Paul felt Andra tense more than he saw it. “All you have to do is use the phone or have one of the nurses call. I’ll always come.”

“There were no phones where I was, Andra. I swear it. I’m not making it up.”

Andra smoothed Nika’s white hair away from her face and wiped the tears from her cheeks. “I know you’re not lying. It’s all right.” She helped Nika lie back down and climbed into the bed beside her, pulling the frail woman into her arms. “They told me you aren’t eating,” said Andra without accusation.

Nika swallowed. “I try, but I can’t. All she gets to eat is black blood. It burns like acid. How can I eat food when all she gets is blood?”

Paul had no idea who “she” was, but apparently Andra did. “No one is feeding her blood, Nika. It’s just a trick of your mind. You have to eat.”

Nika shook her head. “I try, but all I taste is the blood and it makes me sick.”

Andra was quiet for a while, just running a soothing hand over the woman’s hair. “Do you want them to find another way to feed you? Maybe put a tube into your stomach so you won’t feel sick?”

“No!” Nika tried to lurch up, but Andra’s stronger body easily held her down. “No, no, no. No tubes!”

“Okay,” said Andra in a placating tone. “No tubes. But you have to eat. Will you at least try?”

“But the blood—”

“Is not real. It’s a trick.” Andra looked over at the nurse as if deciding whether or not to trust her.

The astute nurse saw the look and said, “I’ll go get a tray.” Then she left, eyeing Paul curiously as she passed him.

Once the nurse was gone, Andra said, “We’ve talked about this before. The monsters like to play tricks on you. They make you think things are real. No one is going to feed blood to anyone here. You’re safe.”

Nika grabbed Andra’s hand and squeezed hard with skeletal fingers. “I’m safe, but Tori isn’t. They keep hurting her. Putting things inside her. Changing her. She’s so afraid, Andra.”

Andra’s chin trembled for a moment before she controlled it. Only the brightness of her eyes gave away her grief. “Tori is not afraid anymore. She’s dead, Nika. Up in heaven with Mom.”

“No, she’s not! The monsters have her. They’re doing something to her to make her . . . different. We have to find her soon or it will be too late.”

Paul saw anguish tighten Andra’s body, though her expression remained calm. No doubt for Nika’s sake. “Please, honey, try not to worry about Tori. Nothing can ever hurt her again.”

The nurse returned with a tray of food and placed it on the table beside the bed. “I’ll come back in a few minutes. Do you need anything else?”

“No, we’ll be fine, Melanie. Thanks.”

The nurse left and Andra pulled the metal cover off the tray of food. “Looks like some chicken soup and runny mashed potatoes. Which sounds better?”

“Not the potatoes. Too thick. Too much like . . .”

“Get that thought out of your mind. Focus on me. Tell me what you’ve been drawing lately.” Andra tested the temperature of the soup on her own lips before holding the spoon to Nika’s mouth.

Nika closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and opened her mouth. Andra poured a tiny portion of soup over her tongue, and immediately Nika began to shake. Her body quivered and tears streamed down her face. Paul could see the effort she was making to swallow the soup, but it wasn’t working. The poor girl’s mind was too damaged, and she couldn’t separate real food from the black blood of her delusions.

Nika grabbed the napkin and spit out the soup. “I’m sorry, Andra. I’m sorry.”

Andra pushed the table away and wrapped her arms around Nika. “It’s okay. You tried. We’ll try again in a few minutes.”

Andra turned her attention to Paul. He expected her to look at him with anger for spying on them, but instead, her eyes were imploring. “Can you help her like you did Sammy?” she asked him.

Paul stepped forward slowly so he wouldn’t frighten Nika. “How long has she been this way?”

“Eight years.”

Paul had no idea how she’d survived so long. Most people didn’t last a year after being touched by the Synestryn. “It’s been too long. I don’t think I can help, but I might be able to help you to get her to eat. But it won’t be easy.”

“What do I do?”

Paul looked at Nika, who was watching him with wide, frightened eyes. “Can I come closer?” he asked her.

Nika looked to Andra, who said, “He’s a friend.”

Nika nodded and Paul moved slowly to Andra’s side. “Give me your hand,” he told Andra, holding out his left hand, which pulsed with the iridescent ring of the Theronai.

Andra obeyed and he felt her tense right before that wave of pleasure rolled through them both at the contact. He saw her eyes dilate and her nipples bead up under the thin fabric of her shirt. He had to fight to keep from pulling her up against him, or better yet, throwing her down on the bed, where he could stretch her out and spend his time tasting her.

Then he remembered Nika was on that bed and she needed them both to focus. Paul shoved down all those inappropriately lustful feelings and cleared his throat.

“What do I do?” asked Andra.

“Just hang on to me. Put your hand on Nika’s head. Concentrate on the skin that links us. Open yourself up and don’t fight what happens. I’ll do the rest.”

