No Peace for the Damned

respect level to the point of actually having some. Charles, on the other hand, was pissing me off. Pain was part of the territory when it came to my family. Surely they all knew that by now. Even more, he had totally doubted himself after our little standoff back at Batalkis’s. There wasn’t room for second-guessing when it came to the Kelches. A lack of confidence would get you killed.

The moment Thirteen agreed to a break, the cell phones came out. No one but Thirteen ever called me, so I fixed another drink.
    I leaned against the sink, dropped some ice in my glass, when suddenly every molecule in my body started heating up.
Theo
. Glass in hand, he walked toward me. I averted my eyes and shifted out of his way. He stumbled. The glass in his hand slipped. We both moved to catch it. His arm brushed mine.
    Instantly, a current of energy opened between us again. Sizzling, intense. Just like when we’d been training with that stiletto. Only this time, Theo was ready for it. He grabbed hold of my arms before he could be thrown back. The power reacted, shifted direction. Instead of throwing us apart, energy began holding us together. Like a thick cord, it wrapped around me.
Oh God
. I couldn’t move away. Then I stopped trying. A vibrant image flashed in my mind.
    His body, sculpted muscle rippling under soft masculine skin, pressed down on top of me. His weight heavy and warm. Flesh on flesh, his dark, gentle eyes boring into mine
. Was this memory? Fantasy? I couldn’t tell. And I didn’t care.
    Then came the feeling. Warm and wonderful—peace. The comfortable calm I’d felt that day in the bathroom transformed, became so much more. A powerful serenity settled into every part of me.
    My mind pulled back.
NO! Impossible! Not real! Never real!
    With a flex of power, I leaped away in a blur. My heart pounded. My breath struggled in my throat. “What the hell are you doing?” I screamed.
    “I didn’t do anything!” he yelled back. He braced himself on the counter, panting.
    “Bullshit!” I shouted again. “You’re trying to get in my head!” But that was wrong. He didn’t have supernatural powers. Something else forced that image and those feelings inside me. “Leave me alone!”
    I ran to my bedroom, my legs trembling. I slammed the door. Locked it. Then barricaded myself against it. My arms clutched at my stomach. Theo’s beautiful face, poised above me, tight with intent—it was all I saw when I closed my eyes. The comfort in that moment, the peace…it was agonizing.
    I knew pain. I knew fear. Those feelings were constants and could be trusted. Moments of quiet or warmth—they only meant that punishment would be coming soon. I’d had months to adjust to Thirteen’s kindness and I still didn’t trust it all the way. Everything with Theo was so fast, so intense. There had to be something wrong with it.
    Images flashed in my mind. Father’s hateful mask. Mallroy’s terrifying mind. My brothers—so handsome, so horrible. The redof my dreams, so much like blood it frightened me. The tranquility that wrapped around me at Theo’s touch—I couldn’t feel this way. It was too dangerous; it made my guard drop, shifted my focus. My knees buckled and I slid to the floor. I knew where my thoughts were headed, and I didn’t want to go there.
    But it was too late. Memories assaulted me.
    …
    Something covered my face. I sucked it into my mouth when I tried to inhale. Netting? A thin cloth of some kind? I went to remove it but my arms were bound tightly to my sides
.
    Insects burrowed into the earth around me. The smell of dirt and sweat and dried blood filled my lungs. Buried. I was in the ground, tied, and left for dead. Again
.
    I wrestled myself free from the binding and dug my way to the surface. Ten feet. I clawed through ten feet of packed dirt and mud and mulch before gasping the cold winter air
.
    Father’s imagination was waning. He should have used chains
.
    For several seconds my eyes adjusted. I shivered in the cold. I had on nothing but cotton yoga pants and a sports bra, both shredded and crusted with dry blood. No wonder I was freezing. It took a few moments more before I recognized my tomb. Uncle Mallroy’s ancient tool shed. I was on the far west acres of the estate. With a brief look around, I began the long trek back to the main property
.
    Keeping to the woods, I used the trees to block the icy winter winds. Dusk was near. When darkness fell the temperature would follow so I