Protector(35)
And then it was time to go back into the guest room, to quietly shut the door behind her and pull back the daybed’s quilted coverlet, then fold it neatly at the foot of the bed. Something in her was loath to go to the light switch and flick it downward, although she knew she was perfectly safe here. No one except her parents and Luz knew she’d decided to stay at Alex’s house, so even if the three warlocks who’d taken her friends were actively hunting for her, there was no way they’d be able to track her current whereabouts.
Well, unless they had a seer of their own.
Caitlin shut down that line of thought right away, then turned off the light before she could lose her nerve. To her relief, the room wasn’t completely dark even then, as it had a flat sort of nightlight plugged into one of the outlets on the opposite wall. It helped her make her way back over to the bed and then slip under the cool sheets.
The mattress had to be that memory foam type, from the way it seemed to cradle every inch of her aching body. Right then she realized how much she did hurt. Valentina had healed the wound in her side, but a deep, throbbing pain still lingered, now that Caitlin had a chance to focus on it. A good night’s sleep should do a lot to take care of that, though.
Closing her eyes, she breathed in deeply, letting the stillness of the house surround her. She was safe. Alex was just down the hallway, and this place was so new that nothing bad could have ever happened here to leave a lingering psychic stain. She could relax and give her body the time it needed to heal itself, and then tomorrow she would be rested and ready to allow her gift to guide her wherever she needed to go.
Sleep came quietly, stealing over her like a dark fog. She let it surround her, gentle and soft, her consciousness slipping farther and farther away from this room, away from the pale greenish glow of the nightlight and the luxurious mattress cushioning her body.
Deeper, deeper….
Until she wasn’t in that bed at all, but someplace else, in a room she didn’t recognize. In bed, yes, that much was the same, although it was bigger than the daybed on which she’d gone to sleep, and not nearly as comfortable. Something acrid and sickly sweet tickled her nose, and as she shifted, she realized the scent came from a joint burning in an ashtray on the nightstand next to the bed.
“You want some, chica?” a half-familiar voice asked.
To her horror, Caitlin realized it was Matías’ voice, and that she was lying in bed next to him. Half her body was covered by the sheet, but even so she knew she was naked. Dark hair slipped over her shoulder, and she realized that wasn’t herself in bed with the warlock, but Danica.
“Mmm,” Danica said, and Matías reached over and picked up the joint, then slipped it between her lips. He, too, seemed to be naked, and Caitlin could now see that the snake tattoo which encircled his neck continued over one shoulder and then looped around a pectoral muscle, the rattle centered squarely in his muscular chest. It seemed to move with a life of its own as he shifted so he was closer to Danica — Danica, who’d never done drugs in her life, but who was now taking a long pull on the joint as if she’d been smoking weed for years.
Danica, wake up! Snap out of it! Caitlin screamed at her, but she realized the words were only resounding in her own mind. Danica could hear nothing…nothing except Matías’ insinuating voice.
Then he was taking the joint from her and inhaling deeply of it, right before he set it back in the ashtray. He exhaled, the cloud of smoke surrounding them both, right before he lowered his head to her breast, tongue slipping over her bare flesh, while at the same time his hand moved between her legs. Danica moaned, her eyes closing, and if there were any mercy, that would have been the end of it, and Caitlin wouldn’t have to see any more.
But no, it was like viewing some strange multi-viewpoint porn film where she was forced to watch what Matías was doing to Danica, to listen to her friend spasm in pleasure as the warlock stroked her to orgasm, while at the same time seeing these things and feeling them as if they were happening to her as well. And after Danica climaxed, he told her, “My turn,” and she sat up, reached out to touch him, then lowered her head to take him into her mouth.
A scream tore itself from Caitlin’s throat. “No! No, Danica! No!”
And she wailed in agony, because she knew her friend couldn’t hear her, and there was nothing she could do to stop what had to be happening to Danica right now.
Nothing.
* * *
It had been difficult, but Alex eventually fought his way to sleep, made himself stop thinking about the girl lying in bed just down the hallway from him. He’d closed his bedroom door to give her privacy, true, but it was also to avoid catching a glimpse of her in whatever she might have worn to sleep in. That would’ve kept him awake for hours.