Davina (Davy Harwood #3)(13)

There was no sound, no change in the air. I didn’t smell anything new, and the hairs on the back of my neck didn’t stand up, but when I lifted my head, I knew who I would see. And I was right.

Jiyama stood in front of the cage. There was a determined look in her eyes, and she squared her jaw as she reached through the cage to me.

I stood from my sitting position and stepped close.

The Immortal slammed inside of me. She wanted the Mori. She was salivating like a newborn vampire for blood.

I held her back. “What are you doing?”

Everything in me wanted to go closer, to grab her hands, and take what I could. The Immortal was snarling, an angry tornado, but I stood firm. What would happen if I took those hands? The Immortal wanted it so bad, I wasn’t sure I could control myself. And that was when I realized I was scared. Not of myself or the situation, I was scared when The Immortal would take over, and in the next second, I admitted a second truth to myself. The Immortal would take over. I didn’t know when, I didn’t know how, but she would.

She was too strong, and she was no longer a part of me. She had separated from me.

Her eyes flashed, and she jerked forward. Her hands caught mine, and before I could react to pull away, The Immortal surged inside of me. She burst through our connection, and I saw the Mori’s head get thrown back. Her mouth opened wide, and a bright light burst from her. Her eyeballs were like flashlights, and even her fingertips burst forth with light. It was a blinding white light.

“Your magic and mine are sister threads.”

I frowned. It was the Mori. She was in my head, and her English was perfect.

“It’s our connection. I have obtained everything from you, as you have taken from me.”

Images flew at me, of Jiyama as a child. The first time she found a dead body, but it wasn’t dead. It was Lucan. She poked it and kicked at his foot. He rolled over and her heart stopped. Then she yelled for her father and his men picked up the weird man’s body and took him home with them. There was another image when she was older, twelve maybe. She sat at a bonfire and was trying to stitch something together. Lucan sat beside and showed her how to do it. He was gentle, patient, and kind.

He wasn’t the Lucan that I knew.

Then she grew older. Lucan was always with them. He taught her many things about the other world, how to read in other languages except for one. English. He showed her books, and as she read them every night, they were from the human world. He told her nothing of the other vampire species. And then he was gone.

My last image was when she stood and watched him go. He gave her a gentle smile and kissed her cheek. Jiyama wrapped both her arms around him and lifted high on her tiptoes. She pressed against him and told him in their language that she loved him. He swept back her hair and promised he’d come back. Then he kissed her on the mouth.

As I hurled around inside of her, I couldn’t believe this was the Lucan I knew. If he’d been like that with me, I might’ve fallen in love, too.

Okay—reality check. I shuddered. That would’ve never happened.

“He is not the monster you feel he is.”

I jerked my eyes back to her. Our hands were still clasped together. The Immortal was back inside of me and purring like a cat that had gotten the cream, and Jiyama’s eyes had a white rim around them now. They’d been so dark before.

“You don’t know how I know him.” My eyes were darting all over. Did she know? Could she read my mind now? I didn’t like this one bit.

Her mouth tightened. “You have an incredible power inside of you. Our magic comes from the earth. Yours come from the life itself. It is a new power, no one is aware it exists.”

“Except for all the thread-holders before me.”

She tilted her head to the side and chewed on a lip. “What are you concerned for?”

“You want a quick answer or the real one?”

“You fear Lucan.”

“He’s not good, Jiyama.”

She stepped back. When our hands let go, the connection was gone. It was instant, and I reeled inside from it. The Immortal blared again, angry once more. She wanted the connection back.

“He’s good to me and my family.”

I grew silent. She didn’t want to hear about the real Lucan and from what I saw inside of her, what I felt—she was in love with him. It was powerful and it gripped her so tightly. Then the door burst open and Lucan strode inside.

“What are you doing in here, Jiyama?”

She turned and gave him a faint smile. “You shouldn’t have kept her from us.”

He drew up short and watched her warily.

“You want to know what he’s doing?”