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Clarissa said, “Then you will lose the chance to control her power.”

“True and if that happens, she dies,” Tobias whispered, and he sounded like he wouldn’t regret that at all.

Fiona’s heart hammered as she drew closer to the living room, where not a single light illuminated the darkness. When she reached the end of the hall, the voices abruptly stopped.

For what seemed an eternity, she stared into the darkness while she leaned against the wall, wondering what everyone was doing in there. They couldn’t see her, any more than she could see them. Had she made some noise that she hadn’t detected, but they’d heard?

She waited, hoping she would hear them leave before she attempted to go back to bed. Fearful that if she turned her attention from the living room, someone would come up behind her, yet, she felt something urged her to look toward the end of the hall.

With a quick look, she blinked to see Regina’s bedroom door closed. She nearly had a stroke, and without waiting a moment further, she hurried back to her room.

She slipped into bed and covered herself with her comforter, the words spoken in the living room running through her mind like a broken record. None of them made any sense. If Clarissa had been speaking about Fiona, why would she call her nothing more than a child? They were both seventeen and not children anymore.

Who had to be stopped? A guy. But who? She shook her head. They weren’t speaking about her. Someone else. New mission. Find out who needed saving. Not that she thought she could be any help, but maybe if they let her in on the problem, she could offer…to help. What was all this business about someone having some power. And if they lost it, she would die. Was it some kind of political situation? She’d never heard Regina speak about politics though.

Fiona yawned and closed her eyes.

The wind grew, the scratching at her window vaguely stirred her, but she was so tired…she couldn’t fully wake.

Then she finally drifted off to sleep and slipped into and out of dreams. Suddenly a blond-haired man appeared to her and said, “You need assistance. I’m trying to get aid for you. You must go with him. Go with him, Fiona. Don’t delay. He’ll help you get free. He’ll help you escape. You’re not safe. He’s…safer.”

“Escape?” she tried to say to the man. But she couldn’t speak. Yet, she didn’t feel he was actually speaking to her either. More like he was sharing his words in her brain, not out loud like she had first thought. His green eyes pleaded with her, and she thought he wanted to draw closer, to hug her even.

But she didn’t know him, yet something seemed familiar. She couldn’t figure out why. She was sure she had never met him before.

“We want you safe. We have always wanted more than anything else for you to live a full and happy life. But now you’re in danger.”

“Who are you?”

“Someone who cares about you more than anything else in the world.”

She felt he was speaking the truth. Who was he? He wasn’t telling her anything. Why was he keeping who he was secret from her? If she was in trouble, why not tell her what the danger was? Who he was? Why did he care? But when she tried to ask him any questions, she remained mute, unable to voice a word. She tried to force out a word, struggling, screaming, until she made a squeak and…woke herself up.

For a moment, she just lay there, trying to figure out what was going on, not wanting to go back to sleep, not wanting to return to the weird dream she’d had.

“Come out to me,” a man said, the same one who had spoken to her earlier, not the one in her dream. Someone who had the most glorious, appealing, and enthralling dark voice.

But more, she thought she’d heard it before, not now, but in real life. But when? She couldn’t remember for the life of her. “Who are you?” she asked in her head, because like the man in her dream, this guy wasn’t speaking to her out loud.

None of this could be real. Could it?

* * *

Arman tried to reach Fiona again, shocked to the core that she could actually talk to him telepathically, but he knew Tobias would return and they would make a concerted effort to find him this time and eliminate the threat to their plans. He told her his name was Arman, but she didn’t say anything back. “Fiona? I’m Arman. I’m trying to bring you to safety.”

He waited and she didn’t respond. “Fiona?” Arman said to Levka, “I’m returning to the house we’re renting out. I was able to reach Fiona telepathically though.”

“No way. Really?” Levka asked.

“Yeah, just like Caitlin. Are you sure Fiona isn’t a vampire? That would explain why we can’t control her thoughts also, if we’re wrong about her being a huntress,” Arman said.

Stasio said, “According to the history books, she’s a huntress. But you know, they can be wrong. Or information recorded to make people believe one thing when it’s all lies.”

“Oh, that’s not good. I thought this was a for sure thing. She seems to be asleep. Regina is asleep. Regina and Tobias don’t plan to do anything tonight. They didn’t come looking for me so I suspect they don’t know that I’ve been here,” Arman said.

“Good,” Levka said.

“I’m returning to the rental house.” Arman hated to leave without Fiona, but he had suspected this wasn’t going to be easy. Why hadn’t Ruric just grabbed her when he had the chance? The girlfriend would have been a witness. But Ruric could have just wiped her mind of seeing him and made her think Fiona had returned to her house.