The stinging in his ribcage on the left increased as Paul fought his way back to consciousness. His mind pleaded with him to just fade away, back to oblivion, back to where the pain was just a distant annoyance, like the itch of a mosquito bite, but determination to look his assailants in the eyes was winning out, and the closer he came to the shores of awareness, the more the pain intensified. Even though he had some powers as a Healer, nothing he was capable of could fix this.
It wasn’t just his ribcage that burned. He was missing several digits on both hands, the excruciating pain in his abdomen served as a reminder of the drilling sound he’d heard just before he passed out the last time, and he was fairly certain he was missing his left kneecap. The agony came from all directions as sweat poured down his face, clouding his vision out of his one working eye, and Paul did his best not to scream as he felt the doctor’s fingers slide something hard beneath his ribs. A few seconds later, he realized it was something akin to a large pair of tweezers, and as the masochist pulled out part of Paul’s lung tissue, he began to scream. Choking on his own vomit and wheezing at the lack of capacity he could now take in, he gave in and allowed himself to be carried off by the waves of sweet abyss.
* * *
“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay with you?” Brandon leaned on the stairwell door, concern evident in his green eyes.
“No, I’ll be okay,” Cassidy insisted, not yet ready to let go of his hands. Her fingers were interlaced with his, and she realized he was right to be concerned. She was more than a little worried herself. While she’d entered the minds of the undead before, this time it would be different. What Cadence and Aaron had asked her to do meant actually probing for the ones who’d come through the portal, something she hadn’t allowed herself to do just yet, partially because she was still holding out hope that nothing had come through, though that seemed ridiculous now. Mina’s words rang through her mind, and she couldn’t help but hope that wasn’t another lie meant to throw her off. Could it be that all the answers really were already inside her head?
“All right, well you so much as whisper my name, and I’ll be here. I don’t know if what you did the other night to get my attention was really telepathy or our IACs just flickered on for a few seconds, but if you need me, I’m right here.”
“I know.” She smiled at him, trying to reassure him. While she knew she wasn’t in any physical danger, the thought of getting sucked down into some mental rabbit’s hole from which she could never return came to mind. She had to push it aside if she was going to do this. “Come get me in thirty minutes if I haven’t called for you, okay?”
“I will be counting the seconds.”
Cassidy leaned up on her tippy toes and Brandon came down halfway to meet her, pressing his lips to hers sweetly before he gave her one more reassuring smile, and she somehow found the strength to let go of his hand. The sound of the door closing echoed across the rooftop, and Cassidy suddenly felt overwhelmingly alone.
That wouldn’t last long, however. Even if she wasn’t able to reach Melbourne or the chief monsters in question, soon enough she would find her way into someone else’s thoughts. The level of hostility to expect had her stomach twisting, and she tried to think of herself as a fierce warrior, not a meek sixteen-year-old girl who barely weighed a hundred and fifteen pounds soaking wet.
Her chair was waiting for her. Had it only been two nights ago when she’d reached out to Mina from this very spot? She should’ve done her due diligence then and probed deeper, a mistake she wouldn’t make again. She’d learned from Vern that most Vampires didn’t know when she was there, and those who did had no way of pushing her out. Very few could see into her own mind, and now that Mina was gone, Cassidy hoped she wouldn’t encounter any others, though something told her, if she were able to get into the mind of the killer in charge, whoever that was, she would certainly be detected.
She settled down into the plushness of the pillowed seat and let the night air caress her cheeks. The stars were brighter tonight than they had been the last time she’d come here, and she hoped they’d be helpful in allowing her to reach through the cosmos and make contact. She wasn’t quite sure what it was about the night sky that powered her, but she was certain it had influence. This had all started with a blue moon portal, after all.
Inhaling deeply, she stilled herself and closed her eyes, taking several deep breaths and reaching with her mind as she had so many times before, expecting it to take time, as it always had in the past.
But this time was different, much different. Almost immediately, flashes of faces flooded her mind, some speaking, others silent. She saw scenes she recognized, such as Marcos breaking out the other Vampires before a Guardian landed a bullet in his chest, and Bonnie throwing herself across the room at Tara. She saw fields of flowers and Mina’s familiar face, her pink dress dancing in the breeze. A flicker of blonde hair reminded her of the other girl, the one Mina said was like her, the one who had left no trace. She smelled the salty air and knew she was somewhere on a ship, felt the boat rocking beneath her feet. Stale air, must, and mildew surrounded her as she cowered in the corner of a mausoleum, torches and pitchforks passing by the windows outside as a crowd shouted to kill the creature.
The pictures continued to fly by with little rhyme and reason while Cassidy breathed deeply, trying to slow them down and focus. “Melbourne,” she whispered. “I need to reach Melbourne.” The thousands of miles between them didn’t do the sensation of distance she had from her mark justice. She may as well have been calling out to the moon. But the man she was looking for, Paul, his blood was her blood. She could find him. She had to.
Cassidy was plunged into darkness, all of the pictures stopping all at once. The scent of iron and aluminum mingled with the acidic odor of vomit. She couldn’t see anything, but her entire body felt like it was on fire. “Paul!” She focused on his name, the picture of a handsome man with dark hair and a nicely trimmed beard she’d seen through her IAC before she turned it off in order to focus. “Paul! Where are you?”
