Page 15 of Jace's Mate

Run toward the scent.

“You’re sick!”Eldin gasped.His grip tightened on her arm.“We need to get you inside.Now!”

He wrenched the heavy bags from her hands and started running, dragging her along like a ragdoll up the last few steps.

“Move faster!”he snapped, voice laced with panic.“We have to get back before your uncle returns!”

His urgency wasn’t lost on her.This wasn’t typical Eldin behavior.He wasscared.

Through a flurry of shoves and hasty tugs, Eldin managed to get her through the front door of the house.

The moment it slammed shut behind them—and that scent no longer teased her senses—Anikka blinked in confusion.

She was panting.Her skin tingled.Her entire body felt flushed and raw, as if something had touched her from the inside out.

“Did you smell that?”she whispered, her voice unsteady.“Thatthing—thatscent—was I imagining it?”

She felt wrung out.Overstimulated.What the hell was happening to her?

Eldin dropped the bags with a thud and spun to face her, gripping her upper arms tightly.

“Use the control your uncle taught you!”he snapped, eyes wide and wild.“You’ve done it before!I’ve seen you do it—it’s weird, yeah, but do itnow!”

And then he was gone.

Anikka blinked.The door was hard against her shoulder blades, locked.

She could unlock it.She could go back outside.

Back to the scent.

Back to thefire.

She could almost feel the invisible thread pulling her, calling her.Her cells still hummed from it.

She'd never felt soalive.

Or sohungry.

“Probably going crazy,” she muttered, bracing herself against the door.

She closed her eyes, forcing her focus inward.Control it.

But what was she controlling?

The urge to rip off her dress.To scream.To run.

Her hand clutched at the itchy lace collar, yanking it down as if it were choking her.Her fingers curled around the fabric of her skirt and shewantedto tear it to shreds.

The shoes were already gone, kicked across the room in frustration.

She wantedbare feet.She wanted theearth.And God help her, she wanted to hunt down that scent andlick it.

That thought shook her.Again.What the hell did itmeanto want to lick a scent?

She gasped.

“What’s wrong with me?”