Page 44 of Kiss the Dawn
Oh…Oh no.
I throw up my hands and blast the doors open. The scene unfolds before me in quick flashes. A blond woman lies on a sofa, and three men stand around a table. All I see are the soles of her boots and I know it’s her. They have my Orina on the table.
They turn to look at me, unconcerned, unashamed, and I see her lying still and gray. Strapped down.
The sickly smell hits me again.
Poison.
Death.
Heat lashes at my heart, and I throw out a hand, knocking the men out of the way while Frederick bellows for guards. For help.
My focus is Orina as I flick my wrists, snapping the straps that hold her immobile while the witches thrash and attempt to break free of my power. No match for me. I’ll kill them. I’ll kill them all if…
Her pulse beats against my fingers.
Still alive, then.
Still time.
I press my palms to her body, one to her chest, the other to her stomach, and command the poison to rise out of her body. To seep from her pores in green rivulets.
“NO!” one of the witches yells. “Stop it! Stop it now!”
I will his mouth sewn shut and continue to work. My body grows warm as I push myself to the limit, holding them off while purging Orina of the death serum.
Guards enter the room.
I don’t fucking care.
Orina, come on. Fight it.
Am I imagining it, or is her skin less gray?
“It’s working,” Frederick says. “Keep going.”
A surge of power hits me as the witches are cut off from the weave by whatever nullifying effect the guards are using, and I’m free to channel everything I have into saving Orina.
Her chest rises and falls, her mouth parts.
“Lorenzo…”
Something inside me breaks, and I gather her into my arms, channeling, always channeling while I clear out the toxin. Her eyelids flutter open, and she looks up at me, dazed for a moment before her gaze sharpens. “Is it real this time?” she asks. “Are you really here to save me?”
I can barely speak past the lump in my throat. “Iam. I’m here. You’re safe.”
She reaches up to caress my jaw. “I was dying, and I dreamed you came to save me. You were going to kiss me.”
The last of the poison leaves her body and she sucks in a sharp breath, then exhales, going limp in my arms. “I wanted you to kiss me.” She slips into a healing unconsciousness.
“Is she all right? Is she safe?” Frederick asks as I lift her off the table.
“She’s all right. But she won’t be safe until we’re off this Isle. This act of violence against my charge has just breached the terms of the agreement between the consortium and the Circle. Get me Daphne. Now.”
The power is now in the consortium’s hands, and I’m going to make sure I use it to get what Orina needs.
Chapter 16
