The Psychic Within

Chapter 29: Shock

What? I struggled to process his words, but they just didn't make sense. I must've heard him wrong. "What did you say?"

He sighed and crossed the space between us. When he stopped, he towered over me, standing so close that I had to tilt my head up to look him in the eye.

His eyes were as hard as the emeralds they resembled. "You can't leave here," he said simply.

A short and slightly hysterical laugh burst from me. "What?" I said again, my voice shaking as if another unhinged laugh might escape me at any moment. "You're kidding, right?"

His grim look said otherwise.

"This is a joke," I continued babbling, grabbing at his shirt. My hand began to tingle. "This... This has to be a joke!"

He stared at me for a moment, then he shook his head.

My heart fluttered in my chest like a scared, panicked bird beating its wings helplessly against a cage. Releasing his shirt, I turned and ran for the door. Reaching for the handle, I—

An electric current shot through me, pushing me back. I staggered back. My hand burned. It glowed red, the white ridges of scar standing out against the swollen flush. What the...

Then I remembered. All those months ago, back when Polly and I were convinced that the Beast was all Luc's doing...

That day we had gone to his apartment. We had intended to break in and steal the last elusive ingredient for our misguided binding spell, but when we went to reach for the door... We were stopped, physically repelled by the protective barrier he used to keep out intruders out—human or otherwise.

This was the same thing, only now he was using it to keep me in.

Suddenly all the events of the day came rushing back, cast in a new light: his desire for a 'quiet day in'; the fully stocked fridge; the SIM card and the phone.

It had all been planned.

I span around to face him. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because it isn't safe for you out there," he said, walking across the room, closing the distance between us again.

I stumbled back, trying to get away—but I was cornered between the door and the wall. Shit.

"I'm sorry that it has to be like this, Rachel," Luc said, his voice soft. He reached out to brush my cheek, but I flinched away from him. He dropped his hand. "But I need to know you're safe while—"

"Safe from what?" I echoed. It came out as a whisper, my breath stolen.

"I-I don't know," he said. His gaze slid away, almost casually.

But I knew better.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You don't know," I echoed, keeping my voice even. "But you have an idea, don't you?"

His eyes met mine. The softness was gone. Now they were guarded and cold. "Maybe."

"Well, what is it?"

He said nothing, but his jaw tightened as if he was keeping the secret clenched in his teeth.

I glared at him. "You promised," I hissed. "You said you wouldn't keep things from me anymore. You said we'd do this together! You promised!"

"Things changed," he said.

"What changed?" I shot back. "What happened? What's after me that's so horrible that I have to be locked in here like some princess in a tower?"