Chapter 45 #2
The shadows lingered around Levi, but he was free enough to drop his head back against the bed. He sat on the floor, his legs straight out in front of him.
“So what happened?” Rafe hedged.
“She disappeared. I didn’t know where she was.
Benny and I were all over the islands, looking for her.
You have to understand…we had a toddler at home.
Then she just showed up out of the blue, after three days of hell.
She had a man with her, and she tells me he’s one of her Links, the man who’d abandoned her.
Turns out he was in the military. He’d been sent away, couldn’t contact her. ”
“Why wouldn’t he just speak with her telepathically? Skye does it all the time.” I said.
Levi’s jaw clenched. “Skye does that because her mother could do that. Iris didn’t want to speak to him. There was no getting into her mind once she locked it down. Skye is powerful because her mother was powerful. This man only wanted Iris because of her power. Nothing more.”
“He was her Link,” Wyatt said, bewildered.
“The look on her face,” Levi said slowly, staring off into space as if he were imagining it all over again.
“I’d never seen that look on her face before.
Me, the man she loved, the man she had a son with.
She’d never looked at me with such light in her eyes like she did for that fucking freak.
They’d spent the last three days together, having a grand time fucking all over the beaches, and now she shows up with him expecting me to let him into my family.
Telling me we could be one of those new Chains, doing whatever we want, regardless of biology. ”
He practically spat the final word, and Wyatt barked a laugh of disbelief.
“You were already a ‘new Chain’,” Wyatt said loudly to punctuate his point. “You and Iris were not. Meant. To be.”
“She picked us,” Levi whispered. “Me and Benny. She chose to be with us.”
Wyatt crouched down beside me, his glare so hot it could’ve burned someone. “You took a Key and forced her to reject her Link.”
“We were already together. We already had Zephyr. I didn’t know this man. There were rumors about him, rumors about his affinities. Iris couldn’t see what Benny and I saw…that he was evil. He only wanted her for her affinities.”
“And what were her affinities?” Rafe murmured. He was almost completely shadowed in the corner of the room, her eyes practically glowing in the darkness.
“All of Skye’s affinities are genetic,” Levi whispered. “That’s all I can say.”
“We don’t have time for this–” Wyatt started, and Levi cut him off.
“I’m not playing games. I can’t tell you. He fucked with my head.”
“There’s no Telepath in the world who can compel people to keep quiet about something,” Rafe scoffed. I guess he’d know. The strongest Telepaths in the world were all Royal, aside from Skye.
“You’re wrong,” Levi said, his voice strained.
Rafe scoffed again.
“I’m telling you…” Levi ground out slowly. “You’re. Wrong. Telepathy isn’t his strongest affinity.” My stomach dropped as Levi’s nose began to drip blood. “And you better hope the big one doesn’t work on my daughter. It’s a miracle it never worked on Iris, or we’d all be fucked.”
Wyatt put his hand on Levi’s neck, his healing affinity searching out something to heal, and then he pulled back quickly, shaking his head as he looked at Rafe.
“His own body is attacking itself,” he said. “He…”
“I can’t talk about it,” Levi rasped. “He can make me say or do anything. Even this conversation. He can show up here any time and just…see my memories.”
“I can fix that,” Wyatt whispered.
“Hold on,” Rafe pinched the bridge of his nose. “You’re telling me that this man, the Crusader, has an affinity for…what? Compulsion?”
Levi cried out, bowing over as some unseen force attacked him. Wyatt jumped on him again, shaking his head as he tried to heal something he couldn’t fix.
“Fucking shit,” Rafe breathed, his hands shaking as he backed away. “Wyatt–”
“Can’t,” Wyatt clipped.
I stood, backing away to give Wyatt space before I looked to my other Link-mate. “What’s wrong?”
Rafe turned to the wall, his breathing ragged. Wyatt ignored both of us, fully focused on trying to help Levi.
I approached Rafe slowly, stepping around shadows that skittered across the dusty flooring almost aimlessly, like they didn’t know what to do to help.
“I’m f-fine,” Rafe wheezed, bracing himself against the wall. “Fine.”
“Oh, you’re having a panic attack,” I said out loud. “Oh shit. Okay. Sit down.”
Rafe dropped down to his hands and knees, wincing at the sandy floors because somehow, even while panicking, he was grossed out by dirt.
I grabbed his shoulder, forcing him to sit then pushed his head between his knees. The back of his neck was already drenched in a cold sweat. “Okay. Shit. Wyatt, what’s that thing you taught me about grounding myself?”
“I’m a little busy,” Wyatt growled, now on top of Levi like he was about to attempt CPR.
Fuck. I was the worst counseling patient ever.
“Sorry, not sure why I asked you. Didn’t you kiss Skye while she was freaking out?” I snarked. “Wait, did that work?”
Rafe wheezed a laugh, then sucked in a gasp. “Fuck, can’t laugh. Don’t…d-don’t kiss me.”
“Feel the floorboards, Rafe,” I ordered. “Think about how the wood feels.”
“Disgusting,” Rafe shuddered, completely unrelated to the panic attack. “Sandy. Dirty. Gritty.”
“That’s good, actually. And what about my shoes? Do you have thoughts on my shoes?”
“Disgusting,” Rafe breathed, though his voice was less strained. “You never clean anything, and you…you always leave them in the m-middle of the foyer.”
Wait, what the hell? “You don’t even use the elevator,” I said defensively.
“Okay, Levi’s good.” Wyatt said weakly from across the room. Levi was now lying on the ground, perfectly calm as if he were sleeping while Wyatt sat back on his heels. “Rafe?”
“I’m okay,” Rafe coughed. “I think…I’m okay. Holy shit, that’s never happened before.”
“What happened to him?” I asked Wyatt, nodding to Levi.
“I don’t…his nerves were attacking him. Like he has some autoimmune disorder, but…he doesn’t. I’ve never seen anything like it. I was able to stop it but I think that’s only because he’s unconscious.”
“Unconscious isn’t bad,” Rafe said, standing and fluffing his hair. “Scrub his memories. We can leave him here and tell Zephyr later.”
Wyatt shook his head. “No, I…why?”
“If he’s right about the Crusader being able to come into his mind at any time…we have to protect him. The Crusader can’t know we’re onto him. He only started convulsing after I said the word compulsion. That wasn’t a coincidence.”