Amelia looked around. The room was empty except for the men, yet screams still filled the air. Covering her ears did nothing to alleviate the noise. Darian was at her side before she realized she was falling. He held her up, and she started shaking her head.

"Make it stop!" she yelled trying to be heard over the cacophony of endless shrieks.

Darian, looking terrified, held her face between his hands. "Make what stop?"

"The screams! They're just screaming and screaming and screaming!" She wept as waves of helplessness, hopelessness, and fear swept her away.

"No one is screaming, my love." Darian smoothed a hand over her hair. He turned to Aiden. "Help me!"

The men looked at each other helplessly. "Move her to the couch," Gavriel suggested.

Darian picked her up and started to carry her toward the couch. The screams got louder. "Stop!" she sobbed. She squeezed her eyes shut and prayed. He took another step forward and she screamed as her head exploded in pain.

"For Gods' sake stop! She's bleeding!" Meryn cried.

In the background, she could hear the sound of a terrified child crying.

Darian took a step backward, then another. The screams were there, but less intense. Slowly, one step at a time, the screams got more and more muffled. Soon, they were a dim clamor, and then nothing. She opened her eyes. When she looked around, she realized Darian had carried her out into the foyer. Colton was on the floor holding a frightened Penny against his chest rocking her back and forth.

"It got better when I left the room didn't it?" Darian asked.

Amelia nodded. "What in the hell is in that room?"

She heard sniffles to her left and saw Meryn crying with Aiden at her side. "I'm okay." Amelia said, her throat raw from her own screaming.

"You started to bleed from your eyes, ears, and nose. You're not fucking okay!" Meryn yelled.

Amelia blinked in astonishment. "Really?" She touched her hand to her face and it came away bloody. "That's new."

"I called the clinic, Rheia is on her way. She'll want to examine Amelia and, of course, check on Penny. We gave her quite a fright." Beth looked pale. Gavriel had an arm wrapped around her.

Keelan walked over to Colton and started to make Penny's dolls dance. Penny had wiped her eyes, but her head never left Colton's chest. She watched the dolls perform and started to calm down.

Amelia rested against Darian's broad chest. She felt like a wet noodle. "I'm sorry for scaring you, Penny, it wasn't intentional." She motioned for Darian to set her down. He did, but stayed close.

Amelia knelt on the floor where Colton sat with Penny in his lap. "You know how you're a shifter?" Penny nodded.

"Well, I'm a witch. One of my gifts is empathy, which means sometimes I can hear and feel things that others can't. It's not a cool gift like Keelan's." Amelia pointed to her dancing dolls. "But I learned how to make the most of my gift by helping people. Sometimes--it doesn't happen often--but sometimes, what someone is feeling can overwhelm me, and I get scared. Can you forgive me for yelling?"

Penny wiggled out of Colton's arms and wrapped herself around Amelia. She patted the top of her head. " 'S okay. 'S okay."

Amelia hugged Penny close, being careful not to get any blood on the small child. A wet cloth appeared to her left. She looked up and nodded at Ryuu. "Thank you." She pulled back and started to clean herself up. She wiggled her nose and looked down at the red and pink cloth. "Ewwww." She wiggled her lips making Penny giggle.

The door opened, and Rheia walked in. She took in everyone's expressions and Amelia's bloody cloth. "Having fun without me?"

"Momma!" Penny launched herself at Rheia who swept her up on her hip.

"Hey, pumpkin dumpling, I heard you had a scare."

"I'm okay now, but Aunt Amelia got hurt. Fix her." Penny pointed to Amelia.

"I'm here to do just that." She looked around. "Maybe we should go to the office?"

"No!" Everyone answered at once.

Rheia blinked. "Or not." She looked down at Colton. Amelia felt sorry for him, he looked like she felt. It couldn't have been easy comforting a hysterical child.

"Penny, you can hang out with us. We can watch How to Train Your Dragon again." Jaxon offered. Noah stood very close to his friend. From their perspective, it must have sounded like someone was getting murdered in Aiden's office.

Penny nodded and wiggled to get down. "Fix Auntie," she ordered her mother, hands on her hips.

"Yes, ma'am." Rheia smiled and kissed her daughter's forehead.

"Might I suggest you all adjourn to the front room? I'll bring in some calming tea," Ryuu suggested.

Everyone nodded and headed into the front family room. Amelia stood feeling a bit wobbly and Darian wrapped an arm around her waist to steady her.

"Come on, Colton." Rheia said.

"Leave me here, I can't move." Colton said from the floor.

"If the person who was bleeding can walk in, you sure as hell can." She nudged her mate with her foot.

Groaning, Colton stood and pulled Rheia into his arms. "I never, ever want to hear our daughter scream like that again."

Rheia's face softened. "My poor mate. Let's help Amelia and then we can go lay down," she promised.

When everyone was seated and each held a cup of tea, Aiden stood. "I think it's safe to say that Amelia was responding to the necklace."