Paul had no access to the earth, so he focused on the air. He pulled from it tiny sparks of power no larger than motes of dust. He’d pushed himself hard recently, and hadn’t meditated nearly long enough. His body tried to reject the power—to push it away so that he wouldn’t have to suffer. Paul took control of his self-preservation instincts and forced them to yield. To accept the pain. He knew he didn’t have much strength, and even less time, but he prayed it would be enough to give Nika a chance.

Rather than trying to make a connection with Nika, he used the connection that Andra already had. They knew each other. Trusted each other. Nothing he could say would ever outdo that trust. He let his energy flow through her hand, into her arm, across her chest, down her other arm, and into Nika.

Andra tensed and hissed in a pained breath. “You okay?” he asked, struggling against his own pain.

“Just hurry,” she said.

Paul did. He gave up on finesse and forced his power through their skin-on-skin connection until he touched Nika’s mind. As soon as he did, he jerked back, reeling from the dark agony the woman suffered. He’d never seen anything like it, and he hoped he never would again. She was human on the outside, but inside, she was a writhing mass of Synestryn-inflicted torment. He had no idea how she could stand the suffering. It was no wonder the poor thing couldn’t eat. He wasn’t sure that he would even be able to stay conscious if he had to live with that level of torment. And Paul knew torment.

There was no way he was going to be able to wade into her mind with his limited ability. He feared doing even greater damage. All he could hope for was to shut down the horror long enough to get some food into the woman. So that was what he did. He willed her mind to sleep while her body stayed awake. He shut down her consciousness with harsh, unyielding commands.

Paul pulled away from Nika as quickly as possible. His body was covered in a layer of cold sweat and he was shaking. Even with Andra’s touch, that had been torture.

Nika was broken. Irrevocably.

“Oh, God,” cried Andra. “How can she live with that?”

Paul forced his weary neck to lift his head. “You saw inside her mind?” It wasn’t possible.

“No, I felt your horror. Your pity for her.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you’d be able to do that. If I’d known—”

“I’ll survive,” said Andra, her tone bleak and accepting. “Did it work?”

“I think so. Try to feed her now, but go slow. Her mind is asleep, so she won’t be able to pay attention to what you’re doing. She’ll choke if you go too fast.”

Andra lifted the spoon again, and this time Nika swallowed the soup. “It’s working,” she said, giving him a relieved smile.

Paul’s gut tightened in reaction. It was the first time he’d seen her smile, and he couldn’t remember ever seeing anything more beautiful. He’d spend eternity trying to make her smile again, given the chance.

Paul’s cell phone buzzed—a timely warning against his train of thought. “I’ll take this in the hall,” he told her.

He stepped outside and answered the phone. “Yes?”

“Found something you should know,” said Nicholas.

“Go ahead.”

“That account you had me transfer funds into? Turns out it’s part of a trust of some kind set up to pay the medical bills for a woman named Nika Madison. Does that make any sense?”

Paul looked back toward the door to Nika’s room. A private room in a place like this couldn’t be cheap. It was nice here. Quiet, upscale, well managed. Oh, yeah, this place would definitely cost a fortune.

An odd sort of relief washed through him at the news. Andra was not the money-hungry woman he’d feared. She was protecting Nika.

“Yes,” Paul said into the phone. “It makes perfect sense.”

Chapter 7

Andra got nearly all the food into Nika before she just lay down and closed her eyes.

She breathed out a relieved sigh and wiped a smudge of mashed potatoes from the corner of Nika’s mouth. She’d never seen anything like this before, but then again, she was beginning to think there were a whole lot of things she’d never seen. Paul and his friends topped that list.

Melanie slipped into the room and eyed the empty containers. “You got her to eat.”

“Paul helped,” she said, just as he stepped back into the room.

“Your fiancé is a nice guy and a hunk? You really lucked out to find a man like that to marry. Shame on you for not telling me you’re engaged. I didn’t even know you were dating seriously.”

Fiancé? She opened her mouth to refute it, but before she could, Paul said, “We only met recently, but when it’s true love, why wait around?”

Melanie watched Andra carefully, as if waiting for her side of the story. After what he’d done for Nika, she wasn’t about to go calling him a liar in front of Melanie. In fact, she wanted to throw herself at him in thanks for what he’d done. Instead, she reached out and took Paul’s hand. Warm, tingling pleasure swamped her limbs and she had to work to stifle a shiver.

Her reaction must have been enough to convince Melanie, because she just grinned, congratulated the two of them on their impending marriage, and left the room with the empty tray.

Andra tried to pull her hand away so she could think straight, but Paul didn’t let go.

“Fiancé?” she asked him.

“I had to get past the front desk somehow.” He grinned and she was glad to see it. Ever since she’d asked him for the money, he’d looked at her like she’d committed some heinous crime, and until now, she hadn’t realized how much his bad opinion had bothered her.