Page 121 of Soul Sucker

“So Miss Vera was telling me. Long time, no see.” Ella gestured at the empty chair. “May I talk to you for a minute?”

“Certainly.” Anna put a bookmark in her book and closed it. “What can I do for you?”

“This might sound crazy, but why didn’t you graduate from college?”

“So much for small talk.” Anna shuddered, her hands clenched together on her lap. “I try not to think about it.”

“I wouldn’t ask, but I work for the SBLE now. It might be a matter of life and death. Almost all the empaths from our year at college are dead.”

“That’s quite common for empaths at our age.”

“I know, but this is way beyond the norm.”

“And what does it have to do with me?” Anna asked. “You’ve probably already noticed I’m no longer an empath.”

“I noticed, but what I need to understand iswhy.” Anna looked away and Ella tried again. “I don’t want to cause you pain, but I really need to know.”

“Something happened to me in the first year of college. I lost my abilities.”

“Did you tangle with the Fae?”

“Oh no, I went to a party, got drunk and when I woke up, I was in an Otherworld hospital in terrible pain.”

“Do you remember anything else?”

“Only that they had to operate to relieve pressure on my brain. Someone had tried to destroy my hippocampus. Luckily for me they made a real botch job of it.”

“Oh my God.” Ella almost stopped breathing. “Did they ever find out who did it?”

“How could they? I was at a party with about forty other empaths. The doctors suggested that maybe some kind of Fae had literally decided to mess with my head, but they never caught anyone.”

“That’s terrible.” Ella reached out for Anna’s hand.

“I thought so at the time, but over the years I’ve changed my mind. Working here I’ve seen so many empaths die young or go insane. I’ve been spared that at least.” She squeezed Ella’s fingers. “Really, I mean it. I’m married to a really nice Fae male, we have two kids and I’m happy here.”

Ella used her abilities to search Anna’s mind, but found nothing but truth in her words.

“Thank you for your time.”

“Have I helped you at all?”

“Yes, you have.” Ella rose. “If Liz Smith from the SBLE turns up, would you do me an enormous favor and tell her what you told me? It’s very important to our investigation.”

Anna stood too. “I’m glad to have helped.”

“And I’m glad I met you again.” Ella smiled. “There is only one more member of our incoming class I need to track down. Tell Liz I’ll be at the Merton record office.”

* * *

Vadim staredat his cup of black coffee and took another three painkillers. He could magic himself up a potion and get rid of his hangover, but he almost preferred to suffer. It made him feel more human, something that had begun to escape him again when Ella Walsh took over his life. He wasn’t proud of what he’d said to her the previous day, but she needed to know the truth. He wasmatedto her. He needed her whether he liked it or not. What he couldn’t understand was why she refused to believe it too.

He took another gulp of coffee and shuddered at the bitter taste. She had no idea how damned hard he had to work to stay out of her way, and to conceal his natural desire to protect her fromeverything. Females of his line were considered so precious that they spent most of their lives in seclusion—unless they developed a taste for power when all hell broke loose. He had no idea how they’d react to Ella, either kill her or love her, he wasn’t sure, but there wouldn’t be anything weak about the response.

“Hey.”

Vadim looked up at Alexei, who had started to adopt the more casual dress of those around them and today wore khakis and an open-neck blue shirt.

“Good morning.”

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