Fractured Souls(61)

“There’s no use trying to get away.” Nicholas’s face appears above me. His arms are crossed, the sleeves of his red shirt shoved up to his elbows, and he has a cut just above his right eyebrow as well as a bruise on his cheek bone.
“What happened to your face?” I ask derisively. “Did one of the Death Walkers beat you up?”
He makes sure to keep his distance from me, leaving just enough room that I can’t slam my head against his. “Watch what you say. Remember, I’ve got all the control here.”
I let out an unsteady breath. “Where am I?” I aim for a composed voice, however the fact that he has all the power at the moment makes me extremely nervous. Nicholas is the kind of guy who will do things to me.
“My house,” he says simple, motioning at a nightstand beside the bed and an antique oval mirror on the door. There’s also a window, but the curtain blocks my view to the outside. I wonder where his home is? In the City of Crystal? The Kingdom of Fey? Somewhere else?
“How did I get here?” I ask. “How did you drag me through the mud like that?”
“I already explained this to you,” he says. “It’s called mind manipulation, Gemma. You could do it too—make people see things that aren’t really there—if you’d just train as a Foreseer.”
I swallow hard. I’d almost forgotten how Nicholas could make me see things that weren’t real. “But I blocked your mirage power.”
“That wasn’t my mirage power. God, you know nothing about what you can do.” He fakes a pout. “It’s quite tragic, really.”
“Why did you bring me here?” I make my hand as narrow as possible and attempt to squeeze it out of the cuff, but the metal only bites my skin and I wince. “And what did you do to my power?”
“You can’t use your power because of the praesidium.” He points around at tiny marble sized lavender balls scattered all over the floorboards, the windowsill, and the footboard of the bed. “They trap your Foreseer energy within you,” he says, sinking down to the bed.
I arch my back and wiggle my body so forcefully that the bed thumps against the wall. “Let me go!”
He slams his hand down on my stomach, hard enough that it knocks the wind out of me and I cough as I struggle for air.
“I think you know why… you understand now, what I am and who I work for.” He squats down on the floor so that he’s eye level with me and starts playing with my hair hanging over the side of the bed. “I tried to do things the easy way, but you just wouldn’t let me.”
“Let you what?” I ask, inching my head to the side to get out of his reach. “One minute you’re trying to teach me how to be a better Foreseer and the next you’re attacking me and chasing me down with a herd of Death Walkers. It doesn’t make any sense.”
He laughs at my pathetic attempt when I yank so hard on the chains they make a loud snapping noise. I bend my neck up, and aim my forehead for his, but he leaps to his feet and hops back, fury flashing across his face. But then he quickly collects himself and smiles again.
“You’re so feisty,” he says, his fingers seeking the nightstand.
I glare at him. “Let me go you sick, perverted asshole!”
“Now, why would I do a stupid thing like that?” He opens the top drawer and retrieves a teal crystal ball that shimmers even in the inadequate light.
I freeze. “The Ira.” Suddenly there’s a spark of light in this very dim, grey situation. I could get it from him. I just need to figure out how to escape with it.
He glances down at it in his hand and then amusement dances in his eyes as he tosses it back and forth between his hands, like he’s playing catch. “Oh, I almost completely forgot that you wanted this.”
I shake my head. “No, you didn’t. You know exactly what you’re doing.”
He catches the Ira and then taps his finger against his lip. “You know, I could make a bargain with you.” He extends his hand toward my face and I twist my neck to the side, cringing as he strokes my temple with his fingers. “You know Stephan wants you really badly.” He ravels a strand of my hair around his finger. “And I’m supposed to give him to you... but I might break the rules and keep you.” He leans down and sticks his nose in my hair, smelling it. “You smell so utterly delicious.”
I fling my head in his direction and click my teeth together, trying to bite his finger, but he quickly withdraws his face and hands from my hair. “You know he’s going to end the world with me.” I know it’s a long shot, but perhaps if he understands what’s going to happen and the severity of it, then he won’t want to help Stephan anymore. “Everyone will die. Even you… I’ve seen it.”