eric leaned in front of her, as if he could protect her from the bad emotions flying out of Vaughn's exploding head.
"Man, dude," Kerr leaned back in the chair. "I even felt that through my connection with Shelby."
Shelby tucked deeper into Eric's arms.
Something familiar and horrible rained back down on Vaughn's conscious brain. His power pulsed, searching, desperate to surround...
Mariah.
Oh, shit.
