Part 26 (1/2)

When they reached the third-eye chakra, which was supposed to govern one's inner sight, Cora heard a gasp.

She opened one eye partway and saw that something odd was happening to the Queen.

Miranda was white as a sheet, and her breathing was shallow. She sat cross-legged as Cora and Lalita did, but her hands were clenched on her knees and her forehead was creased in what looked like pain.

”My Lady?” Cora asked in a whisper.

Lalita's eyes popped open and she, too, looked worried. ”Are you . . .”

Before she could finish the question, the Queen's hands flew up to her forehead, covering her already-closed eyes. She moaned and doubled over. ”No . . .”

Suddenly things all over the room began to shake.

Lalita put her hands on the Queen's shoulders and tried to rouse her, but the Queen didn't seem to hear; she was lost somewhere, and to Cora's dismay the s.h.i.+eld she was holding up around Cora began to tremble and dissolve and Cora could feel the Queen's power again, this time surging dangerously. Hot, thick fear seized Cora's heart, and she pushed herself away, all but crawling backward to put as much s.p.a.ce between herself and the Queen as she could.

Things began to topple over. Mats fell, the fabric hangings Lalita had draped around the room sagged and then slipped from the walls . . . the very ground felt like it was shaking.

Lalita cried out in alarm, and Cora followed her wide eyes to see that the ceiling fan overhead was coming loose from its wiring.

The Queen screamed.

The fan tore from the ceiling and fell.

Cora flung herself forward, trying to push Lalita out of the way, and the two women tumbled backward in the chaos- -which stopped as quickly as it had started.

Cora, sprawled out over Lalita on the floor, craned her head back to see what had happened, and it was her turn to gasp.

Standing in the center of the room, one hand held up toward the fan that had frozen in midair, the other touching Miranda's forehead, was the Prime.

The Queen's eyes rolled back in her head and she fell sideways onto her mat, unconscious.

The Prime's eyes and hand followed the ceiling fan and it floated over to the corner, where it landed in a heap. He turned, looking around the room, and in seconds everything had righted itself, the scattered pieces of Lalita's altar returning to their places, the tapestries back on the walls.

He didn't ask if Cora and Lalita were all right, but she supposed it was unnecessary. Aside from shock they were both fine, not even a scratch on either. He bent and lifted the Queen into his arms, then gave them a quick nod of acknowledgment and strode out of the studio.

Cora and Lalita were left staring at each other.

Blood . . . so much blood . . .

Someone was dying. She could hear Kat screaming-not in pain, but in panic, in horror, her heart-not her body-rent into tatters. Miranda tried to help her . . . she couldn't move . . . she was an outsider here, trapped behind a gla.s.s wall where all she could do was listen and watch, pounding her fists on an invisible barrier. She tried to scream but her voice died on the wind. She could only watch scattered images of the nightmare unfolding before her, powerless.

So much blood . . .

”I'm done for, Miranda. You have to save yourself.”

Who was speaking? She strained to identify the voice but she couldn't reach it, couldn't . . .

She could hear something dripping . . . dripping . . . water, onto a bare floor . . . dripping . . . blood, dripping . . . dripping . . .

Bars. Her hands closed around cold steel bars.

”Please tell me this was all a nightmare, Miranda.”

”h.e.l.lo, darling.” A man's voice, scornful.

She heard something shatter, saw shards of crystal catching moonlight as they fell . . .

”Miranda, NO!”

She could hear the screaming, she could smell the blood and taste it rusty and hot in the back of her throat, but she couldn't stop any of it.

”Please . . . you have to save him . . . you have to . . . promise me . . . you're the only one strong enough to do it. Promise me . . .”

”How dare you come into our house-”

Red light . . . red light . . . red . . . four, five, six . . . seven . . . eight . . . glowing red in a circle, one by one flas.h.i.+ng, their light falling into sync . . .

”h.e.l.lo, darling.” A woman's voice, scornful.

Agony . . . searing, her soul being ripped in half, her screams tearing the silence of the night as she fell . . . and watched herself fall . . . only it wasn't her . . .

Warmth intruded. She felt herself being pulled back from the gla.s.s wall, gentle hands drawing her down, out, back into her body.

She strained to hear the last few words as she began to wake . . . it was almost as if someone were whispering into her ear.

Firstborn . . .

Eleusis . . .

Alpha . . .

Lydia . . .

Trinity . . .

”Miranda.”

That last voice, she recognized. She reached toward it, yearning for solid ground, for the waking world, and felt hands taking hers and drawing her down, down . . .

She was sobbing as she woke, relief and fear overcoming her, and she fled into David's arms, shaking.

”It's all right, beloved. I'm here. I've got you. You're safe now.”

She was absolutely incoherent for a while but gradually got a toehold of control back, dragging herself toward calm one lurching inch at a time. She could feel a s.h.i.+eld around her, probably as much to protect the rest of the Haven from her as to protect her from it. But the feeling-of being contained and held, safe, surrounded by such warm and loving energy-was grounding, and it helped her wrestle her powers back into her own grasp.

Once she was calm David lowered the s.h.i.+eld around her, though she could still feel him around her, physically and otherwise. She breathed in the warmth of his body and let out a long, shaky breath.