Chapter 50
Read My Mind
Iwoke without a nightmare tearing me from sleep for the first time in a while.
I was in bed, a comforter over me. Ethan must have carried me in, and I was so exhausted I didn’t wake.
I lay there for a moment, listening to the sounds of the birds.
It would be an exaggeration to say I was back to full emotional stability, but I was feeling oddly calm given the events of the previous day.
I restrained a groan as my stomach muscles pulled like stretched rubber bands. Everything hurt—my stomach, my back, my legs. I had no idea how far I ran last night or how long for, but walking was going to be a challenge.
I stood, stretching my arms high and yawning, then made my way to the living area.
Ethan was asleep on the couch, his arm draped over the side, his breathing rhythmical.
Early morning sun peeked through a dismal sky and fell through the full-length window, highlighting his face.
His hair was tousled from sleep, dark strands sticking up in every direction.
And yet he looked raw, sexy, beautiful. Vampires always did.
On the other hand, I probably looked like I had taken a tumble inside a washing machine. I flicked on the kettle and leaned my hip on the counter, watching Ethan sleep.
“Hey,” he said, his voice like silk as his eyes fluttered open.
“Sorry,” I murmured. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
He sat up, knuckling his eyes. “I was awake, I just couldn’t be bothered getting up.”
“You stayed?” Which was a dumb thing to say. Obviously, he did.
“Sarah doesn’t know you are here, but if we found you …” He didn’t finish; he didn’t need to.
The comment pooled deep in my stomach. “I can protect myself. I’ve been training.”
He snorted. “I’ve seen how well his training went.”
The pool rushed to my chest, tightened. I turned away from his appraisal, embarrassed. It wasn’t just what happened, I was a twenty-two-year-old woman afraid of the dark. I spooned coffee into my cup. “Want one?” I asked, even though I knew he wouldn’t.
“What other training have you done?” He stood behind me, his presence tingling through my entire body.
“Kenneth worked on sensing vampires rushing at me and striking with a sword.” I poured water into the cup; the scent of caffeine filled my nostrils.
“Kenneth?” He sounded surprised.
I turned back; Ethan was so close, my mug almost hit his chest. “Don’t you trust him?”
“It’s not that I don’t trust Kenneth, but he’s loyal to Rodney to a fault, and I don’t trust him.”
Finally, someone said it. “Me either, the guy’s an asshole.” I moved over to the small kitchen table and sat down, cradling the cup between my hands. “His powers are frightening.”
Ethan’s voice sharpened. “Has he tried to get in your head?”
I nodded. A shiver ran over my skin at the memory of his power trying to seep its way in like invisible iced water. The image of the smoke piling from Leon’s ears, his empty gaze as he slumped …
“Did you keep him out?”
I took a sip of coffee, washing down the sudden taste of ash in my throat. “Karson intervened.”
Ethan didn’t look any more pleased. “Drink that, eat, and then we are going to teach you how to keep that bastard out yourself.”
Panic prickled down my spine. I didn’t want anyone anywhere near my head—my memories. Not even Ethan, and I trusted him as much as I trusted Karson.
“I can keep him out.” I could hear the pinch of panic in my tone.
Ethan pulled out a chair and sat down in front of me.
He took the cup out of my hands and placed it on the table, then took my hands in his.
A sparkling warmth rushed into my fingers and up my arms, through my body.
I tried to ignore it—I loved Karson deeply and I’d never even look at anyone else like that.
It meant nothing; it was just the effect vampires had.
“I promise if I get in, I won’t look any further than you want me to see.” His thumb stroked my wrist, up and down.
The tingling moved like waves, shifting to places I didn’t want it to tingle. I gritted my teeth and pulled my wrists away gently. “I don’t need you to teach me.”
A half-smile curved his lips. “I’d say by the way you don’t want to tingle in places you’re not meant to tingle, you do.”
I jerked back. “You prick.”
Ethan chuckled and rose. He went to the fridge and took out eggs, mushrooms, onion, and capsicum.
Heat rushed to my cheeks. “That’s cheating. You did that deliberately.”
“Yes, I did.” He turned back, his face serious again.
“To show you that’s how easy it was for me to get in, and Rodney doesn’t have to touch you, doesn’t even need your emotions to be heightened to read every thought in your pretty little head.
Turn you against yourself if he chose to, or obliterate your mind without even raising a sweat.
Do you want to block him out or not, Amy? ”
I wanted to be strong enough to block anyone out. I needed to be able to for my own safety, especially in battle. I trusted Ethan, but what if he saw something he didn’t like? What if it made him hate me?
I rested my elbows on the table and my hands clutched my head. “When you put it like that,” I muttered. “I guess I do.”